The first beverage to be considered an energy drink, Scottish drink, Irn-Bru (produced as “Iron Brew”), was created in 1901. It was over sixty years before Lipovitan, a genki drink, was created in Japan. Most such products in Japan bear little resemblance to soft drinks, and are sold instead in small brown glass medicine bottles or cans styled to resemble such containers. These “genki drinks”, which are also produced inSouth Korea, are marketed primarily to salarymen.

In UK, Lucozade Energy was originally introduced in 1929 as a hospital drink for “aiding the recovery;” in the early 1980s, it was promoted as an energy drink for “replenishing lost energy.”

The first drink marketed as being designed to improve the performance of athletes and sports stars arrived in the United States in the 1960s. It was invented for thefootball team at the University of Florida, known as the Gators — wwhich is where it gets its name, Gatorade. Designed to aid hydration and lengthen performance levels, it claimed that its ingredients were formulated for just such things. While Gatorade is safer than many energy drinks, water has been proven to be just as hydrating.   People who drink it just prefer it over water because it tastes better with sugar, salt, and other flavors.  The carbohydrates in Gatorade allow the small intestines to absorb water easier, but it is passed through the body just as quickly, therefore the only advantage is that of the sugars and salt intake.

In 1985, Jolt Cola was introduced in the United States. Its marketing strategy centered on the drink’s caffeine content, billing it as a means to promote wakefulness. The initial slogan was, “All the sugar and twice the caffeine.” That sounded perfect to the teenager up at 2AM or the college student looking to pull an all-nighter.

Monster Energy was launched by Hansen Natural in 2002.

In 1995, PepsiCo launched Josta, the first energy drink introduced by a US beverage company that didn’t just sell energy drinks, but Pepsi discontinued Josta in 1999.

In Europe, energy drinks were pioneered by the S. Spitz Company and a product named Power Horse, before the business savvy of Dietrich Mateschitz, an Austrian entrepreneur, ensured his Red Bull product became far better known, and a worldwide best seller. Mateschitz developed Red Bull based on the Thai drink Krating Daeng, itself based on Lipovitan. Red Bull is the dominant brand in the US after its introduction in 1997, with a market share of approximately 47% and is almost solely responsible for launching the energy drink revolution that we are in today.

With Energy Drinks like Bawls, Cocaine, Hi-Ball, Monster, No Fear, Red Bull, Rock Star, Wired, and Whoop Ass brands, there are at least 9 Brands of malt drinks that contain at least 6% alcohol along with some of the same ingredients that are in Energy Drinks (caffeine, ginseng, guarana, and taurine).

Anheuser-Busch and Miller Brewing produces several “energy beers” — beer containing caffeine. And Red Bull and vodka — mixed up by bartenders who call it a Friday Flattener or a Dirty Pompadour — has been popular for over ten years.

A Brazilian study found college students didn’t feel as drunk as they actually were after drinking vodka and Red Bull. Their perception of their coordination and reaction time didn’t match objective tests. While some teenagers might feel like this is a benefit, the potential for accidents and alcohol poisoning worries Dr. Sandra Braganza, a pediatrician and nutrition expert at the Children’s Hospital at Montefiore in New York. As she prepared to write an article about energy drinks for a pediatrics journal, she was surprised how little published research she could find on them. “The truth is, we don’t know what kind of effects these ingredients can have,” Braganza said of taurine, glucuronolactone and guarana. “We have to start doing more studies on this.”

This is probably because energy drinks are relatively new.

More than 500 new energy drinks launched worldwide in 2006 and according to Simmons Research, 31% of American teenagers say they drink energy drinks with names like Monster, Red Bull and Rockstar. Experts warn that these beverages can cause serious health problems, some energy drinks even contain a warning reading, “Not recommended for children.”-the very market being targeted the most by the biggest energy drink companies.

One of the biggest worries is how some teenagers intake the drinks. Drinking multiple cans of energy drinks in a row to get a buzz, teenagers can lead to young people getting sick from too much caffeine. “Danger only adds to the appeal,” said Bryan Greenberg, a marketing consultant and an assistant professor of marketing at Elizabethtown College. “Young people need to break away from the bonds of adults and what society thinks is right,” he said. “They’ve grown up watching their parents drink Starbucks coffee, and want their own version. Heart palpitations aren’t likely to scare them off.”

Most brands target males ages 13-24. Industry leader Red Bull, the first energy drink on the market, is now the ‘big arena band’ of the bunch “teetering on the edge of becoming too big and too corporate,” Greenberg said. “Monster is more of a hard rocker, maybe with a little punk thrown in, much more hardcore,” he said. “Rockstar is the more mainstream, glam rock band that’s more about partying then playing.” Teenagers are more likely than any other group to be influenced by this market so they need to be the most careful.