Cocaine Energy Drink Un-Shelved

Redux Beverages, makers of the energy drink Cocaine, is withdrawing the product from the market, at least until it can devise a new name and packaging, according to the New York Times. This is the sort of business story that makes you wonder what in the hell these people were thinking. Ah, yes, here's what they were thinking according to Clegg Ivey, a partner in the venture:

“Of course, we intended for Cocaine energy drink to be a legal alternative the same way that celibacy is an alternative to premarital sex,” Mr. Ivey said. “It’s not the same thing and no one thinks it is. Our product doesn’t have any cocaine in it. No one thinks that it does.”

“We like to think we have a great sense of humor,” he said. “And our market, primarily folks from ages 20 to 30, they love the ideas, they love the name, they love the whole campaign. These are not drug users.”

Sure they love the campaign. They probably also enjoy the red and white design of the can with the quasi-printed looking logo running vertically, a clear take-off on Coca-Cola. But, again, what in the hell were they thinking? Of course a business wants to make money, but people do have responsibilities beyond financial gain. Generating to the backslide of the collective mentality does no one any good in the long run. We've seen this recently in talk radio with Imus getting booted for racist remarks. There's plenty of criticism of the more destructive and misogynistic practicioners of hiphop and rap. We have so-called teen television channels pouring forth an alarming amount of sex, drugs, and other uncontrolled behavior, all to garner ratings and higher advertising prices. There should be some thiings that people are ashamed to do for money, and such activities are at the top of the list. By trading on sex or drugs, for example, they are simply legal forms of prostitution and drug dealing, except not as straightforward and honest.