Energy drinks' sales explode despite concerns

Homepage

Related Photos

Discussion

January 5, 2007

By JOSEPH LORD

Seth Tanner, 17, drank his first energy beverage at a friend’s home in summer 2005 — a Red Bull.

“I just went off the walls,” said Tanner, a senior at Floyd Central High School. “I was bouncing around everywhere.”

Red Bull — sometimes mixed with Gatorade — has become his preferred drink; Tanner said he drinks about one a day. He drinks Red Bull when he’s hanging out with friends, giving him an extra caffeine-driven kick during social outings.

Sometimes, he’ll pick up a Red Bull and a Gatorade to mix and drink at school.

“I have to have Red Bull,” Tanner said, smiling.

He’s not alone.

About 500-plus new energy drinks launched worldwide in 2006, pushing every envelope in an effort to rake in dollars from teenagers. The $3.4 billion-a-year industry that grew by 80 percent last year, according to The Associated Press.

Approximately 31 percent of U.S. teens — or 7.6 million — drank energy beverages last year, a jump of almost 3 million in three years.

Energy drinks’ genesis came as a beverage used primarily as a mixer in clubs and bars, said John Sicher, editor and publisher of Beverage Digest, a trade publication.

“People in their 20s drank it with vodka,” Sicher said of Red Bull, an industry forerunner. “It was seen as a very hip drink.”

Sicher said that’s still the case, but the energy drink category now is much larger in sales and consumer demographics.

“They are used in offices, and to some degree it’s becoming the afternoon counterpart to coffee in the morning,” he said. “It’s a much more mainstream beverage now that’s used to give people a jolt of energy.”

And companies aren’t subtle about advertising, often choosing a risque product name to grab consumers’ attentions.

Launched in September, Cocaine Energy Drink has turned heads with its surprisingly blatant attempts at drawing in attention to the product. According to the AP, the drink sells in only six states at a limited number of stores, but has quickly become popular among those who have tried it.

A comment left on the MySpace.com page of Cocaine Energy Drink reads like this: “Cocaine looks so freaking tight. I NEED THIS STUFF. Next weekend, me and three friends are going to take a six-hour road trip to NYC just to get our hands on this stuff.”

Users on the site even allude to buying and selling the product over eBay and shipping it across the country, where people are unable to purchase the drink.

A search for “Cocaine Energy Drink” on the popular online auction site resulted in nearly 90 listings of the product. One auction offers four cans for $21, plus $8 shipping and handling; another offers a factory-sealed case of 24 cans for $73; and one seller even offers 10 factory-sealed cases for nearly $1,100, plus the $120 for the shipping.

Hannah Kirby, of the Las Vegas-based company behind Cocaine Energy Drink, and her husband, Redux Beverage founder James Kirby, say they wanted to call the drink Reboot, but the name was taken, so they decided to be provocative.

“We knew we would get noticed against a thousand other energy drinks,” Hannah told the AP. “We knew kids would find it cool, but we also wanted to stress the idea that it’s an energy drink; you don’t need drugs.”

The Kirbys’ Cocaine Energy Drink slogan is “The Legal Alternative,” with the Web site headlining “Cocaine — Instant Rush. NO Crash!”

If the thought-provoking name and outlandish slogans aren’t enough, the makers boast the product as being 350 percent more effective than its nearest loaded competitor, Red Bull. Most sell for about $2 a can, under brands such as Red Bull, NOS, Boo-Koo, Full Throttle or Rockstar.

Nutritionists worry that these beverages, packed with caffeine and sugar, can hook kids on an unhealthy jolt-and-crash cycle. Caffeine in the drinks comes from various sources, making it difficult to determine just how much the drink actually contains.

Furthermore, some of the drinks have B vitamins, which, if taken in large doses, can cause rapid heartbeat, numbness and tingling in the hands and feet.

“I don’t think this is a good thing,” said Dr. Naveed Siddique as he looked over energy drink statistics. “Side effects of too much caffeine can be upset stomach, jitters, being nervous.”

According to Siddique, the normal daily caffeine intake for teenagers can safely range around 200 milligrams. One 16-ounce can of Rockstar contains 150 milligrams of caffeine; one same-size can of Monster contains 140 milligrams; and rounding out the charts is Cocaine Energy Drink, slamming 280 milligrams of caffeine into 8.4 ounces — at nearly half the volume of Rockstar and most other energy drinks.

“If consumption is one or two more cans, that is double or triple,” said Siddique.

He worries that too much caffeine — often mixed with high percentages of sugar — can cause irregular heartbeat rhythm or high blood pressure.

“The teen may have an underlying heart condition he doesn’t know of. It could cause him to pass out,” said Siddique.

But danger, marketing consultant Bryan Greensberg told the AP, adds to the appeal for teenagers.

“Young people need to break away from the bonds of adults and what society thinks is right,” he said. “They’ve grown up watching their parents drink Starbucks coffee, and want their own version. Heart palpitations aren’t likely to scare them off.”

Dr. Jeb Teichman, a Jeffersonville pediatrician, said he’s concerned about caffeine and the energy drinks’ sugar content and calories. He said energy drinks, with their packaging that appeals to youngsters, contributes to childhood obesity trends.

“I’d just tell them it’s a bad idea, period,” to drink energy drinks, Teichman said.

Siddique agrees that a move away from energy drinks — or any other caffeinated beverage — is as simple as healthier living.

“You don’t need energy drinks,” he said.

Still, Robbie Lopp, 15, doesn’t plan to stop drinking her preferred drink, Vault, which claims to “Drink like a soda, kicks like an energy drink.”

Lopp said he often drinks Vault, and occasionally it affects his sleep. But he doesn’t plan to quit, despite potential health risks.

“It tastes good,” said Lopp, an eighth-grade student at Highland Hills Middle School.

Tanner, the Red Bull fan, said he often “crashes” — quickly loses energy — at the end of the evening after drinking an energy drink. He tries to not drink Red Bulls late at night — when he does, he often ends up awake throughout the night.

He’s aware of the health risks, but he’s not too concerned at the moment.

“I’m 17, I have another 10 years to worry about that,” he said.

Josh Newton of the Tahlequah (Okla.) Daily Press contributed to this report.

What’s in there?:

Caffeine content of select drinks

Canned or bottled beverages (12-ounce unless noted) Milligrams of caffeine

• Rockstar (16-ounce) — 150

• Cocaine Energy Drink (8.4 ounces) — 280

• Red Bull (8.2 ounce) — 80

• Jolt — 71.2

• Mountain Dew — 55

• Pepsi-Cola — 37.5

• Coca-Cola Classic — 34

8-ounce beverages

• Coffee, drip — 115-175

• Coffee, brewed — 80-135*

• Tea, brewed U.S. brand — 40

• Tea, green — 15

*Note: The caffeine content in coffee from specialty coffee shops can vary widely, depending on how strongly it is brewed.

— National Soft Drink Association, U.S. Food and Drug Administration

Text Only | Photo Reprints

Slate Run Elementary students Carmyn Torres, left, and Sophie Wambold laugh with classmates during lunch Wednesday afternoon in New Albany. The pair have become fast friends ever since Wambold transferred to the school from Silver Street Elementary.

Moving on: Students, teachers get used to new schools at NA-FC
“You have to get to know people. You have to learn all these new names. It’s kind of scary at first. You don’t know them and they don’t know you.”

September 2, 2010 2 Photos

LATEST NEWS POSTS