Energy Drink Marketed at the World of Warcraft Crowd

By Joe Haygood | August 4, 2008

Okay, I have talked about Fry’s Electronics several times on this site, and just in case you have forgotten, it is like the tech guy’s place of nirvana.  Everything console, pc, audio, video or any other kind of electrical device can be found in this place.  They sell AO rated computer games, off the wall import DVDs and they are the only major chain I know of that has a full fledged adult movie section, complete with sign obstructions that say 18 and older only.  It is a place of awesomeness.

When checking out, they make you walk down this long aisle of stuff, basically impulse buy items, like candy, chips, soda, beef jerky and other assorted items.  Normally I try to avoid, although occasionally I will get a soda or something.  Well, right before you go to the register, they had a display for Mana Engergy Drink, with the slogan, “+160 to Mana, no crashing and 3-8 hours of energy!”

The first thing that went through my mind was “why did it take someone so long to think this up”.  I mean there has always been the caffinated water drink Bawls, which has always been marketed to gamers (is that stuff still around).  But this one has a built in audience that I could totally see buying into it.  Think about the WoW gamer that feels like he is drinking a potion to boost his endurance, when he chugs one of these.  The fact that people were buying this stuff just proves how a name and marketing strategy can make all the difference between failure and success.

However, the Mana drink does come with a dark side to it.  Reading the warning label on the display case, which you can see to the left, Mana can cause Niacin flushes.  Niacin is a B energy vitamin when taken in large doeses, can cause you to feel hot and itchy.  This could be bad if you are just starting a raid and you are rolling around on the carpet trying to itch your body.

The best part -  as you can see, this little bottle comes at a gold mine of a price, at $3.45 for this small bottle.  If I was Blizzard, I would totally sign these guys on, because imaging the money they could get from slapping the WoW label on this thing along with the $3.45 price tag.  Ugh.