Prime (drink)
Prime Hydration produces a variety of energy drinks, sports drinks, and drink mixes containing varying levels of caffeine, electrolytes, and added micronutrients. Prime Energy drinks have generated controversy due to their marketing campaign, which has been criticized for targeting children and adolescents, in conjunction with their high concentration of caffeine. Several countries, jurisdictions, and primary and secondary schools have banned or restricted the drink due to its caffeine content exceeding legal limits, or otherwise being deemed unsafe for children.
Products
Prime Hydration, LLC is affiliated with Congo Brands, co-owned by American businessmen Max Clemons and Trey Steiger. In the United Kingdom, where the product was launched in June 2022, it was originally shipped from the United States, and is now manufactured by Refresco.
The Prime labeling is used on energy drinks, sports drinks, and drink mixes. The sports drinks, described by the manufacturer as "hydration drinks", are made up of 10 percent coconut water and contain electrolytes, B vitamins and BCAAs. The manufacturers state that this version of the product contains no added sugar, is caffeine-free, and has around 20 calories per bottle. It is sweetened with acesulfame potassium and sucralose, like many other sugar-free drinks. Prime Hydration flavors include: Blue Raspberry, Glowberry (Sour Apple Berry), Grape and Orange, Ice Pop, Lemon Lime, Lemonade, Meta Moon, Orange Mango, Tropical Punch.
The energy drink, which was launched in 2023, contains 200 mg of caffeine and shares several flavors with its sports drink counterpart. The company also produces Prime Hydration+ Sticks which have released special flavors in collaboration with the Dodgers baseball team, and with FC Bayern Munich. In November 2023, two solid gold Prime bottles were on display in London and New York City, worth $500,000 each. There are other limited edition bottles such as the Ice Pop Prime Card Misfits bottles, Lemonade Venice Beach and Lemonade Piñata Colada.
Reception
On January 4, 2022, YouTubers KSI and Logan Paul, with collectively more than 40 million YouTube subscribers and millions of followers on other platforms, announced on a live Instagram feed that they had founded a new drinks company known as Prime Hydration. Their involvement led to a social media hype around the product, which was followed by demand from school-age children, particularly teenage boys. According to the Evening Standard, the surge in demand caused high prices among online resellers, including an eBay listing offering twelve bottles for £400. Sky News reported that the release of the drink sparked "chaotic scenes" at Asda and Aldi supermarkets in the United Kingdom. A Financial Times article conveyed a London teacher's account of how children who only possessed used Prime bottles, filled with water, were "catapulted to higher status among their peers".
Mary McCarthy of The Independent, commenting on the way Prime was being marketed through social media, suggested that KSI and Logan Paul had undue influence on the product's main market—young boys—and that "cold, calculating big business" was working with individuals whose attitude towards women was questionable, and whose output was often misogynistic, aimed at boys "waiting to be told what to think".
Gordon Ramsay reviewed the drink on Heart radio, describing it as "like swallowing perfume", and giving it 0/10. Boxer Chris Eubank Jr also tried the drink saying "It's very sweet, I mean it says it's naturally flavoured. It doesn't taste bad, but it's not a natural flavour of drink".
Regulatory approval and legal status
Prime Energy has been banned in New Zealand. The drink has also been banned in schools in many countries, including some in Australia, Canada, South Africa, the United Kingdom and the United States.
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Australia
Several Australian schools have instituted bans on Prime energy drinks, as a health risk to students due to its high caffeine levels. ABC News noted that the Food Standards Australia New Zealand legal limit for caffeine was 32 mg per 100 ml, while Prime contains around 56 mg per 100 ml. A sports dietician, who described the drink as an "addictive substance" went on to state that "giving a dose of caffeine to young children who've got … developing cognitive function is not a wise idea". ABC noted that the drink, on sale in Woolworths stores, carried a disclaimer stating that the drink "is not suitable for children under the age of 15, pregnant or breastfeeding women, and should only be used under medical or dietetic supervision".
In March 2023, several schools in Queensland, Victoria and Western Australia banned the drink. In April, several New South Wales schools followed.
In April 2023, a store in Perth controversially allowed the sale of Prime Energy to minors.
Bosnia and Herzegovina
On November 30, 2023, the Federal Sanitary Inspection of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina prohibited the import of 1,596 pieces of Prime Ice Pop Hydration due to laboratory tests showing that some specific ingredients could have a harmful effect on human health.
Canada
On July 12, 2023, Health Canada issued a recall on various caffeinated and non-bilingual labeled drinks, including Prime. This decision came after many complaints of the high volume of caffeine in the product, which exceeds the maximum 180mg allowed in Canada. Furthermore, food products sold in Canada must have bilingual (English and French) packaging as both languages are official languages in Canada.
Denmark
In Denmark, some retailers had begun parallel importing Prime beverages before an official launch of the product in the country. This led to newsbreaks as the parallel imported goods were not compliant with Danish regulations, due to the energy drink's caffeine concentration exceeded the approved limit. The Danish Veterinary and Food Administration announced that it advised five retailers to pull the parallel imported product.
In June 2023, Prime launched officially in the country, kicking off in Salling Group supermarkets and Circle K convenience stores. For the product to be compliant and distributed in the country, the Prime Hydration product had been modified to not contain vitamin A, and the Prime Energy drinks were not subject to sale, as they contained the excessive amounts of caffeine.
After some time the hype died out, and in March 2024 retailers started to give away the drink for free, to try and clear out their inventory
Netherlands
On August 8, 2023, the Netherlands banned the sale of Prime due to its high caffeine content.
New Zealand
In New Zealand, it is illegal to sell the Prime Energy drink as it contains 579 mg of caffeine per litre, which is above the legal limit of 320 mg. Police Minister Ginny Andersen warned that businesses selling the product can face fines up to NZ$100,000.
The drink was previously available on retail website Trade Me, but listings were removed following enquiries by media company Stuff.
Norway
In Norway, sales of both the Energy and Hydration variants were initially banned in 2023, but were both sold by import shops online or purchased from Sweden and then resold by consumers until authorities halted such sales in May 2023. Prime Hydration was initially barred from sales due to levels of vitamin A being above national regulations. In July 2023, a European variant was launched that adhered to European and Norwegian consumer standards and regulations. Prime Energy remained banned from sales as it contains 579 mg of caffeine per litre, which is above the Norwegian legal limit of 320 mg, but in 2024 a variant with reduced caffeine content became available in Norwegian stores.
The brand and drink sparked controversy in June 2023, when creators Logan Paul and KSI visited Oslo as part of their European tour promoting the upcoming launch of the drink. The promotional event, which gathered more than 2000 fans and was heavily advertised in social media, was criticized for the lack of security and organization, which led to 70 people needing medical attention due to heat and crowding.
Slovenia
On November 13, 2023, the Inspection by the Administration of Food Safety, Veterinary Medicine and Plant Protection of the Republic of Slovenia banned the sale of Prime energy drinks in Slovenia as they contain L-theanine, which is not allowed in non-alcoholic beverages. Prime Hydration may be freely sold.
South Africa
In South Africa, The National Association of School Governing Bodies has called for the complete ban of Prime Hydration in schools and urging the government to investigate the drink to evaluate if it's responsible for behavioral changes in children.
School Governing Bodies (SGB) lawfully have the power to determine what pupils are allowed to bring into schools.
— Department of Education Head Of Communications, Elijah Mhlanga
Across South Africa, schools have begun banning the drink due to health concerns over the high caffeine content.
United States
On July 9, 2023, Senator Chuck Schumer urged the US Food and Drug Administration to investigate Prime due to its high caffeine content, and that it uses unclear marketing that targets young people which leads to their parents purchasing a "cauldron of caffeine" for them.
PFAS lawsuit
In late April 2024, Logan Paul disclosed that Prime Hydration contained per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), an organofluorine synthetic compounds linked to various health risks when consumed excessively, including hormonal disruptions, immune system impairment, developmental delays, reproductive harm, increased risk of hypercholesterolemia and diabetes, and the development of certain cancers.
In August 2023, the Milberg law firm filed a lawsuit against Prime Hydration in the Northern District of California. Independent chemical analyses revealed harmful PFAS levels in several Prime flavors, notably the grape variant. Elizabeth Castillo, a California resident and plaintiff in the lawsuit, stated that the undisclosed presence of PFAS would have influenced her decision not to purchase Prime, seeking US$5 million in damages.
Paul clarified that PFAS were not listed ingredients but were detected in the product, suggesting possible contamination during manufacturing. He emphasized Prime Hydration’s compliance with Title 21 of the Code of Federal Regulations, which prohibits adulterated or misbranded consumables in the United States and its territories, to ensure consumer safety.
Paul challenged Castillo’s claims, arguing that Prime contained only 0.06 parts per trillion (ppt) of PFAS, citing the United States Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) standards, which deem measurements below 1.1 ppt unreliable due to detection limitations. Castillo and the Milberg law firm countered, asserting adherence to industry standards for PFAS detection in their independent testing, while also noting that Prime’s PFAS levels exceeded the EPA’s recommended lifetime health advisory by threefold.
Advertising and publicity
Prime was the sponsor for Timmy Hill's number 13 MBM Motorsports car for one race in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. In their official statement they said it meant they have "access to talent and footballers which they do leverage in some of their marketing".
In July 2022, Premier League club Arsenal announced a joint marketing agreement with the company, with Prime becoming the official sports drink supplier for the club. In 2023, KSI had plans to make an Arsenal-flavored bottle if they were to win the Premier League. However, after a loss to Nottingham Forest, which led to rivals Manchester City winning the Premier League, the flavor was shelved and plans were cancelled.
In January 2023, the Ultimate Fighting Championship announced a joint marketing agreement with the company, with Prime becoming the official sports drink supplier for the mixed martial arts promotion company. Prime signed several athletes to sponsorships, including Alex Volkanovski, Israel Adesanya, Patrick Mahomes, Alisha Lehmann, and Erling Haaland. In February 2023, Prime was promoted in a Super Bowl LVII commercial.
In July 2023, FC Barcelona signed a sponsorship agreement with Prime.
In August 2023, FC Bayern Munich signed a sponsorship agreement with Prime.
In November 2023, Toronto Maple Leafs player Auston Matthews signed a sponsorship agreement with Prime.
In February 2024, NASCAR champion and Hendrick Motorsports driver Kyle Larson signed a sponsorship agreement with Prime. The partnership was announced and made public by Adam Stern of Sports business journal, on his Twitter account. The endorsement was also mentioned during the 2024 Daytona 500 race, with the logo going to mainly appear on Kyle's helmets.
For April Fools' Day in 2024, Paul announced a partnership with KFC to introduce a Kentucky Fried Chicken flavor.
In April 2024, Prime became the first center-ring mat sponsor of WWE, for which Paul performs, when it was revealed during the March 8, 2024, episode of SmackDown. Since WrestleMania XL, it sponsors all of WWE's pay-per-view and livestreaming events. Since WrestleMania XL, a stand with a Prime bottle prop at ringside (dubbed the "Hydration Station") has been used during episodes of Raw and SmackDown (in addition to the livestreaming events).
In popular culture
In the 2023 South Park television special “Not Suitable for Children,” the energy drink Cred becomes a popular trend among children. The drink is a parody of Prime, mimicking its bottle design.