Logan Paul and KSI’s sports drink Prime, now available in the UAE supermarkets and delivery apps, has piqued the interests of teenagers across the country raising concerns among families over its “absurd” pricing.
Mom-of-two Priscilla J. Augustine’s 16-year-old son found out about the PRIME drink on YouTube and his friends were talking about it around the same time.
Former boxing rivals Logan Paul and KSI, who now have more than 40 million YouTube followers between them, have marketed Prime as a sports drink, claiming that the different flavours – Blue Raspberry, Meta Moon, Ice Pop, Tropical Punch and Lemon Lime – aid hydration.
“One of his mates at that time was returning from holiday from the States and offered to bring the drink for my son and his other friends. That was about a year ago and was the first time even I myself found out about the drink and the hype behind it.”
The drink, which has been in short supply in most countries since it was launched last year, hit the shelves in the UAE in early 2023, which caused a stir among teenagers in the country. Aside from the relatively short apply outside the US, the demand for the product skyrocketed which made it even more scarce.
Marketed as a zero-sugar beverage, the Prime drink is now available in several supermarkets across the UAE, with prices ranging from AED 50 to AED 64 per bottle. A variety pack of five flavoured drinks is also available, priced at a steep price of AED 320. However, the Prime sticks variety pack, which includes four flavours of the powdered version of the drink, comes at a whopping AED 720.
‘Absurd’ pricing
“The pricing is absurd, very much hyped up. My husband and I were fine with it when our son told us about purchasing the drink, we ourselves were curious what the fuss was on this drink.
“We checked it out it seemed clean and packaged as an energy drink. I remember just asking my son all these questions about the fuss to bring a drink back from the States!
“We were not purchasing this and it was coming out of my son’s pocket money. He, my son had a taste of it and wasn’t so impressed because it was just too sweet. So he felt after that first drink it was just overrated and overpriced. Because he bought it on his own accord, he felt the pinch and knew it was not worth it after that. Lesson learnt I suppose,” Augustine, who is a Dubai-based Couple and Family Therapist, told Arabian Business.
As a therapist, the whole hype around the “overrated” drink got her thinking about the “influence of social media on young minds” and how it has gotten teenagers “hooked.”
“The power of social media and obviously the percentage of young people online, it’s an easy market to target to create a hype around a drink. They could price it at such an absurd price because they had a strong influence over [their] targeted market that had already bought into their influence.”
‘Not worth it’
Brandon Clyde, a 22-year-old marketing manager based in Dubai, told Arabian Business that his nine-year-old brother, an avid follower of Logan Paul and KSI, found out about the drink on social media.
“Logan Paul and KSI had a major influence on his interests,” Clyde said.
“The pricing is towards the higher end, not worth the product itself. But the price is more for the status it creates.
“YouTubers and social media influencers have such a huge impact on the world that they’re able to create businesses that are bound to be successful because of the reach they have and the trust or fascination the audience has in them and their lifestyle.”
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