A Brief (and Ugly) History of Malt Liquor

The history of malt liquor is a history that is shrouded in racism. Call it what it is: a series of marketing campaigns that sexualized women and targeted minority communities and individuals across the United States. Racism plagues retail, distribution, and service sectors of this industry and it is important that we talk about it.

Malt liquor has been around since the 1930s. It was born of the Depression and the rationing during World War II, when brewers didn’t have enough malt to make beer. By the mid 1960s, malt liquor companies had begun advertising specifically to a BIPOC clientele, and over the next two decades, that advertising grew more and more raunchy.  

In the mid 1980s Colt 45 brought on Billy Dee Williams as a spokesperson. His famous tagline was “The power of Colt 45, it works every time,” with ads showing Williams holding a can of Colt 45 with a woman touching him suggestively.  In 1986, the first poster for a new malt liquor called Midnight Dragon featured a black woman dressed in red, garters showing, straddling a chair and sipping a 40 through a straw. The caption read: “I could SUCK! on this all night.”

Couple these campaigns with the fact that for the money, you get more alcohol for your buck as compared to a beer (3.5% vs 5.6%-8%), and you’ve got a drink made for inner city youth. 

40s were first introduced beginning in the mid-80's and cited as a "retailer and consumer convenience." Store owners took to them for their shelf space appeal, taking up less space than your standard 6 pack.

In the wake of their introduction to the market, national malt liquor consumption has increased to 82.9 million 2.5-gallon cases in 1992 from 73.6 million in 1989, according to the Jobson Publishing Corporation's Beer Handbook, which predicts sales of 97.8 million cases this year. 

And the reason for the sales? More alcohol for less $$.

Today in 2021 we see malt liquor taking the form of White Claw, Smirnoff Ice, FourLoko, Truly, Vizzy, Bud Light Seltzer, Corona Hard Seltzer… we can go on but you get the idea. 

The hard seltzers many of us throw back today are brands that were built upon the exploitation of minority communities, and over time marketing shifted to target all young Americans. The hard seltzer market hit the ground running in 2018 with $500 million in sales. This year? $4 Billion.