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Four Loko
In 2010, a bright-colored can sent college students to emergency rooms across America. Not from poison. Not from contamination. From a legal drink you could buy at any gas station.
Four Loko combined alcohol with caffeine, taurine, and guarana—a cocktail that let you party until 4 AM while getting progressively drunker without feeling it. The result? Students drinking themselves to dangerous levels while their bodies screamed warnings they couldn't hear.
Within months, the FDA declared war on a beverage. Universities banned it. A black market emerged where single cans sold for five times their normal price. And the drink's creators—three Ohio State frat brothers—watched their creation spark a nationwide moral panic.
This is the story of how a dorm room idea became America's most notorious alcoholic beverage, survived a federal crackdown, and reinvented itself into a brand that would later promote STD testing kits. From fraternity innovation to FDA enemy to marketing provocateur—Four Loko never played by the rules.
Four Loko was launched in 2005 when three Ohio State University students, members of Kappa Sigma fraternity, created a new kind of alcoholic drink.
Their formula combined alcohol with a precise mix of stimulants:
They added wormwood extract—the same substance that gives absinthe its reputation.
The name "Four Loko" stems from these four core ingredients, helping to disrupt the alcohol industry.
Four Loko seized the U.S. alcohol market in 2008, then expanded internationally in 2009.
Starting in Puerto Rico in 2013, then into China in 2016.
In 2010, Four Loko sent multiple college students to emergency rooms after overconsumption.
The hospitalizations triggered immediate alarm nationwide.
Universities responded by blocking the beverage from their campuses, aiming to shelter students from its dangers.
On November 17, 2010, the FDA issued a warning letter to Four Loko's manufacturer, citing that the caffeine added to the alcoholic beverage was an "unsafe food additive."
Facing mounting pressure and potential legal consequences, Phusion Projects, the manufacturer of Four Loko, announced in November 2010 that they would remove caffeine, guarana, and taurine from their controversial beverage.
A decision that led to a significant reformulation of the product
A caffeine-free version of Four Loko hit the store shelves in January 2011.
Before the ban took effect, many people stockpiled the original caffeinated version.
It created a black market where cans were sold for up to five times their normal retail price.
In 2017, Four Loko expanded its product line beyond its signature malt beverages, venturing into the hard liquor market with the launch of "Four Loko Shots."
In July 2021, Four Loko launched a controversial marketing campaign featuring "STD Kits" in collaboration with at-home testing brand myLAB Box, offering 250 free self-test kits through a contest.
This unconventional promotion, developed with agency Zaddy, aimed to promote safe partying and normalize STD testing while generating buzz for the Four Loko brand.
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