The Day Four Loko Died

Last month, when Phusion Projects announced they were removing caffeine from their popular alcoholic-energy drink Four Loko, they told the FDA that “original recipe” Four Loko would be off store shelves by December 13^th.

Alas: today is December 13^th.

College students are mourning the passing of the maligned beverage with candlelight vigils and Facebook message boards. (“R.I.P Four Loko we miss you and I want more,” one fan writes.) Philadelphia chef Matt Levin is memorializing Four Loko tonight with a three-course Four Loko dinner at Adsum restaurant. Simone Wilson at LA Weekly recommends that you remember your favorite drink by making this Christmas “a Four Loko Christmas.” (Nothing says I love you, Mom like Four Loko earrings from eBay!)

Today’s a sad day for Four Loko fans—but a happy day for anyone smart enough to stock up on original recipe Four Loko before store shelves were cleaned out. Today is the last day of $2.50 Four Loko purchases; tomorrow the black market bidding begins in earnest.

After all, if there’s one lesson we should have learned from the Four Loko saga, it’s this: nothing makes a product more popular with America’s youth than being the target of a federal witch-hunt.

Photo Credit: Flickr Photostream.