This week’s FLF takes a look at energy drinks, aka genki drinks

Taisho Pharmaceutical released the first of this type of drink in 1962 with Lipovitan-D. It’s the drink’s 50th anniversary this year. I’ve never actually tried Lipovitan (it’s also not marketed to women at all) and I’m not assured of it’s popularity, but what sticks in my mind is the commercials. If you’ve seen one, you’ve seen them all. It’s always two guys climbing stuff out in the wilds of nature and yelling the phrase, “Fight!! Ippatsu!” (Fight!! One-shot!!). It’s been that way for the past forty years, with the exception of baseball player-centered ads in the ’60s.

Reveling in the longevity of this drink, Taisho has created an online museum (Japanese language only), where you can ponder the smallest, non-essential details of Lipovitan’s marketing in the Factory section or review the riveting timeline of the drink’s history. The commercial section is by far my favorite for a few laughs at how this same premise has been recycled for years.

Have a good weekend!

-Nyssa