Regulating Energy Drink Sales Why The Sale Of Energy...

Regulate Energy Drink Sales Why the Sale of Energy Drinks should be regulated Energy drinks, canned beverages that combine caffeine with sugar and other mood-affecting ingredients, are becoming more and more popular. At almost any convenience store one can find a rack of energy drinks, and it is not uncommon to see young people drinking them around campus or in the city. Unlike coffee or tea, which have naturally occurring caffeine, energy drinks have chemically produced caffeine and other chemicals in varying amounts and combinations. Energy drinks also do not require the same labeling as other foods, so people might not know what they’re consuming, or how much they’re consuming. The increasing prevalence of energy drinks, along with†¦show more content†¦Now, it is also important to establish what is meant by the thesis, the sale of energy drinks should be regulated. Specifically, one must consider what is regulation over the â€Å"sale of† energy drinks. It is the position of thi s paper that the â€Å"sale of drinks† includes the obvious over the counter exchange of canned drink for currency, but that the sale of energy drinks is also larger. Is it not true that one’s purchasing decisions are motivated not only by in-the-moment desires, but also by more subtle factors such as subconscious biases and the presence or absence of certain pertinent pieces of information? The sale of an energy drink is part of an ecosystem of factors, some of which far precede the actual moment of purchase and some of which might alter the purchase decision if they had been present. For instance, frequent television marketing will have an undeniable affect on the subconscious to the point that one’s decision, while it may seem autonomous, is informed by the death-defying stunts or claims of near-invincibility one sees in many energy drink advertisements. And what’s more, the purchase decision is affected by store display—as in the actual shelvin g and also the cans that the drinks are sold in. Might one’s decision to buy an energy