Cocaine, also known as No Name, is a highly caffeinatedenergy drink distributed by Redux Beverages. It contains more caffeine than rival energy drinks
Red Bull
Red Bull is a brand of energy drinks of Austria, Austrian company Red Bull GmbH. With 38% market share, it is the most popular energy drink brand as of 2019. Since its launch in 1987, more than 100 billion cans of Red Bull have been sold worldwid ...
and
Rockstar
Rock Star or Rockstar may refer to:
Films
* ''Rock Star'' (2001 film), an American film starring Mark Wahlberg
* ''Rockstar'' (2011 film), an Indian Hindi-language film by Imtiaz Ali
* ''Rockstar'' (2015 film), an Indian Malayalam-language fi ...
, symbolized by three and a half steer heads on the label. Aside from caffeine, the label claims 750 milligrams of
taurine
Taurine (), or 2-aminoethanesulfonic acid, is an organic compound that is widely distributed in animal tissues. It is a major constituent of bile and can be found in the large intestine, and accounts for up to 0.1% of total human body weight. It ...
, another common ingredient found in many energy drinks.
History
Cocaine was created by Jamey Kirby, who used to work as a software executive. Originally, the drink was going to be named "Reboot", but the name was already taken. Instead, the name "Cocaine" was chosen for its potential to be controversial. Kirby founded Redux Beverages in 2006 with his wife Hannah, and launched Cocaine in autumn of that year. According to Jamey Kirby, initial marketing costs merely consisted of sending a case of energy drinks to the ''
New York Post
The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is a conservative daily tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates NYPost.com, the celebrity gossip site PageSix.com, and the entertainment site Decider.com.
It was established ...
'' offices. While the drink contained no actual
cocaine
Cocaine (from , from , ultimately from Quechuan languages, Quechua: ''kúka'') is a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant mainly recreational drug use, used recreationally for its euphoria, euphoric effects. It is primarily obtained from t ...
, the product launch attracted criticism from lawmakers and anti-drug organizations, who felt that Cocaine glamorized drug usage to children. That same month,
7-Eleven
7-Eleven, Inc., stylized as 7-ELEVE, is a multinational chain of retail convenience stores, headquartered in Dallas, Texas. The chain was founded in 1927 as an ice house storefront in Dallas. It was named Tote'm Stores between 1928 and 1946. A ...
publicly asked its franchisees to stop selling the energy drink. According to the ''
Las Vegas Sun
The ''Las Vegas Sun'' is one of the Las Vegas Valley's two daily Subscription business model, subscription newspapers. It is owned by the Greenspun family and is affiliated with Greenspun Media Group. The paper published afternoons on weekdays ...
'', Kirby made over $1.5 million in sales three months after Cocaine's debut.
In 2007, Cocaine was temporarily pulled from shelves in the United States, after the
Food and Drug Administration
The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA or US FDA) is a List of United States federal agencies, federal agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Health and Human Services. The FDA is respon ...
published a warning letter stating that Cocaine "was illegally marketing the drink as both a street drug alternative and a dietary supplement". The FDA cited statements made on Cocaine's packaging and website as evidence for their claims. In response, Redux Beverages removed the statements from their website, and began working on a new name for the product immediately. At the end of May, 2007, the Redux team decided to change the name to No Name. On 17 June 2007, the drink was redistributed in the U.S. under the new labeling. The ''Las Vegas Sun'' reported that online sales of Cocaine had quadrupled two weeks after the FDA's warning letter. Beginning in February 2008, the old Cocaine name was used again.
In addition to the FDA, Cocaine also faced trouble from specific U.S. states that same year. In April 2007, hundreds of cases of Cocaine were seized by the Department of Consumer Protection in
Connecticut
Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...
, which stated that the company had not registered with them, and that drink's labels did not comply with state laws requiring companies to label their drink's water source. That year,
attorneys general
In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general.
In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...
in
Connecticut
Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...
and
Illinois
Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...
announced that Redux Beverages complied to not market Cocaine in their respective states. In May 2007, the
Texas Attorney General
The Texas attorney general is the chief legal officer of the filed a lawsuit against Redux Beverages, stating that the drink was being marketed as a legal substitute to actual cocaine.
In 2011,
The Coca-Cola Company
The Coca-Cola Company is an American multinational beverage corporation founded in 1892, best known as the producer of Coca-Cola. The Coca-Cola Company also manufactures, sells, and markets other non-alcoholic beverage concentrates and syrups, ...
filed an opposition to Redux Beverages' trademark of Cocaine in Chile, claiming that "the referenced trademark would infringe fair competition". That same year, Redux Beverages released an
energy shot
Energy shots are a specialized kind of energy drink that contain a dose of the stimulant caffeine in a small amount of liquid. Whereas most energy drinks are sold in cans or bottles, energy shots are usually sold in 50ml bottles. Energy shots can ...
called the Cocaine Energy Shot.
The drink is available online and in local beverage stores around the U.S. The beverage is also available in Europe, where it has always been sold as Cocaine Energy Drink rather than "No Name" (as it was briefly sold in the U.S). According to Cocaine's official website, the drink is now being sold in three varieties: one being Original, one being "Cut" (which lacks the purported "throat-burning" sensation of Original), and one being "Free", which contains no sugar.
Ingredients
The ingredients are
carbonated water
Carbonated water (also known as soda water, sparkling water, fizzy water, club soda, water with gas, in many places as mineral water, or especially in the United States as seltzer or seltzer water) is water containing dissolved carbon dioxide gas, ...
,
dextrose
Glucose is a simple sugar with the molecular formula . Glucose is overall the most abundant monosaccharide, a subcategory of carbohydrates. Glucose is mainly made by plants and most algae during photosynthesis from water and carbon dioxide, using ...
,
citric acid
Citric acid is an organic compound with the chemical formula HOC(CO2H)(CH2CO2H)2. It is a colorless weak organic acid. It occurs naturally in citrus fruits. In biochemistry, it is an intermediate in the citric acid cycle, which occurs in t ...
, taurine, caffeine, natural flavors,
sodium citrate Sodium citrate may refer to any of the sodium salts of citric acid (though most commonly the third):
* Monosodium citrate
* Disodium citrate
* Trisodium citrate
The three forms of salt are collectively known by the E number E331.
Applications
F ...
salt
Salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl), a chemical compound belonging to the larger class of salts; salt in the form of a natural crystalline mineral is known as rock salt or halite. Salt is present in vast quantitie ...
,
sodium benzoate
Sodium benzoate is the sodium salt of benzoic acid, widely used as a food preservative (with an E number of E211) and a pickling agent. It appears as a white crystalline chemical with the formula C6H5COONa.
Production
Sodium benzoate is commo ...
,
inositol
Inositol, or more precisely ''myo''-inositol, is a carbocyclic sugar that is abundant in the brain and other mammalian tissues; it mediates cell signal transduction in response to a variety of hormones, neurotransmitters, and growth factors and ...
,
ascorbic acid
Vitamin C (also known as ascorbic acid and ascorbate) is a water-soluble vitamin found in citrus and other fruits and vegetables, also sold as a dietary supplement and as a topical 'serum' ingredient to treat melasma (dark pigment spots) an ...
(vitamin C),
sucralose
Sucralose is an artificial sweetener and sugar substitute. The majority of ingested sucralose is not broken down by the body, so it is noncaloric. In the European Union, it is also known under the E number E955. It is produced by chlorination of ...
potassium sorbate
Potassium sorbate is the potassium salt of sorbic acid, chemical formula CH3CH=CH−CH=CH−CO2K. It is a white salt that is very soluble in water (58.2% at 20 °C). It is primarily used as a food preservative (E number 202). Potassium sor ...
,
guarana
Guaraná ( from the Portuguese ''guaraná'' ), ''Paullinia cupana'', syns. ''P. crysan, P. sorbilis'') is a climbing plant in the family Sapindaceae, native to the Amazon basin and especially common in Brazil. Guaraná has large leaves and cl ...
seed extract,
pyridoxine hydrochloride
Pyridoxine, is a form of vitamin B6 found commonly in food and used as a dietary supplement. As a supplement it is used to treat and prevent pyridoxine deficiency, sideroblastic anaemia, pyridoxine-dependent epilepsy, certain metabolic disor ...
(vitamin B6),
cyanocobalamin
Cyanocobalamin is a form of vitamin used to treat vitamin deficiency except in the presence of cyanide toxicity. The deficiency may occur in pernicious anemia, following surgical removal of the stomach, with fish tapeworm, or due to bowel ...
(vitamin B12), and
Red 40
Allura Red AC is a red azo dye that goes by several names, including FD&C Red 40. It is used as a food dye and has the E number E129.
It is usually supplied as its red sodium salt, but can also be used as the calcium and potassium salts. These s ...
.
According to Kirby, the drink contains 280 milligrams of caffeine.