Not since writing a post on Blow, the powdered energy drink marketed as if it were cocaine complete “with a mirror and a credit card to cut the stuff, all packaged in a Styrofoam container made to look like a brick of cocaine” have I seen a more distasteful product than Drank, the “anti-energy drink”.
Drank, the anti-energy drink sold at convenience stores, is generating concern among Dallas-area mental health experts who say it’s made to resemble popular illegal homemade cough syrup concoctions known as “purple drank.” ~ Dallas Morning News
I’m not asking to make Drank or Blow illegal or punish those that use such disreputable marketing techniques, but hopefully most distribution channels will have the class not to carry such asinine products.
Just in case your still in the dark about what real purple drank is I’ve reposted a TDA story on the topic:
Q: What’s worse than an isolated bunch of fools drinking prescription cough syrup with a chaser?
A: The much larger group of fools that follow suit under the false assumption that emulating this ignorance is somehow empowering.
Hopefully the popularity of Purple Drank is beginning to wane considering recent deaths and admissions of addiction by industry promoters. Of course it’s nothing new, drugs and alcohol have always seemed to be part of the music scene’s mystique and similar behavior occurring from fan adoration often follow suit.
For me it was Paul Stanley’s of Kiss fame screaming promotion of “al-kee-hol” that was a directive to drink and “be cool”, but the idea of drinking cocktail cough syrup just seems a little bit lame from my viewpoint. Regardless of how stupid this may sound the drink has become such a part of the culture that even commercial knock-offs are trying to horn in on the popularity with a legal version of the purple potion.
I think that one of the lures of this concoction is that because it is consumed as a cocktail, that people misinterpret its narcotic nature and addiction potential. Even those who have openly admitted their problem seem oblivious to the danger. Of course in rap star Lil Wayne’s case, it also seems that utter stupidity plays a role in this matter.
“I saw a doctor – he gave me pills, told me, ‘This is what you take to get off it,’” Wayne said. “I never tried them. If them b***hes work, then I probably gotta start. Other than that, it’s gonna be hard. What a n*gga told me to do is start lessening my amount. So what I do, I tell motherf*ckers as to pour it for me instead of me pouring it…I be patient.’” As told to Vibe Magazine (May 2008 Issue) ~ 411Mania
No matter the culture, genre, or timeframe though, it seems drugs and alcohol remain stylish but stupid and tragically hip.
