Earlier this week, United States Senator Chuck Schumer took aim at social media and WWE star Logan Paul and his PRIME energy drink. Schumer is taking issue with the amount of caffeine that the beverage includes, some 200 mg, or about six cans of Coca-Cola, and how its brightly colored cans are being marketed towards children. Shortly after, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency and Health Canada decided to recall the beverage from Canadian shelves, citing public health risks.
The story picked up steam today, with several outlets reporting on the perceived controversy and its possible ramifications for the budding beverage company. Paul broke his silence on the issue earlier today when he released a video on social media addressing the situation head-on.
“Perhaps you saw the news this morning,” he began. “Complex, TMZ, Reuters, Forbes, and many more talking about how PRIME energy drinks were recalled in Canada. But the crazy part about that is we don’t even distribute PRIME energy in Canada. Let me repeat that, we don’t even distribute prime energy in Canada. So how could it be recalled? Well, the answer is illegal or unauthorized imports of the beverage, but of course, traditional media doesn’t care about that because they just want a headline; they want clicks.
“The level of misinformation currently being spread around PRIME is actually insane, and you have to ask yourself, why? Don’t forget we are a better-for-you product, our energy drink has ten calories and zero sugar. PRIME formulas are complying with each specific country’s regulatory bodies—all of them. And yeah, our energy drink has caffeine in it. It’s an energy drink. And no, our low-sugar, low-calorie hydration drink doesn’t have caffeine in it, but traditional news, and, by the way, they’re not even news anymore. It should be called stories because people are just making shit up to get clicks.
“They know that if they talk about PRIME, whether the information they’re spreading is true or not, they will get attention on a product that is legitimately better for you, lower in sugar, lower in calories, and healthier ingredients than most of our competitors. So, you know, it actually doesn’t surprise me that we’re being targeted by massive corporate conglomerates and the United States government because, using social media, we’ve effectively created a beverage so disruptive that it is eating the market share of the biggest corps on the planet.
“And quite frankly, they’re pissed. We’re taking money out of their pocket, but honestly, I’m happy that people are seeing through the BS. I think the government and traditional media underestimate the collective intelligence of you, the American people. And although some people will be fooled, I am thankful that social media has given us underdogs, trying to make a business, a disruptive, better-for-you business, a voice to talk about the truth. Don’t be fooled by the media.
“Take every headline with a grain of salt and, most importantly, drink PRIME. Thanks for coming to my TED Talk.”
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