In the 90s people wanted a Jolt from their soda. The LA Times reports on how times change:
Southern California has become the bestselling market for Mary Jane’s Relaxing Soda, a sugary drink laced with kava, a South Pacific root purported to have sedative properties.
Matt Moody, a Denver nutritional supplement developer who created the beverage, said the name is an unabashed reference to weed, though the relaxant compounds in kava are chemically unrelated to those in marijuana.
Along with drinks like Slow Cow and Ex Chill, Mary Jane’s is part of a new group of so-called slow-down or anti-energy drinks, which are expected to be among the top food trends of 2010, according to advertising agency J. Walter Thompson.
As humans, we’ll do almost anything to alter our state of consciousness in some form, and until today’s illegal drugs are legalized, marketers will find a way to capitalize on it. But I guess if I had to drive on the 405 every day, I’d want to chill out every night, too.
There’s also “Drank” the “slow your roll” beverage (something about the naming conventions on anti-energy drinks definitely lends to the notion that there’s something slow about them – in one way or another).
Surprised to see kava as an ingredient, though – it has some particularly nasty side effects like rashes and liver damage…