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Drinks giant Diageo is fighting to shore up sales of Smirnoff Ice after California voted to ban the drink from supermarket shelves.
The crackdown, which state authorities say will curb underage drinking, is accompanied by a tax rise that will almost double the price of the company's leading alcopop.
The California Board of Equalisation voted late last week to reclassify Smirnoff Ice and similar drinks from their current category - as malt beverages akin to beer - to the more heavily restricted spirits category. The move still has to be approved by the state's legal department before it can take effect on July 1.
But at the weekend, Diageo triggered a public fightback, stirring debate on talk radio stations and trying to orchestrate a letter-writing campaign.
Guy Smith, executive vice-president of Diageo North America, said: "Underage drinking is a very serious issue, but raising taxes and falsely claiming it will address the issue is fiscally irresponsible and socially misguided."
Sales of alcopops are falling across North America, but Diageo's most recent full-year results show it has kept the revenue slide to 1 per cent because of price rises and new flavours.
California's reclassification of alcopops as spirits rather than flavoured beer is the latest twist in a long-running battle over the status of the drinks in North America. In Europe, where Smirnoff Ice was first introduced, it is a pre-mixed vodka drink, but to ensure wide distribution in the US - which bans supermarkets from selling wines and spirits - the drink is made using alcohol mainly derived from malt.
- Independent
