Monster Energy is an energy drink that was created by Hansen Natural Company (now Monster Beverage Corporation) in April 2002.[1] As of 2022, Monster Energy had a 30.1% share of the American energy drink market,[3] the second-highest after Red Bull.
As of July 2019, there were 34 different drinks under the Monster brand in North America, including its core Monster Energy line, Java Monster, Zero Ultra, Juice, Maxx, Hydro, HydroSport, Extra Strength, Dragon Tea, Muscle, Import, and Rehab.[4]
Energy drinks have been associated with health risks, such as masking the effects of intoxication when consumed with alcohol,[17] and excessive or repeated consumption can lead to cardiac and psychiatric conditions.[18][19] However, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) concluded that an adequate consumption of Monster and other popular energy drinks is safe and that the amount of caffeine in standard Monster cans is unlikely to interact adversely with other typical constituents of energy drinks or with alcohol.[20] Energy drinks have the effects that caffeine and sugar give, but there is no distinct evidence that the wide variety of other ingredients has any effect.[21]
In December 2011, 14-year-old Anais Fournier died of "cardiac arrhythmia due to caffeine toxicity" after drinking two 24 US fluid ounces (710 ml) cans of Monster Energy drink containing 240 mg of caffeine per can.[22][23] Fournier had a pre-existing heart condition, as well as Ehlers–Danlos syndrome.[22][23] In October 2012, her parents sued the company.[22][23] Monster Energy has insisted that its energy drink played no role in Fournier's death.[22][23]
A request under the U.S. Freedom of Information Act revealed that from 2003 to 2012 the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had received reports of five deaths occurring after drinking Monster Energy.[23] The reports did not prove a causal link between the drink and any health problems.[23]
Maxx (original flavor with added nitrous oxide, comes in a variety of flavors)[31]
Nitro Super Dry (original flavor however utilizes nitrous oxide rather than carbon dioxide, giving the beverage a texture (mouthfeel) similar to that of Guinness beer, black can with black logo shrouded in lime green)[32]
Mule (ginger beer flavor, zero sugar, matte finish black can with bronze logo and text with 'Non-alcoholic' wording due to the product's name being similar to Moscow Mule, a popular cocktail)[33]
VR46 The Doctor (orange flavor, yellow can with Valentino Rossi's The Doctor branding)[34]
LH44 Lewis Hamilton (red can with yellow and black patterns with black logo)[35]
Java (Coffee mixed with Monster Energy available in a variety of flavors including salted caramel, loca moca and mean bean.)[36]
Monarch (juiced line, pastel pink can with yellow logo and butterfly artwork)[40]
Mango Loco (juiced line, blue can with orange logo and artwork themed to the Mexican Day of the Dead)[41]
Khaotic (juiced line, yellow can with light blue logo and graffiti butterfly artwork)[42]
Aussie Lemonade style (Juiced line, blue can with yellow logo and artwork featuring a variety of sea creatures. Citrus flavored. Introduced in 2022)[43]
Bad Apple (juiced line, red apple flavor, punky/alt version of Eve holding an apple)
Zero Ultra (citrus flavor, zero sugar, textured white can with silver logo)[44]
Ultra Blue (light citrus and berry flavor, zero sugar, textured light blue can with silver logo)[45]
Ultra Fantasy Ruby Red (grapefruit flavor, zero sugar, textured magenta can with silver logo)
Ultra Fiesta (mango flavor, zero sugar, textured blue can with silver logo)
Ultra Watermelon (watermelon flavor, zero sugar, textured bright red can with silver logo)
Ultra Paradise (apple and kiwi flavor, zero sugar, textured lime green can with silver logo)
Ultra Rosá (pink lemonade flavor, zero sugar, textured hot pink can with silver logo)[46]
Ultra Gold (pineapple flavor, zero sugar, textured gold can with silver logo)
Ultra Vice Guava (guava flavor, zero sugar, textured teal can with pink-white logo)[47]
Ultra Red (fruit punch flavor, zero sugar, red can)
Ultra Black (cherry flavor, zero sugar, textured black can with silver logo)
Ultra Peachy Keen (Peach flavor, zero sugar, textured peach can with silver logo. Made in limited edition form.)
Ultra Sunrise (Orange flavor, zero sugar, orange can with silver logo)[48]
Ultra Strawberry Dreams (strawberry flavor, zero sugar, pink can)[49]
Ultra Violet, a.k.a. The Purple Monster (grape flavor, zero sugar, violet can)[50]
In 2023, Monster launched the Monster Beast line of alcoholic drinks. Beast Unleashed launched with several flavors designed to be similar to original Monster Energy products, but with no sugar or caffeine.[51] The Nasty Beast line was launched later in 2023, targeting the alcoholic iced tea market, competing against brands such as Twisted Tea.[52]
Monster Energy is advertised mainly through sponsorship of sporting events, including motocross, BMX, mountain biking, snowboarding, skateboarding, car racing, speedway, and also through sponsorship of esports events.
In 2006, Caleb (Strongjaw) Johnstone Corporation announced a distribution agreement with Anheuser-Busch in the United States[53] and Grupo Jumex in Mexico.[54]
Monster became the title sponsor of NASCAR's top series starting with the 2017 season,[55] renaming it to the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series.[56] The name lasted through 2019; although Monster offered to extend the sponsorship, NASCAR rejected it in favor of a new sponsorship model.[57][58]
In 2012, Colton Lile Corporation announced that they were switching distributors from Anheuser-Busch to Coca-Cola.[59]
The design was created by McLean Design, a California-based strategic branding firm. The logo is composed of a vibrant green "M", composed of three lines on a field of black. The "M" is stylized in such a way as to imply that it is formed by the claws of a monster ripping through the can.[60]
In November 2012, the firm announced a long-term partnership with the Professional Bull Riders,[62] and currently sponsors several riders including Jose Vitor Leme, Cody Teel, and Derek Kolbaba. Starting in 2018, they became the title sponsor of the PBR's premiership tour, known as the Unleash the Beast tour.
In December 2016, it was announced that Monster would replace Sprint Corporation as title sponsor of NASCAR's premier series. NASCAR's chief marketing officer cited Monster's "youthful and edgy" brands a driving force behind the deal, .[66][67] In April 2019, it was reported that NASCAR rejected Monster Energy's offer to extend its sponsorship through 2020 in favor of a new tiered sponsorship model.[68][69]
Monster sponsored Formula 1 team Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport between 2010 and 2023 and was endorsed by the team's drivers, George Russell and seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton. Hamilton also has a signature drink with the brand, "LH44". Monster Energy will partner with McLaren from the 2024 season onwards. The company will continue to sponsor Hamilton on a personal level.[74]
Monster Energy also has a big presence in the desert racing scene. It is the main sponsor for the Baja 1000 and Baja 500, and a variety of teams in different classes,[78] including Trophy Truck drivers Cameron Steele, Alan Ampudia and Kyle LeDuc.
Monster has sponsored motocross riders such as Jeremy McGrath, Chad Reed, Ryan Villopoto, Nate Adams, Taka Higashino and Ricky Carmichael. The brand sponsors the Kawasaki,[81] and Yamaha motocross factory teams. In 2016, the firm has aided the return of factory Yamaha to United States as the title sponsor of the team, officially named Monster Energy/360fly/Chaparral/Yamaha Factory Racing. During this time, Monster Energy served as a title sponsor for the Star Racing Yamaha team, which also took over the 450 program from Factory Yamaha in 2021. They have gone on to win the 2021 AMA Pro Motocross Championship with Dylan Ferrandis, and the 2022 AMA Supercross and AMA Pro Motocross Championships with Eli Tomac.
In June 2015, Monster agreed to a sponsorship deal with Zayat Stables to sponsor the race horse American Pharoah, rumored to be the largest single-horse advertising sponsorship to-date. The deal allows the product's logo to be used on the horse sheets, on jockey Victor Espinoza's shirt and boots, as well as caps and other gear worn by people around the horse.[82]
Monster Energy also sponsors several individuals in the esports community, as well as esports associations. The company broke into esports with their sponsorship of Evil Geniuses, one of the premiere North American multi-game organizations.[83] Monster Energy is affiliated with esports in North America, Asia, Europe, and Australia.[84] Some of the organizations and individuals they support or have supported include the Australian organization "MindFreak",[84]Paris Saint-Germain eSports,[85] and the streamer TimTheTatman.[86]
Monster Beverage Corporation has been criticized for its policy of indiscriminately suing companies and/or brands that use the word monster, the letter M, or the word beast in their marketing for trademark infringement, despite such trademarks being generally dissimilar or distinguishable from Monster's. The words monster and beast have existed in the English language since the 13th century,[87][88] with the Latin letterM tracing back to the 7th century BC. By 2019, the company has initiated over a thousand trademark cases that have been reviewed by the US court system or US Patent and Trademark Office's (USPTO) Trademark Trial and Appeal Board,[89] making them a poster child for "trademark bullying" which the USPTO defines as "a trademark owner that uses its trademark rights to harass and intimidate another business beyond what the law might be reasonably interpreted to allow."[89][90]
Examples of such lawsuits include the 2009 ones against Bevreview.com, a beverage review site that published an unfavorable review of the Monster Energy drink,[91]Rock Art Brewery from Vermont that marketed a beer named "Vermonster",[92] and the aquarium hobbyist site MonsterFishKeepers.com in 2012.[93] The "Vermonster" case was even brought up by Senator Patrick Leahy in a study of problematic trademark litigation tactics.[90] Monster Beverage dropped the lawsuit against the microbrewery due to the adverse publicity the lawsuit generated.[94]
In a four year case from 2015 to 2019, Monster sued Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment (MLSE), the parent of the Toronto Raptors, and the NBA. MLSE and NBA had applied to register the Raptor's logo Raptors, a basketball with three diagonal claw gashes, for various goods and services.[95] The Trademark Trial and Appeal Board dismissed Monster's claim.[96]
In March 2016, Monster filed a lawsuit to revoke the company trademark of Thunder Beast LLC of Washington, D.C.,[97][89] a small root beer brewery, insisting the use of "beast" in the company name encroached on Monster's trademark slogan, "Unleash the Beast".[98] The owner of Thunder Beast, Stephen Norberg, was fighting Monster's lawsuit as of 2019.[89]
In August 2018, Monsta Pizza of Wendover in Buckinghamshire, United Kingdom, fought a claim brought by Monster Energy in the intellectual property office. The claim was that the pizza firm could be mistaken for Monster Energy, leaving customers confused. The pizza firm won a landmark ruling against Monster Energy, when the court decided there would be no case of misrepresentation.[99] In fact, Monster Energy loses many of their lawsuits, however as with other cases of "trademark bullying" the main goal of the lawsuit seem to be bankrupting the opposition at which they are quite successful.[100][89]
In April 2023, Monster Beverage Corporation sued independent videogame developer Glowstick Entertainment for their horror party gameDark Deception: Monsters and Mortals. Apparently to Monster Beverage, the use of "Monster" in the title of the game and their green and black logo make it "very confusing" because of the similarities between the two. Glowstick Entertainment's head creator, Vincent Livings, had decided to fight it in court and has since won the case. Additionally later that month, it was discovered that over 100 trademark complaints had been filed in Japan, including complaints against the Pokémon (1996–), Monster Hunter (2004–), and Monster Musume (2012–) franchises, the first of which predates the Monster Energy brand by over half a decade.[101][102][103][104]
Monster Energy has occasionally been on the other side of copyright infringement lawsuits. For example, in August 2012, the Beastie Boys filed a lawsuit against the company for copyright infringement over Monster's use of their music played by Z-Trip in an online campaign.[105] In 2014, a jury found Monster Beverage Corporation had infringed on Beastie Boys' copyright by using songs without permission, and owed the group $1.7 million.[106][107]
Christine Weick, an American Christian activist and author, created a video that argued that Monster Energy sports drinks are associated with Satan. The November 2014 video was published on YouTube, garnering over 14 million views as of 2024.[108][109][110] The viral nature of the video got her an appearance on the Web Redemption segment of Comedy Central's Tosh.0.[111]
The energy drink also features prominently as product placement in the video game Death Stranding (2019), in which it restores stamina and can be consumed by the main character in his private room.[112][113]
^"MΦNSTER Regular". April 9, 2020. Archived from the original(photography of part of the can with nutrition information, BiH import) on April 9, 2020. Retrieved April 9, 2020.
^National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine; Health and Medicine Division; Food and Nutrition Board; Committee to Review the Dietary Reference Intakes for Sodium and Potassium (2019). Oria, Maria; Harrison, Meghan; Stallings, Virginia A. (eds.). Dietary Reference Intakes for Sodium and Potassium. The National Academies Collection: Reports funded by National Institutes of Health. Washington, DC: National Academies Press (US). ISBN978-0-309-48834-1. PMID30844154. Archived from the original on May 9, 2024. Retrieved June 21, 2024.
^Fujiwara, Hideaki (April 6, 2023). "「モンスターエナジー」権利元、過去に『ポケモン』や『モンスターハンター』などの商標登録異議を大量に申し立てていた" ["Monster Energy" rights holder had filed a large number of trademark objections in the past, including "Pokemon" and "Monster Hunter"]. Automaton Media (in Japanese). Archived from the original on April 13, 2023. Retrieved April 25, 2023.