Midterms are Coming Up
Everybody needs a pickup every once in a while, and many people use coffee to get them through the day. Other people decided to have energy drinks to carry them the whole day. With all of the fun flavors with exciting new tastes, there seems to be one for everybody.
Energy drinks can be found in just about any store. Go to your local corner store and it is likely that they will have some sort of energy drink. Typically this will be one of the big three; the classic Red Bull, the extremely controversial Bang Energy, or the quirky Monster Energy.
Many students feel the need to have energy drinks as they feel like school is draining their energy. Working in the classroom and then going home to study immediately after does absolutely nothing to help. This is not even considering after-school clubs and sports that many LHS students participate in.
I would like to start this with an energy drink that I have never and will never buy from because it has been in many controversies. Bang Energy, and in particular its president, constantly find themselves in hot water. Many people are intimidated by the amounts of caffeine in the drinks, not a deadly amount but definitely not a healthy amount.
Others stay away because they do not want to support John Owoc, the CEO, CSO, and owner of Bang Energy. This can be because of the false information about his drinks or the fact that a very large amount of money from Bang Energy was used in the Trump campaign.
I am clearly not the only person who feels this way as Gavin, another sophomore at LHS had this to say, “I would say that I drink a lot of energy drinks. All different types of flavors and from all different brands. But I would never purchase a Bang Energy drink, I just wouldn’t.” I totally agree, I have never bought the beverage. I have only tasted it from someone else who had bought it, after I lectured them about how bad the company is of course.
Gavin agrees with me completely on this, but he has very strong opinions about the company and more specifically their marketing.Some people just find it a bit unethical how they promote their drinks through social media. The constant berating that normal people using social media get from these “Bang Influencers” promoting the drinks seems a bit overkill. Especially when they nowhere state anywhere in the photo/video that they are being paid by Bang Energy to promote their drink.
This is bad because they legally have to say somewhere in the post that it is sponsored, even if it is just a #ad in the bio. Without this, people, and in particular children, will not be able to tell that their favorite social media influencer is making Bang Energy seem better than it truly is. This is even worse once it is considered that this is an energy drink, which is not the best for kids.
Those are not all of the reasons I will not drink Bang Energy. The taste gets repetitive and it gives me a headache. The smell alone is nauseating and the taste is even worse, also whenever I have had the unpleasant experience of having the “beverage” I feel sick to my stomach. I still do not know if that is because of whatever chemical reactions are happening in my stomach when I consume this drink or the unease of supporting this business.
Our next drink on the list is my beloved Red Bull. You might think that I have a bias in loving Red Bull so much and you would be right. The classic taste is great and there are so many good flavors to choose from. If you like a more fruity flavor, try blueberry, if you are sick of being home, get a coconut Red Bull and pretend that you are at a lovely beach in the tropics.
Ethan Terzini, a sophomore at LHS who loves Red Bull has this to say; “I always walk to 7-11 during lunch just for a Red Bull. Whenever I get a bit bored of the original flavor my go to is the blueberry. Every once in a while I’ll try a new one but they are not as good as the original or blueberry.”
Sadly Red Bull has had some controversies over the years, but not as much as another energy drink named after a dumb onomatopoeia. For about twelve years Red Bull was actually banned in France but the European Union made them unban it as the product was sold in other countries in the E.U.
They are also known for their other controversies such as the racist map. Different areas around the world were labeled different things based on harmful stereotypes. Many employees complained to higher ups that this happened, however, many of the people that made this map were themselves high ranking executives in the company. Eventually the people that made the map were terminated because of it.
Finally there is Monster Energy. This company is known for its many flavors as well as their controversy. Their very large array of flavors seems a bit overwhelming at first but everybody has one favorite after a while. Most people that I know really like the Watermelon flavor so that is the one that I would recommend. The flavor is strong but still manages to not taste like gasoline, which is something that the other flavors seem unable to do.
They are also known for the fact that they try to sue anyone that tries to use the word “Monster” or “beast” and sometimes even the letter “M”. I personally find this super petty and lame, however, the taste is good and the company is not as bad as others like it.
Overall I would hope that I succeeded in deterring at least one person away from some bad companies while also showing a better alternative. Red Bull will always be my #1 because of its amazing flavors and I will not buy from Bang Energy because I have a working moral compass.
