Don’t look now but the monster is coming to get you! No…not that kind of monster
- the top 10 untold truths about Monster Energy Drinks.
Natural Monster
You might be surprised to learn that Monster Energy Drink was created in a laboratory by
Hansen's Natural. This is a soft drink brand long associated with healthier alternatives
to big brand sugary sodas. The company has been around since the 1930s and is a family
owned business started by Hubert Hanson and his sons. Hanson's Natural started as a fruit
juice company, but in the 1970s the company decided to get into the soda business. The
company was able to find a niche as an alternative soft drink maker who marketed sodas with real
fruit juices. Things started to change in 2002 when Hanson's Natural debuted a new product
called Monster Energy Drink. To say the new drink was a great success would be an understatement.
Annual revenues exploded from $50 million to $1.7 billion dollars. But how natural really,
are Monster Energy Drinks? Like a lot of things, it's relative because Hanson's Natural does
use some fruit juices and other natural ingredients in its sodas. Monster Energy Drinks contain
ginseng, caffeine, niacin, B12 and some taurine. Taurine is an amino acid that helps your body
digest fats. Compared to the big brand sodas it seems like Monster is relatively healthy.
Monster Mash
The original Monster Energy drink debuted in 2002 with six variations, but since that
time the number of styles has grown to nine and the total number of flavors stands at
34. The original Monster Energy doesn't list a specific flavor on its packaging, but some
people have described it as having a slight apple taste. The styles are categories such
as Rehab, Muscle Ultra, Java and Hydro. Within the Rehab style, which is tea based there
are several flavors such as white dragon, lemonade, pink lemonade peach tea and orangeade
and raspberry tea. The Muscle Style of Monster Energy drink has the addition of protein so
these can be used as a post workout and recovery drink to help you build muscle. This style
of Monster drink only comes in chocolate and vanilla. For those people who love Monster,
but want fewer calories have the option of choosing the Ultra Style of flavors. These
healthier options include the zero-calorie flavors like absolutely zero, sunrise, and
citron. With all these different styles and flavors there are more than enough choices
for even the pickiest of tastes.
Extremely Monster
There are plenty of celebrities that are sponsored by the popular beverage. The company also
favors musical acts like the rapper Lil Xan and the colorfully named Five Finger Death
Punch. The singer DaniLeigh has been one of Monster's biggest musical stars to date. In
February 2020 the company announced she would be headlining the upcoming Monster Outbreak
Tour. Most of its customers are kids, especially boys so it's no surprise that Monster likes
to sponsor car racing, video game players, BMX bikers. These are generally thought of
as extreme sports that are popular with teenage boys who are looking for their next adrenaline
rush. In 2017 the company signed a deal with NASCAR which is all about adrenaline so this
partnership seems destined to be a success. Monster is a big presence at both the Summer
and Winter X Games. These games feature sports like skateboarding and snow boarding, respectively
and are a big draw on ESPN. Always looking for a new opportunity to reach a younger customer
base, Monster has stepped into the ring and started to sponsor MMA fighters. The beverage
company was one of the forces behind the recent UFC 251 Fight island held in Dubai in July
2020. Monster certainly seems to know who its customer base is and is aggressively marketing
to them. These efforts have paid off because Monster Energy is second only to Red Bull
in the war for energy drink supremacy.
Monster in the Court Room
Monster Energy Drink's marketing efforts have tried to portray the brand as cool and hip
- associating itself with young musicians and extreme athletes. This is the picture
Monster wants its customers to see, but the reality is a little different. The beverage
maker has actually been quite litigious - suing anyone who is unlucky enough to come to its
attention. Monster jealously guards its name against attempts to use similar names. Even
though Monster Energy sells drinks, it pursued legal action against a company called MonsterFishKeepers.com
arguing it was guilty of copyright infringement. This might seem a little silly but a lot is
at stake in cases like these. In this case the fish company successfully defended itself,
but a case like this also serves to put other businesses on notice that Monster Energy is
lurking out there somewhere waiting to pounce. Some people argue that Monster has engaged
in a nasty practice called "trademark bullying." This is a tactic where a company uses its
rights to a trademark to harass other businesses. Apparently even monsters are thin skinned
because the company sued a website because it gave them a bad review. For a giant company
with global sales in the billions of dollars this seems particularly petty. So far, however,
Monster seems to have been able to maintain its image as a cool, hip company in tune with
the younger generation even though it throws its weight around in the courtroom.
Hot Monsters
The same young men who like energy drinks, loud music and thrilling sports also tend
to appreciate a beautiful young woman. It probably doesn't come as a shock then that
Monster Energy has a troop of young women who are part of the company's marketing efforts
to capture the attention of young men. Think Laker Girls or Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders
with a slightly harder edge and you've got the Monster Girls. Monster Energy has collected
an international bevy of beauties that includes Ashley from the United States, Danelle from
South Africa, Yesenia from Mexico and Alena from the Czech Republic. Monsterenergy.com
has a feature called Monster Girl Monday, but fans have to access content exclusively
at Monster's channels. The site isn't very clear on what kind of content fans can expect,
but it says the girls will brighten your day. The Monster Girls were in Dubai in October
2019 as part of Monster's marketing efforts to support a dune buggy rally held in the
desert. Are the Monster Girls just another collection of pretty faces? Perhaps, but it
seems to be working for Monster.
No Monsters in India
There are plenty of things to drink in India, but one thing they don't have anymore are
Monster Energy drinks. The main problem the Indian government had with this particular
energy drink was the combination of caffeine and ginseng. Caffeine, of course, is a stimulant
and ginseng has a bit of a calming effect, so in 2015 the Food Safety and Standards
Authority of India (FSSAI) decided that these ingredients would essentially cancel each
other out so what was the point? We know the point was to sell a lot of Monster Energy
drinks to people who could be convinced that the beverage actually gave them a little energy
boost. There was also a report that the FFSAI had an issue with the amount of caffeine the
drinks contain and that some of the drinks that were tested apparently contained higher
levels of caffeine than advertised. It's unclear whether the Indian government acted on its
own or was prompted to do so by consumers complaints. Despite the nationwide ban however,
stores were still selling the popular beverages a month after the ban went into place. Tzinga
and Cloud 9, two similar energy drinks were also banned by the FSSAI for similar reasons.
Indian officials responded by saying it would take some time for the recall to fully go
into effect. Maybe the conflicting ingredients don't make a whole lot of sense, but why not
leave it up to the consumer to decide?
Sugar Monster
Soda drinkers know that their favorite bubbly beverages contain a lot of sugar. Soda companies
know their customers know this and it's why they offer calorie free "diet" versions of
their drinks. Monster Energy drinks are billed as something different than your average Coke
or Pepsi because they include some exotic ingredients like taurine and ginseng. But
not only does a 16 oz. can of the original Monster flavor have 160 mg of caffeine it
also has a whopping 54 gm of sugar. 54 gm of sugar is equal to 13 teaspoons. This eye
opening amount is supposedly mitigated by the fact that a 16 oz. can is recommended
to be two servings, but how many kids split their can of Monster with a friend? This combination
of sugar and caffeine has fueled many a late night marathon video game session, but at
the cost of precious sleep and probably a few teeth. Because they know not everyone
wants that much sugar in a drink Monster Energy does offer sugar free choices in the form
of the Ultra Style varieties such as Absolutely Zero. One of the problems with sugary drinks
is that many people, especially young people, may not be aware how many calories some drinks
can have. A 16 ounce can of Monster contains 220 calories so if someone drinks a couple
of these a day the calories add up fast. If customers are willing to trade some of the
taste for calories the zero calories options make sense, but what kid wants to be lectured
about these kinds of things.
Monsters v. Beasties
It's a bit convoluted, but the rap group Beastie Boys and Monster Energy Drink got themselves
embroiled in a nasty legal fight. The drama began in 2012 after a DJ named Z-Trip was
given a cut of a Beastie Boys megamix recorded at a music festival inspired by Monster Energy
Drinks. Monster Energy asked the DJ about the music and he responded by saying "Dope!"
The folks at Monster thought this gave the company permission to use the track as part
of its online advertising. But not so fast said DJ Z-Trip who argued he hadn't given
his permission to Monster to use it. The resulting law suit revolved around the actual meaning
of the word "dope" and what Z-Trip had meant when he said it. The other issue in the case
was whether or not use of the music by Monster Energy Drink constituted an endorsement by
the Beastie Boys of Monster. This case sounds pretty silly in the grand scheme of things,
but the outcome was fairly serious: The Beastie Boys were awarded $1.7 million for their trouble. The
Boys went back to court, however, to try to recoup the money they'd spent on lawyers.
This case dragged on until 2016 and the final settlement involved a nondisclosure agreement
so we don't know how much they got. Any chance the Beastie Boys enjoy a Monster now and then?
Monster Brews
Monster Energy drinks are billed as somewhat healthy drinks that provide a little bit of
a boost for young people pushing their limits on a skate board or in their basement playing
the latest video game. However, because people are people, it wasn't long before some started
to experiment with mixing Monster Energy with different kinds of alcohol. With 34 flavors
of Monster Energy drinks and counting and well.. a lot of different kinds of alcohol
the possibilities seem to be endless. As far as energy drinks go, Monster is probably a
good choice for a mixer because it doesn't have a strong flavor that would interfere
too much with the taste of your alcohol of choice - only compliment it. The part that
doesn't make sense to a lot of people is the idea that you'd want to mix a highly caffeinated
beverage with alcohol, which of course is not a stimulant, but a depressant. It seems
like the conflicting chemicals would sort of cancel each other out, but apparently a
growing number of drinkers enjoy these concoctions. One popular Monster cocktail combines the
energy drink with Absolut vodka and is called a Pickerdo. Another scary concoction includes
Monster, Jagermeister Herbal Liqueur and Malibu Mango Rum. The Loch Ness Monster could be
interesting: Monster, Southern Comfort, Black Label Peach Schnapps, Captain Morgan Spiced
Rum, Jose Cuervo Gold Tequila and eight other kinds of alcohol. This one actually sounds
more ridiculous than interesting, but it's certainly a monster of cocktail.
Monstrous Conspiracy
Conspiracy theories can be ridiculous, fun or even downright paranoid. The conspiracy
theories that have grown up around Monster Energy drinks are a combination of all of
these. Strange stories about this popular beverage enjoyed by millions of young people
around the world started to circulate on the Internet and social media platforms around
2009. A person put out a video that purported to explain the satanic symbolism supposedly
hiding in plane sight on Monster Energy's labels. The video presentation described the
familiar three fingered claw design as a representation of the the Hebrew "vav" or the number six.
This was said to show that the drink was displaying "666" or the sign of the beast. The problem
with this urban legend is that it apparently misunderstands how Hebrew displays numbers.
In Hebrew you would write "six hundred sixty six" instead of "six six six." However, the
satanic conspiracy didn't stop there. The conspiracy minded among us also pointed to
the "O" used in "Monster" that they say contains a cross that is turned upside down when the
can is tipped up when someone takes a sip. The problem with this one is that the the
exotic looking "O" was taken from the pre-Christian Greek symbol known as "phi." Some people want
to see nefarious patterns and global conspiracy, but it turns out that the Monster Energy drinks
are completely harmless - at least on a spiritual underworld plane.
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