I’ve been drinking energy drinks for a about five years less than I’ve been driving a car. At the time I got my license in 1995, gasoline cost about a dollar per gallon and now it’s up to about three dollars per gallon.
The price of energy drinks over the last eight years or so had remained relatively stable at about two dollars per can for an 8-ounce can of Red Bull. Then a few years ago, 16-ounce energy drinks flooded the market, also at two dollars per can, giving us twice the punch for the same price. Life was good.
Now I’m starting to notice an unsettling trend. My favorite energy drink, Monster, got a price bump about a year ago to $2.29 per can. Then about a month ago, the gas station around the corner from my house raised the price to a gut-punching $2.69 per can. And finally, today, I just paid more for a can of energy drink than I do for a domestic draft beer in most American bars; five dollars. Granted, this was in the Vegas airport where everything’s wildly inflated but come on, five bucks? I must be an idiot.