I kind of already mentioned that products through effective marketing do have the ability to idealize and embellish certain ideologies (see: this post). So what happens when a taboo topic like drugs is directly named as an edible product?

Let’s take a look at Redux Beverages’ star product: Cocaine. Cocaine is just your average high-caffeine energy drink – similar to Monster and Red Bull – except that it contains three times more caffeine. Cocaine can even be consumed as an energy supplement (in pill form, of course). For the short time it was found in convenience stores, many complaints were directed towards the marketing campaign, suggesting that “Cocaine glamorizes and legitimises the illegal drug cocaine”.

While the manufacturers believe that their consumers are smart enough to understand that Cocaine does, in fact, not contain any real trace of the drug, Max Barry hints in his blog that those selling this product also underestimate the cleverness of their consumers.

And it occurred to me that whenever I hear a company telling their customers how smart they are, it seems they’re selling a stupid product. […] According to its web site, the company changed its name “to better clarify its identity[.]” That’s good to know. I’d thought they did it just so people wouldn’t realize they were the same pack of lying, murderous bastards. – Max Barry

And if Barry is correct, does it matter that Redux Beverages then rebranded and renamed this energy drink, ‘No Name’ in regards to the many complaints and the FDA’s decision to pull it off the market? Or will the intelligent customers “realize that they were the same pack of lying, murderous bastards”?

It might be a slight understatement to say that Best Buy hasn’t had one of its best opening quarters compared to the last few years. On January 31^st, almost 900 employees around Canada went to work to find that many of the Best Buy doors were closed until further notice. Why? Some analysts chalked it up to “lousy customer service” which contributed to the tanking in-store purchasing, while others lamented over the statistics from the post-Christmas shopping season. With this sort of backlash in the news being released into the public, it is hard for Best Buy to maintain customer loyalty while the threat of online-shopping seems to be more alarming than ever.

But no fear to be had… Best Buy released its coveted Superbowl commercial just days later which starred Amy Poehler, a famed comedian following her success as a writer, actress and recent Golden Globe stint, in an attempt to promote Best Buy’s in-house sales and attract other members, such as females, who may not be frequent shoppers at the store.

To counter Cowan’s article (see: first link), Poehler endorses the fact that Best Buy employees are ready to help by bombarding questions to the ‘expert’ in the span of a 60-second commercial. This type of social referencing in Best Buy’s marketing can be quite effective by narrowing the burgeoning gap between male and female shoppers – it provides an indirect aspirational group to be a part of. Considering Poehler’s style of comedy and target audience are to those who find her allusive, witty humour to be an attractive trait, this marketing strategy could be a touchdown for Best Buy in the future. I mean, I’d definitely go to Best Buy to buy my electronics if I could bump into Amy Poehler there while she was shopping.