Four Loko Comes to China as 'Lose Your Virginity Drink'

By Diana Park

Aaaaand it's back!

Four Loko, the notorious caffeinated alcoholic drink that was banned in the US a few years ago, has made its debut in China.

But there's something strange about the debut: it's being advertised as the "Lose Your Virginity" drink.

So, for those readers who are not familiar with the drink, Four Loko is a canned beverage popular among college students across the US. Manufactured by the Chicago-based Phusion LLC, the drink is concocted with caffeine, alocohol, guarana (the Brazilian stimulant), and taurine (which also goes into drinks like Red Bull).

It became extremely popular in the late 2000s/early 2010s, but also went on to cause multiple accidents like car crashes and, allegedly, a suicide. Schools and states started to ban the drink, and the FDA finally issued a warning to Phusion and 30 other makers of caffeinated alcoholic beverages, requiring that they present "evidence that caffeine can safely be added to alcoholic drinks."
Yes, this is a real photo.

Ultimately, Phusion ended up removing caffeine from the drink. "We are taking this step after trying—unsuccessfully—to navigate a difficult and politically charged regulatory environment at both the state and federal levels," announced Phusion on their website. The non-caffeinated version is still available for purchase in some states in the US, Canada, and some parts of Latin America.

You miss the good ol' version, you say? Well, China's got you covered. Four Loko's had an official Weibo page for promotion since December 2013, and voila, the actual products are now being sold everywhere in Chinese online shopping malls like Taobao.com and JD.com. There is also an official online store on Tmall, which is reported to sell the decaffeinated version.

Here at That's, we've heard of sightings of the drink in Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Hong Kong, Beijing and Tianjin, with the drink supposedly being all the rage down in southern China. Though plenty of fakes have also been spotted.

Four Loko seen in Tianjin.

Four Loko makes an appearance in Guangdong.

Obviously, Chinese people wouldn't be too familiar with the drink. So, how are the local retailers advertising it? Like this:
Their catchphrase, duan pian jiu, can be translated into "the drink that makes you pass out." Not provocative enough? Some retailers are using this phrase:

The word to look for here is shi shen jiu, which means "Lose Your Virginity" drink. Other nicknames for the drink includes "blackout drink" and "hookup tool."

This is not the official marketing from Phusion, whose official line is that their drinks "are taking China by storm." But a quick Weibo search of the phrases revealed that the provocative marketing has been very, very effective. One Weibo user recounts her experience of drinking Four Loko in the public:
"Bought the Lose Your Virginity Drink at a bar near SKP on Dawang Lu. I was sitting there drinking it when two workers came in and said, "Oh my god, this is the legendary Lose Your Virginity drink!" I'm a bit dizzy right now...if I don't come in to work tomorrow, it's because I lost my virginity......"

The drink has already started to cause scenes around China. Just a couple days earlier, three girls consumed six cans of Four Loko in Nanjing, snuck into a karaoke bar, where they passed out and were robbed.

Chinese authorities are keeping an eye on the drink, too. As early as June, Xinhua has posted an article online warning its readers of the drink. Just this morning, the official Weibo accounts of police authorities in cities like Guangzhou and Shenzhen have all posted the same infographics shown below, warning people about Four Loko and other caffeinated alcoholic beverages.
And of course, the history of Four Loko being banned in the US hasn't gone unnoticed. One Weibo user asked, "Why have other countries banned it and our country is still selling them? How do they get in?"

Truth is, the distributors are trying their best to cover up the story. First, they play around with the list of ingredients: instead of listing all of the four ingredients, they say "12 percent alcohol, caffeine, and amino acids used for 'alertness.'" One news clip from SinoVision, a major Chinese American TV channel, reported that Four Loko was "only ordered to be taken off shelf" in 2010 to change its formula, and that "many internet users are using the ‘caffeine’ bit to speculate maliciously."

Their efforts to rebrand the drink have gone far, leading to a high-end tasting in June.

...yeah.

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