Oh, the tangled corporate web we weave...[UPDATED]

[missroserose]

Word is tearing through Facebook and other venues that RockStar Energy Drink was invented by conservative talk show-host/hate-monger Michael Savage, and therefore should be boycotted by anyone who cares about little issues like GLBT equality, religious tolerance, human rights, etc. I certainly agree that that's a good course of action, assuming the claim is true, but so far all the sources I'm finding point back to a single website for reference (www.thetruthaboutrockstar.com). And considering that anyone with a grudge can put up a decent-looking website, this strikes me as the sort of situation ripe for a Snopes-ing. (That said, the boycott's been going on for a couple of weeks now with no response from RockStar, Inc., which lends some credence to the claim - you'd think that they'd want to immediately distance themselves as far as they could from such a repugnant figure.)

In any case, it's something to bear in mind. I've never tried the stuff myself, but I'm sure some of my LJ friends drink it, and what with the glut of energy drinks on the market right now it might be worth considering making a switch. Meantime, if anyone finds stronger evidence for or against the claim, let me know - I'll probably do some digging myself, once I'm off work.

ETA: The person who originally pointed me in this direction has dug up the link to RockStar's articles of incorporation, as filed in the state of Nevada, which do list a Janet Weiner as the CEO. Considering that Michael Savage (née Weiner)'s wife is named Janet Weiner, that seems a pretty strong connection. Whether or not the drink itself was "invented by Michael Savage" or he "founded the company for his son to run" (as a number of places have claimed) is true, there's certainly a strong enough connection to (in my opinion) warrant a boycott.

Comments

More "take with a grain of salt" support of the allegations...

[epa-flip.livejournal.com]

http://www.legalzoom.com/legal-articles/The-Story-behind-Rock-Star.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Savage_(commentator)

Neither source is, naturally, terribly reliable though. Finding a good primary source on this via the internet is being a real bugbear. If its a publicly traded company that would be sufficient to at least verify CEO and CFO.

[sigma7.livejournal.com]

Certain cardiac conditions preclude me from imbibing "energy" drinks that aren't coffee (and honestly my electrocardiologist would be relieved if I gave that one up, but it got me through fourth grade, dammit), but even if not, yeah, its proximity to "Savage"'s family tree does give it a very bad taste. And like you said, if it were devoid of veracity RockStar (random caps don't annoy me anywhere near as badly as using numerals in place of letters, I admit) would press-release the hell out of that vacuous rumor.

I'd expect Snopes to get around to it after it gets through its backlog of "Obama mentioned by Nostradamus"/"Moar Obama Muslim proof"/"Inspirational Charlie Daniels column" which reads more like the inbox from my sister....

[my-aerie.livejournal.com]

Not much of an energy drink person myself, especially not RockStar (I've had it once and find that one to be by far the worst I've tried), but I know a person or two who is, I'll pass on the info...

[errant-variable.livejournal.com]

Good luck getting enough people to care to impact their sales.

I mean, hell, people AREN'T drinking it for the taste, ergo they have no taste...

[errant-variable.livejournal.com]

and yes, I realize that is convoluted and interpretable in several ways. :(