Energy shots: what will marketers dream up next?
A few months ago, the Committee on Nutrition of the American Academy of Pediatrics published a position paper on sports and energy drinks in the diets of children and adolescents.
The committee distinguished sports from energy drinks:
Sports drinks: beverages that may contain carbohydrates, minerals, electrolytes, and flavoring and are intended to replenish water and electrolytes lost through sweating during exercise.
Energy drinks: also contain substances that act as nonnutritive stimulants, such as caffeine, guarana, taurine, ginseng, l-carnitine, creatine, and/or glucuronolactone, with purported ergogenic or performance-enhancing effects.
The operative word is “purported.” The committee’s tough conclusion:
The use of sports drinks in place of water on the sports field or in the school lunchroom is generally unnecessary.
Stimulant-containing energy drinks have no place in the diets of children or adolescents.
For the record, PepsiCo spent $113 million to market Gatorade in 2010 (says Advertising Age).
The committee was concerned about the effects of high-dose caffeine on kids. Although its report did not distinguish energy drinks from energy shots, its conclusion undoubtedly applies to those too. Energy shots are more concentrated versions of energy drinks.
This is a big issue because pediatricians are concerned about the marketing of all of these caffeine-laden drinks to kids. Marketers, the Nutrition Committee says, are pushing energy drinks to kids as low-calorie “healthier” alternatives.
BeverageDaily.com asked Red Bull, the leading energy shot seller, about its marketing practices. The company denies marketing its shots to kids.
We do not market our product to children and other caffeine sensitive people…The authors of this report seem to be unaware that the American Beverage Association (ABA) and also the European Beverage Association (UNESDA) have already agreed codes of practice for the marketing and labelling of energy drinks.
Maybe, but energy shots are the new hot product, so hot that FoodNavigator-USA.com has just devoted a special report to them. Sales are booming. The only concern? Can they continue? Or, will they be replaced by the even hotter new thing: energy strips?
Energy shots special edition: Flash in the pan or the runaway success story of the decade? Cynics said they would never catch on. Who would cough up $2.99 for a mouthful of caffeine, taurine and vitamins when you can enjoy a coffee and a snack – or a whole can of your favourite energy drink – for the same price?.. Read
Energy shot market still has significant growth potential, say researchers: While it might not be able to sustain its early “meteoric” growth rates, the energy shots market still has significant growth potential and can potentially target a far wider audience than energy drinks, market researchers have predicted… Read
5-hour Energy increases grip on energy shots market: 5-hour Energy’s grip on the US energy shot market has tightened further in the past year, with the brand now accounting for nine out of every $10 spent in the burgeoning category… Read
Hain Celestial scores industry first with refrigerated energy shot: Hain Celestial will break new ground in the burgeoning shots market this fall with the launch of the first refrigerated energy shot… Read
Does the energy shot market have room for a new player? A David vs Goliath battle is set to be waged in the US energy shots sector as two ex-Marines seek to carve out a niche in a market so competitive that even Red Bull has thrown in the towel and made a sharp exit… Read
5-Hour Energy ramps up from seven to nine million bottles a week: 5-Hour Energy is now selling nine million bottles of its energy shots a week compared with seven million last year, a 28% rise in volume, the firm has revealed… Read
Monster Energy maker: Continued growth of energy drinks ‘remarkable’: The US energy drinks sector is continuing to generate “quite remarkable” growth despite the depressing economic climate and high gas prices, according to the owner of Monster Energy drinks and Worx Energy shots… Read
Red Bull cans energy shots and Cola in US (but not Europe): Global energy drink leader Red Bull has taken a rare step back by withdrawing Red Bull Cola and Red Bull Energy Shots from the US market – but says it has no plans to withdraw the products from the other 20 markets where they are sold… Read
Entrepreneur: Energy strips could be worth $1bn in 3-5 years: The entrepreneur behind Sheets Energy Strips – novel dissolvable strips delivering an instant hit of caffeine and B vitamins – says the category could be worth $1bn in the next three-to-five years… Read
These products are about making a fortune selling potentially harmful beverages under the guide of “healthy” to anyone wanting a quick caffeine fix.
They are about marketing, not health.
Water anyone?
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Comments
“We do not market our product to children…”
That is a baldfaced lie. On more than one occasion I’ve seen Red Bull trucks pull up next to playgrounds and parks and hand out dozens of free cans to crowds of unsupervised children.
These awful “beverages” take up a lot of space in the Walgreen’s cooler, which I noticed when I went there for some half-and-half. I was wondering about that–now I know. So sad. We seem to be moving in the wrong direction as a society. I saw at least three people under 18 grabbing these things while I was looking for my half-and-half–nice to know they aren’t being marketed to!
What on earth is a dose of B vitamins supposed to do for anyone?
At a conference here in the UK I heard a story about how a school had worked with the local Tesco Metro (a Tesco convenience store) to remove energy drinks from the shelves as students had been going there and buying them at lunchtime. Quite an amazing story but I doubt it will be repeated elsewhere.
I wrote a piece about these products – there was one yesterday called Pep Pod – tablets you put in water with the same ingredients. They were offering a free sample – I looked on Amazon and they were $1.50 each!! $14.99 for 10!
I think a product that is harmless, but just as ridiculous, are the ionic bracelets you wear for energy!!
> What on earth is a dose of B vitamins supposed to do for anyone?
Well, actually – it could do quite a bit, depending on the quantity and the quality of the dose. Many, many people have D & B levels that are way too low. It’s not the B vitamins you should be worried about, anyway.
eat a well rounded diet that avoids blood sugar spikes. get a good night sleep. and drink water. nothing else is needed. the nutritionally ignorant are the ones falling for the marketing of this crap.
educate yourself and educate your kids.
5 hour energy’s warning label states:
“Do not take if you are pregnant or nursing, or under 12 years of age. If you are taking medication and/or have a medical condition, consult your doctor before use.” The actual font on the bottle makes difficult to read.
If products were truly not marketed to children, or companies wanted to discourage use of their product by children and adolescents 12 -18 years old, wouldn’t the age warning be a lot higher? Or is this just another indication that companies are fully aware that 12 years olds (and maybe even younger kids) are consumers?
YouTube is loaded with videos of children/adolescents tasting, testing, and reporting on their favorite energy drinks.
My only sports drink, though I drink it rarely and only after vigorous exercise involving a lot of sweating, is pure, natural coconut water. I don’t do or need energy anything because I don’t eat or drink anything that’s going to cause a spike–and subsequent crash–in my blood sugar levels, especially before participating in exercise of any kind. Education, education, education–that’s the ticket to freedom from falling prey to marketing ploys.
In Russia you see many young people drink beer partly because it is marketed as being more nutritious and healthier than vodka.
I work 2 jobs; one of them being 3rd shift. I use 5hour energy once or twice a week to help me get through a shift when I just do not have time for a cup of coffee (5hr energy has the same amount of caffeine as one cup of coffee. Hardly anything to worry about.), or when I’ve had a seriously crappy day of sleeping (ever worked 3rd shift? It’s not easy.) I usually split one bottle for the whole day (1/2 a bottle every 4 hrs). This works fine for me. If you’re going to use an energy shot, 5hr Energy is the best one on the market. It has very, very little sugar (4 g. total) and only 40 calories, so it does not cause a sugar crash. I eat a very, very healthy, largely vegetarian diet, and drink mostly water and green tea through-out the day, but sometimes that just isn’t enough for a 50 hour work week with maybe 5 hours of sleep a day.
I agree that these products should only be marketed to adults. Children have no reason to use them. For adults though…well, if I need one I need one, and it’s my decision and nobody else’s.
[...] of all ages. This short article found on the American Academy of Pediatrics website, and this blog on Marion Nestle’s website, should be all you need to better educate yourself on this [...]
[...] of all ages. This short article found on the American Academy of Pediatrics website, and this blog on Marion Nestle’s website, should be all you need to better educate yourself on this [...]