Issue 06
A Brief History of Energy Drinks
By Jeff PenaltyIllustration By Secret Pizza Party
Aside from the jet packs and the monkey overlords, one of the things that science fiction promised us in the new millennium was food in convenient pill form. But reality cheated our imaginations on every level. Instead of jet packs, we got Segway scooters. Instead of monkeys, we got the Bush administration. And instead of food pills, we got energy drinks.
Packed with caffeine, taurine, and B vitamins, energy drinks are the current synthetic fuel of choice for the world’s economic machine. More energy means more hours and more productivity. So as life’s pace quickens, the energy drink market expands. And frankly, it’s getting a little out of hand, with sales of energy drinks in the U.S. Ballooning 61 percent in 2005 alone, according to Beverage Digest.
It all started in Japan, when Taisho Pharmaceuticals released a drink called Lipovitan-D in 1962. It contained a mix of B1, B2, and B6 vitamins, along with niacin and taurine, all of which are metabolic agents intended to boost energy and concentration. “Tonic drink s”soon grew in popularity in Asia and, in 1987, an Austrian named Dietrich Mateschitz took the concept, added caffeine and sugar, and formulated Red Bull, which quickly became popular in Europe.
Around the same time, Americans were accessorizing their all-night Atari marathons with Jolt Cola, which was advertised as having “all the sugar and twice the caffeine” of Coke. When Red Bull hit the market in the U.S., they had to carve the niche alone,so traditional marketing and branding strategies wouldn’t work. They started sponsoring non-traditional athletes(no, not in-line skaters; more like kite sailors and sky surfers) and began an annual event called Flugtag, in which amateur aviators build their own stylized aircraft and compete to see who can fly the farthest over water. And when Red Bull started marketing their drink to bars as a cocktail mixer, its popularity skyrocketed.
Red Bull remains the top name in energy drinks to this day, with global sales estimated at about $2 billion annually. That’s not to say there isn’t competition. Dozens upon dozens of brands flood the energy drink market. It’s hard to say how many, exactly, because upstart companies come and go, but heavy-hitters like Coca-Cola, Pepsi, and Anheuser-Busch have all developed their own energy drinks. Jolt Cola has been re-branded as an energy drink; it now comes in a can shaped like a big battery. Hansen, a natural soda company, entered the game with Monster Energy. Rockstar, the first energy drink to make itself available in 16- and 24-ounce cans, has been in third place behind Red Bull and Monster for a while, but Coca-Cola recently inked a deal to distribute the drink. Yes, Rockstar has finally signed with a major label.
Speaking of major labels, a signature energy drink is quickly becoming standard-issue for the big names in hip-hop. Ice-T hit the market with Liquid Ice. Nelly bitch-slaps your taste buds with his Pimp Juice. Lil’ Jon keeps the party going with Crunk.
Master P partnered with Who’s Your Daddy, Inc., to release King of Energy. Russell Simmons pushes Def Con 3. Raw Dawg energy drink doesn’t identify with any one particular artist, but it similarly gears its marketing towards urban youth by sponsoring events like 50 Cent’s first concert in Puerto Rico.
In such a crowded industry, marketing is definitely the name of the game. Most energy drink companies target their efforts towards men, deemed to be the turbocharged-er of the sexes, but,says Brett Jacobson of Her, the first energy drink marketed specifically to women, there’s nonsense in ignoring more than half the population simply because their caffeine jones doesn’t trump their desire for a pick-me-up that tastes at least slightly better than cough syrup. Red Bull currently spends about 30 percent of its revenue on marketing, compared to Coca- Cola, which spends a mere 9 percent. But that’s the price of doing business when you’ve got competitors like Go Fast! Energy drink promoting their product by launching several cans into space via a small rocket. Or when you’re trying to keep pace with Kabbalah Energy Drink, officially endorsed by Ashton Kutcher and Madonna. No, I’m actually not making that up. It’s got Kabbalah water in it.
All the marketing in the world, however, hasn’t convinced the French, Danish, or Norwegian governments to legalize high caffeine energy drinks in their countries, and Argentina recently became the fourth country to outlaw such beverages. Other governments and food safety agencies have also raised concerns about whether the drinks pose health risks. To research such a matter is to wade through a scientific point/counterpoint debate so thick that one would need a 24-ounce can of low-carb Monster just to read through all the applicable articles. While many are apprehensive about potential dangers, the bottom line seems to be that energy drinks are probably no worse for you than strong coffee, and should therefore be treated accordingly (in other words, drink in moderation and don’t give it to kid s). Taurine, one of the main ingredients in most energy drinks, hasn’t been the subject of any long-term studies,so the jury is still out on that one. On one hand, taurine is produced naturally in the body,so it should be harmless , but on the other hand it is possible that too much taurine could be a bad thing, and the effect of combining it with caffeine and other ingredients has yet to be fully explored.
But even if a major news story were to break tomorrow claiming that all energy drinks are made from the blood of orphans and that taurine causes hair loss and acute leprosy, the stuff is undoubtedly here to stay. With any luck, they’ll keep our nation’s scientists awake long enough to finally give us our damn jet packs!