One month ago, Cocaine became a brand-name energy drink.
Now a Colorado company is marketing PocketShots ? hard liquor that “goes anywhere.”
A slick online marketing campaign depicts the 50 milliliter “shots” at poolside, in the drink cage of a bicyclist, a golf bag and other sporting environments, and is infuriating addictions counselors and abuse-prevention officials.
“It?s amazing. One week we get this Cocaine drink, now we have liquor in little packages kids can hide in their backpacks and take to school,” said Mike Gimbel, addictions counselor with Sheppard Pratt institute in Baltimore. “It?s one of the most irresponsible Web sites I?ve seen in a long time.”
Cocaine, from Redux Beverages in Las Vegas is a drug-free drink boasting 280 milligrams of caffeine, more than 3.5 times the amount found in Red Bull.
Company officials did not return repeated phone calls for comment, but trade publication Food Production Daily reported Pocketshots is being sold in California through Frank-Lin Spirits and Fine Wines of San Jose. They are sold 120 shots per case ? 10 sleeves of 12 80-proof shots.
This is not necessarily groundbreaking, even if it is not available here.
Creator Jarrold Bachmann told Food Production Daily he got the idea from a product in South Africa, and another company, ShotPak, is selling 35-proof shooters online out of Irvine, Calif.
The sport-based marketing of PocketShots, however, is drawing the most heat locally.
“The marketing of alcoholic drinks for ?any place, anywhere? is irresponsible and dangerous,” said Baltimore City Health Commissioner Josh Sharfstein, a pediatrician. “The company?s Web site actually encourages people to consume alcohol during biking and ?outdoor adventures.? This is a recipe for serious injuries.”
State officials agree.
“It?s a terrible idea,” said Wayne Kempske, deputy director of the Maryland Alcohol and Drug Abuse Administration.
Eugenia Conolly, community services director of the MADAA, took exception to a marketing shot of a cyclist toting a PocketShot where his water bottle should be. “Now we?ve got people killing themselves on a bicycle, great.”
