Oh, I love this track!

I’m a sucker for packaging, I’ll fully admit it. Visual stimulation. It can make or break my buying power as a consumer. I’ve had one too many shitty bottles of wine for this very reason…if the bottle looks cool or it’s got a neat eye catching label, chances are, I’ve tried it. The same goes with a product’s name. Staying with the wine theme…Red Bicyclette, Yellow Cab, Red Truck, Fat Bastard, Marilyn Merlot…I’ve tried them all. Which, that being said, is why I have taken quite an interest in the Cocaine energy drink story.

So there’s this new drink on the market, some of its slogans being, “Speed in a Can,” “Liquid Cocaine,” and “Cocaine – Instant Rush.” The politics of branding have caused Redux Beverages LLC to pull this product from shelves nationwide due to the addictive sounding name. Redux dismissed the FDA warning that the drink was being illegally marketed as “a street drug alternative and a dietary supplement” with a bit of tongue-in-cheek statement that I found quite humorous: “Of course, we intended for Cocaine energy drink to be a legal alternative the same way that celibacy is an alternative to premarital sex. It’s not the same thing and no one thinks it is.”

So, the reasoning behind all of this is that kids might get the wrong idea. Hmm. In the words of a dear friend (that’s you, EO), “A drink named after an illicit drug? OH NO! Call the cavalry!”…or something like that…you get the gist. Of course he is also a true proponent in the “survival of the fittest” notion, if you will...do away with all child proofing and safety precautions and the dumb ones will kill themselves off, curing stupidity one accidental death at a time…or something like that…you get the gist.

Anyway, the idea that the FDA should have the right to tell companies how to market their products, should do more than their responsibility to deem the food labeled correctly and safe to consume, is absurd. I chuckled a bit at one article I read, which stated, “Ben & Jerry's could get in trouble for selling flavors like "Chubby Hubby" (promoting obesity), "Dave Matthew's Magic Brownies" (promoting drug use) and "From Russia With Buzz" (promoting alcoholism). Heck, the makers of Rockstar energy drink might be next for promoting a lifestyle largely perceived to involve copious amounts of drugs and casual sex? Or how about Mountain Dew, for encouraging extremely dangerous sports? The list goes on and on...”

Long live edgy brands and their trendy websites!

Currently listening to: Old School - Koko Taylor