Joker Mad Energy Lo Carb

Hansen can sometimes be a very strange company.They have a great hit on their hands with the second best selling energy drink in the US - Monster. So some idiot in marketing thought they would easily be able to duplicate their success by putting the same formula in more poorly designed and less marketed drinks and flood the shelves with them? Sorry - but why would anyone pick up a Lost Lo-Carb or this Joker when they could just as well get a monster for the same cost and not take the chance?

So of course Mad Joker died a quick death - now only found in those weird convenience stores that have half of their coolers on the blink and sells cans of "Sure Fine" foods with the Safeway labels still attached. This one was found in such a store - a convenience store left cleaning out the cooler left by a failed fast food business inside it. Alongside 5 year old dented Kroniks, long obsolete Boo Koos and very dusty cartons of old American cheese were the old dreadfully ugly thick blue cans. While I did not stop long next to the cheese, I was pretty pleased to see an old relic like this still for sale somewhere for me to try. If you are lucky, some Big Lots and Dollar tree stores are still trying to unload their supply. For 60 cents, a Monster-Lo Carb is not a bad deal.

So like Lost,Ace or Von Dutch, this is really a Blue Monster. It is the same stuff - looking and tasting just like it, listing the same ingredients and same formula. But - this does give insight as to why so many energy drinks fail. It dies not matter if you have a flavor that is sought after - if you cant market it and package it right. If you really want to make it in this business, don't be a Joker - even a mad one.

Buzz/Nutrition:7
I am not giving this the same grade as monster - just because imitation breeds annoyance. I would normally give this a decent rating, as the 160mg in the 16oz can is a decent enough punch for what it is. It has all the EDM essentials (niacin, b, guarana, Ginseng, etc.) and this size can loads you up on 3 times the recommended dosage ( Ill have some extra fortified pee soon)OF Vitamin b12, But still managed to be only 30 calories, which I really appreciate.
Taste:8
Sweet melon flavors and tartness from the taurine give monster its trademark taste.So trademark that it is completely apparent I am having a lo- carb Monster- - but really I don;t care. I love blue Monster and would happily drink them all day if I could only find them for 60 cents a can....

Packaging:3
Boy, this can s gawd-awful! The dark blue with the horrid joker on the front with the graffiti tag letters makes me feel like I have just been tagged by the romper room. I am surprised a great brand like Hansen's would even dream of this thing hitting the shelves - seeing as even their "mad joker" looks like that cool tattoo drawing your goth friend could draw during lunchtime. No website - no information on the company - just a complete waste