New energy drink Blow looks like Cocaine causes controversy
83BLOW packaged like a cocaine Kit
Just when you think greed can get no worse something comes along that makes you want to be come an activist. This new energy drink Blow is packaged like a vial of cocaine, and comes complete with a mirror and credit card. It is not meant to be snorted but mixed with water. Every marketing tactic used by this company is meant to glorify cocaine and to tie that into the drink. A similar product was recalled by Hershey Co called ice breakers that sold mints in little envelopes that mimiced drug packets. The outrage of Blow is new but bound to grow as more news outlets, parent groups and substance groups learn of its immoral marketing campaign.
A look at the companies website
ILOVEBLOW.com is the drinks website. On the home page pictures of young barely dressed women are placed next to the drinks name BLOW which is written in a way to look like cocaine lines were cut to spell the letters. On the bootom of the page is written " pure uncut energy" "uncut" being another reference to cocaine.
So the creator of this drink names the drug after the street name for cocaine, embraces the slogan " Iloveblow" , uses young women as models, multiple slang terms for the drug and displays cocaine lines as text. I don' think I have ever been so disgusted with greed in my life.
Clicking on the "get blow" tab takes you to the products. The first being "12 Vial Brick (includes stickers and tattoo"
Brick is a term used for a package of cocaine. I am not sure what tattos have to do with energy drinks but I am sure this is another attempt to tie the drink in with a drug sub culture.
The next is called " The Stash Box Sampler Pack" stashbox being another term used with illegal drugs
and we also have: "The Recreational User Pack" and "The Fiender's Hook-Up"
Clearly this company has no conscious when it comes to exploiting drugs to sell their product with by all accounts is aimed towards children.
The Wear tab brings you to the products clothing line which once again stresses it's catchphrase ILoveBlow
More junk on the site
More crap can be found under the stuff tab featuring tattoos and the credit card that even has some white powder pictured on the corner.
These people are really sick
The Contacts page features a photo of a speedboat being pursued by a helicopter complete with a gunner aiming at them. Another attempt to glorify the drink and the drug trade.
Fox news questions the products intent
Another thread in the death shroud of civility
Products like this are just an example of the decay of our society. Apparently it is perfectly legal to exploit addiction and children , I question the lack of morality that lets something like this even come into existence. Beyond the sick greedy mind who came up with the concept, people had to market it, package it, deliver it ect. You would hope that the chain would be disrupted somewhere along the line by someones objections to this line of marketing. So far it has brought the pubilicty that I assume was desired. The sad part is that this will come to the publics attention when children start snorting this powder because of the marketing strategies used to sell it.
More outrage
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Comments
I think it is a brilliant marketing strategy that has got Logan Gola laughing all the way to the bank. He knew what he was doing, believe me.....see my take on it here: http://hubpages.com/_vajs531wdt59/hub/Blown-Away-C or not, but I do agree w/ you that this is definately exploitation of children, but come on, don't tell me other's have not done the same thing and gotten away with it as well. Here we are, you and me, using Google adsense to help make money on the product or other's like it.....does that make us terrible, or are we just trying to make a buck like anyone else. Does this make us any better than them? I am referring to my own hub on it as well. I am sure this is going to get people going, but hey, I like a good controversy, don't you!!!
Well to be honest with you I did feel bad by drawing attention to it but there is a clear difference between reporting it and selling it. As far as others doing it, this is by far the most blatent, ignorant use of marketing I have ever seen. This is where free speach is threatened because things like this should be outlawed. This is the type of issue that people should rally behind. If we keep glorifying sex and drugs and violence to kids we can expect nothing less than the crap we are shocked by when we see the evening news!
I agree that this sort of marketing is blatantly taking advantage of the glamour often associated with cocaine abuse, However what about our moral obligations as responsible adults and parents to teach our kids the difference between pretend and reality? Blame this company all you want but it is the same as blaming video games for Columbine and any number of violent school shootings since. The problem lies not in some product or marketing campaigne it is the fact that the so called parents have not bothered to take the time to explain to their kids that pretend is pretend. I mean my friends and I used to run around pretending sticks were guns and I have yet to feel the desire to kill or harm anyone. I was a kid when joe camel was still around and the marlboro man as well and yet I have never and do not intend to smoke. It comes back to personal responsibility. Remember it is your responsibility to teach your kids right from wrong not the TV or marketing department.
I think freedom of speech should extend to the way products are marketed as well . Ultimately the consumer will decide if they want the product; that is the only means of determining what is "good" as far as a product in concerned .
Parents should be more worried about what their children are doing and why they want to do it then and spend less time worrying and things like these .
But do you not see how products like these influence what kids are doing?
As long as there not breaking any laws let the consumers decide......
We live in a SICK and CONFUSED world where DRUGS make money ! Great HUB...http://nuurl.us/f5ea6
hey, did you notice we were both on the first page of google w/ our hubs articles....
djtphn1 your link in this comment section is dead.. and theirs a comment in the addy which may be the problem..
Based on SAMHSA's 2002 and 2003 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, more than 5.9 million Americans aged 12 or older (2.5%) used cocaine in the past year. Males were more than twice as likely as females to have used cocaine in the past year and to have met the criteria for abuse of or dependence on cocaine in the past year.Incidence of cocaine use generally rose throughout the 1970s to a peak in 1980 (1.7 million new users) and subsequently declined until 1991 (0.7 million new users). Cocaine initiation steadily increased during the 1990s, reaching 1.2 million in 2001. Age-specific incidence rates generally have mirrored the overall incidence trends, with greater initiation among adults than among youths under 18. Approximately 70% of cocaine initiates in 2001 were age 18 or older. Since 1975, males have generally comprised the majority of cocaine initiates. In 2001, there were 0.7 million new male users and 0.5 million new female users. The average age of cocaine initiates rose from 18.6 years in 1968 to 23.8 years in 1990 and subsequently declined to approximately 21 years from 1995 to 2001. I guess they have a lot of consumers that would be intrested huh?
I don't get it, they banned candy cigarettes and gum cigars, but they will allow this? Somethings wrong here!
I think the whole " energy drink" industry is due for a shock. Many countries ban the sale due to the harmful chemical ingredients. I am not one who is into big government but things like this are just exploitation of capitalism. Even if you leave out the marketing, the side effects of all of the overstimulation these drinks cause can be deadly. It is amusing that people are crying about lead in chinese toys, 2nd hand smoke and fat in french fries yet there is no outcry that we are creating little fat diabetic speedfreak children. We label them ADD and give them more drugs, but nobody wants to go after the marketing manipulation. I bet many of the posters saying that parents should watch their kids are the same people who expect national free healthcare....I guess the mommy state shudl be ala carte?
As parents we can watch our kids as closely as possible and still have things get to them. There are six of us kids in my family. All raised by the same parents, 3 turned out to go on to lead normal lives and 3 are still struggling today with addictions. My parents did not drink or do drugs, except my dad had an occasional beer.
I'm not an energy drink fan but my husband was, after I explained to him about the effects drinking 3 or more a day could do he quit them.
I was going through a period when I was working out and not drinking and when I went to a bar I would drink redbull all night. I swear my gums started bleeding every few days! Plus My friends told me I wouldn't shut up all night !
Funnebone
I am amazed that this actually was not a joke, but then again, maybe not. If someone has thought of it, it has been marketed. There are so many "freedon of whatever" issues involved in free enterprise, that I guess the only thing we can actually do is strive to have better education in the homes and rely on stronger family values. I for one, would hope that open communication with my children on the subject, teaching them values that are responsible, prayer (lots of it!), and sheer abstinance from the product would speak volumes. If we didn't buy it they wouldn't sell it.
I LIIIIIIIIIIIIKE it!
The suppliers of this stuff should be free to sell this stuff. The problem is that there are people who buy it. Just like buying illegal (and legal) drugs. Somewhat a sad commentary on the maturity of consumers.
Had no idea about this product, and ugh not my style, glad we get to chose what we buy!
This guy is out of his freaking mind!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It is bad enough that parents engage in talk after talk after talk to their children about the dangers of and staying away from drugs. This guy is just trying a make a buck for himself with no regard to the safety and welfare of the next generation. YOU IDIOT!!
i bought the "Brick" of blow and found out from them that the "brick, mirror and credit card" are not included,rather you get a dinky box with a ups shipping label on it and the mix, stickers and a tattoo...i was a little upset so i called and found out that you DO NOT recieve the credit card or mirror...it was the press release according to the CSR i spoke to...not avaliable to the public, yet every news report you watch says it includes a mirror and credit card.
the credit card is offered under the stuff category....sorry your purchase wasn't up to snuff..haha get it
Wow, all I can say is "thank you thank you thank you". I am new to using drugs and I am not familiar with all the 'drug lingo'.....your article taught me more about buying, using..(and hopefully distributing) drugs than I could have learned in 5 Google searches. I look forward to more of of drug education.
I would actually suggest Blow before I suggested "Lighting Bolt." Check this out:
helenathegreat says:
2 years ago
I saw a short documentary on this, and I think that the extent to which some people are outraged is a little extreme, but I still don't think that this drink should be allowed to be marketed in this way. It is glorifying drug culture way too obviously. You get a credit card with the kit that says, "Dealer since ____"? That's just wrong. Great hub!