It appears that after causing a worldwide frenzy, the buzz surrounding the Prime hydration drink did not endure as long as many had anticipated.
Last year, the popular sports drink broke the market, with many people wanting to get a taste of it while others were buying in bulk.
South Africa was no different, when Prime hit the shelves, it completely upended social media, resulting in seemingly never-ending lines in various stores, while thousands of people could not stop talking about it.
Unexpectedly, the drink is now being sold at a lesser price, which has sent shock waves to many of its favourites who dug deep into their pockets and bought it in bulk.
Radio host and media personality Anele Mdoda, who spoke about it on her X account during the craze, recently reported that it was selling for R10.
“Prime is now on sale for R10. I am size medium with red noses in case you want to complete my clown outfit,” said Mdoda.
The beverage generated global interest and raised many health concerns.
Prime is a range of sports drinks, drink mixes, and energy drinks created and marketed by YouTubers and internet personalities Logan Paul and KSI.
The fame of its founders, who have more than 39 million subscribers on their respective YouTube channels, contributed to its success.
Questioned if he and his company targeted children in their marketing efforts, Paul denied it during an interview with ABC News.
“That’s such a heavy claim. But I want to dive into it. You know, we are a social media-first company,” the 28-year-old told ABC News’ Eva Pilgrim.
“The good thing about social media is that there’s data, right? There’s analytics. 90% of my audience is above the age of 18; 93% of Prime’s audience is above the age of 18, according to Instagram’s analytics.”
According to CNN Business, Senator Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said the US Food and Drug Administration should investigate the high caffeine content in the canned energy drink as well as its marketing efforts.
Schumer alleged that Prime Energy has an eye-popping level of caffeine, and that’s giving parents and doctors the jitters for the kids that are targets. He said another issue is that most parents haven’t even heard of this stuff that their kids are begging for.
The Star
anita.nkonki@inl.co.za