Offering “an acupuncture session” in every can, the Canadian beverage maker Slow Cow, has produced a relaxation drink to calm your nerves and easy jitteriness from energy drink consumption. An antidote to drinks like Red Bull and Rockstar, Slow Cow was developed to help people de-stress.
Unlike the energy drinks that contain synthetic chemicals such as taurine and caffeine that tend to increase anxiety, Slow Cow contains theanine, chamomile, valerian, passiflora and other ingredients known for their calming effects. The beverage is formulated to increase mental awareness while improving relaxation. After a long day of work on an energy drink, or [...]

Ed Cotton points us to a beautiful package design for a Red Bull Cola promotional piece. Using a sturdy wood box, and real samples of the 17 natural ingredients of the cola, Design Friendship created a striking presentation of the unseen raw material that goes into the drink. And in our increasingly virtualized-digitized world. the display is a great testament to the commanding presence of physical objects.

[Lovely Package via Influx Insights]

The Hundreds Blog tips us off to a photo-tour they recently conducted of Red Bull’s headquarters in Santa Monica. The energy drink maker’s office looks like a great place to work, where they have fit in a movie theatre, gym, secret gaming room and recording studio amongst the cubicles. But most impressive, is the huge huge, skate-able installation that runs throughout the office.
See more at the Hundreds Blog.

Fabrik points us to Guten Touch, an art installation originally created for the Red Bull Music Academy ’08 that aims to enhance the relationship between people and technology by encouraging them to interact with it. Among other things, it uses the Space Invaders video game as an illustration, which is always fun to watch.

[via Computerlove]

Asia Scout Network has an interesting overview of the growing energy drink market in Vietnam.  Along with the international leaders (Redbull, Lipovitan, Coca-Cola, etc.), several local brands and cheaper copy-cats (Saigon Ice, Number One, Energy, M150, Buffalo) are working hard to capture a market composed of youngsters studying for national exams and partying at night.
One marketing tactic that local brands are engaging in is to sponsor Vietnamese sports teams.  For example, the Vietnamese “Number One” energy-drink brand has sponsored the Binh Duong TV Football Cup as well as the first group of Vietnamese to reach the top of Mount Everest [...]