Consumers might grab the wrong drink at the store, but the Illinois Liquor Control Commission has a plan to help. The problem is confusion over co-branded products, such as regular Lipton Iced Tea versus Lipton Hard Tea according to Executive Director Lisa Gardner. “When these products started hitting the marketplace in fall of last year, when Hard Mountain Dew started hitting the sales floor, the commission started receiving calls about just about how similar they look,” said Gardner.
As a result, the commission has filed an emergency rule, which it hopes to make permanent. It prohibits large retailers from displaying products with booze right by regular soda, water, juice and some snacks. Smaller stores could either do that as well or post signage indicating the drink contains alcohol.