semiotics

So Red Bull—along with, most notably, Monster and Rockstar, which arrived in the early 2000s—worked to appeal to a demographic that was supposedly ripe for the taking: adolescent and early-20s men. They did this by positioning themselves as fuel for masculinity’s great pursuits—playing video games, doing sports, getting drunk. In essence, they... See more

At the same time, soda popularity flatlined and wellness culture ascended. These conditions created the perfect environment for energy drinks’ second explosion, when Celsius came along and transformed them from party fuel and productivity juice into something just as improbable: liquid fitness.