While they were not intended to be bad products, I do think that ultimately, they were bad products. While standing alone, alcohol and caffeine are not inherently bad products unless abused, mixing of caffeine and alcohol as was in these products yields an entirely bad product. According to CDC.Gov (2020) caffeine effectively masks the depressant effects of alcohol making drinkers stay alert despite significant alcohol intake. As a result, consumers will consume too much alcohol without even knowing and become more impaired and susceptible to alcohol attributed harms and alcoholism.
Marketing
The products were marketed misleadingly. Wide-Eye's advertising for instance claimed that it kept people more alert while the alcohol in it eventually made people impaired. In addition, the advertisement was aimed towards young adults aged between 21-30, yet it adopted marketing techniques that are also common among teenagers and would attract them to use the products. For instance, ringtones, music mixes, and screen savers all are marketing techniques popular among teenagers.
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Alternative promotion approach
I would promote and market them purely as mild alcoholic products that are suitable in a relaxing setup. Critically I would eliminate any claims of energy drink impacts from the drink. For instance, I would eliminate claims such as "it makes drinkers more alert" as these are misleading and would ultimately impact harm to consumers.
Restrictions on Alcohol Advertisement
I do not think there is a need for the government to place restrictions on alcohol advertising. While studies highlight that early teenage drinking may be linked with access to alcohol advertisement among teens on social media, television, and other sites, Chung (2020) highlight that the alcohol industry already has a voluntarily imposed 30% limit on itself for the size of underage viewers of its advertising. Thereby imposing more restrictions would only serve to impact the company's revenue drop rather than a drop in the rate of teenage drinking. Enhancing effective information for the advertisement however, would serve to help meet the Central Hudson Guidelines.
References
Cdc.gov. (2020). Dangers of mixing alcohol with caffeine and energy drinks | CDC. Retrieved from www.cdc.gov/alcohol/fact-sheets/caffeine-and-alcohol.htm
Chung, A. (2020). Magazine, TV, and Media Ads Target Underage Drinkers. Retrieved from www.verywellfamily.com/teen-drinking-influenced-by-alcohol-advertising-67845
