Redux Beverages Responds to Political Threats
Redux immediately began working with the FDA to revise its marketing, including eliminating the one statement the FDA had interpreted as making a claim to treat or cure disease.
10/05/07 Redux Beverages, LLC, the makers of the wildly popular and controversial Cocaine Energy Drink, announced that they have responded to threats by the FDA and several state attorneys general by agreeing temporarily to cease distribution of the Cocaine Energy Drink until the legality of using the name "Cocaine" can be firmly established. Redux intends to challenge the FDA allegations, but until such time as Redux wins that challenge, Cocaine Energy Drink, which was well on its way to becoming a contender against energy drink goliaths, such as Red Bull, RockStar and Monster, will not be available for sale in the United States under that name. Instead, Redux will rename its drink, with the new name to be announced in the coming weeks and the newly labeled product available for purchase soon thereafter.
"Obviously, we were forced to stop shipping the drink as 'Cocaine' for now, but we're not done fighting for our rights," said Jamey Kirby, Senior Partner and Founder of Redux. "We've received tens of thousands of emails and phone calls from consumers expressing outrage and disbelief that the government can ban a perfectly safe product for no reason other than it has a racy name. We tried to contact Yves Saint Laurent to warn them that Opium perfume could be next, but they were too busy enjoying the freedom of expression guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution -- a freedom we here at Redux, sadly, lack."
Legal troubles for Cocaine Energy Drink started on April 4, when the FDA issued a warning to Redux that it considered the drink illegal because, the FDA alleged, it was being marketed as an alternative to an illegal street drug and making claims to treat or cure disease. Shortly thereafter, the attorneys general of Texas, Connecticut and Illinois followed suit with similar allegations.
Redux immediately began working with the FDA to revise its marketing, including eliminating the one statement the FDA had interpreted as making a claim to treat or cure disease. Despite these efforts, discussions with the FDA and state regulators convinced Redux that nothing short of getting rid of the name "Cocaine" and the slogan "The Legal Alternative" would mollify them.
"The FDA came after us with the same regulation they used to halt the distribution of herbal ecstasy, which was a situation where drug users were buying their drugs over the Internet as herbal supplements," said Clegg Ivey, one of Kirby's partners at Redux. "Apparently, the FDA thinks that users of the illegal narcotic cocaine might, in order to save money and avoid jail time, instead purchase cans of Cocaine Energy Drink. Honestly, if we thought there was any possibility of that (which we don't), we would have charged a lot more for our product."
Although Redux expected some controversy over the edgy name and tongue-in-cheek advertising, it was surprised by the actions of the FDA and state regulators to use food and drug regulations to ban the drink because of its name. Several state and local legislatures were planning to ask voters to ban products with names like Cocaine Energy Drink, but thanks to the intervention of the FDA, the voters will never get their chance to speak. In that sense, all U.S. citizens have been silenced just as surely as Redux.
