 | |
| Type | Soft drink |
|---|---|
| Manufacturer | Solvi Acquisition |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Introduced | November 1996 (28 years ago) (1996-11) |
| Flavor | Citrus andcream soda |
| Ingredients | Guarana |
| Variants |
|
| Website | www |
Bawls (marketed asBAWLS Guarana)[1] is a non-alcoholic, highly-caffeinatedsoft drink.
Created in 1996, thecitrus-and-cream soda-flavored beverage leans heavily on thecaffeine and natural flavor of theAmazonianguarana berry. Packaged in uniquecobalt-blue bottles and cans, the drink was well received bygamers, to whom the company quickly began extensively marketing (through both sponsorships and video games themselves). The soda's name has an unclear provenance, and as of July 2023[update] is still sold alongside six other flavors.
In 1994, Hobart C. Buppert III (born 1973 or 1974) was a student at theCornell University School of Hotel Administration. While traveling throughVienna, he found club dancers were payingUS$10 (equivalent to $21.21 in 2024) for cans of non-alcoholic, highly-caffeinated, "sludgy brew" derived fromguarana beans.[2] Himself unable to toleratecoffee, Buppert saw potential in refining the drink he saw in Europe and received permission from Cornell to develop abusiness plan as anindependent study.[3]
Buppert graduated from Cornell in 1995 with a degree in finance.[3] In 1996, he took out a loan for$200,000 (equivalent to $400,976 in 2024) to launch Hobarama inMiami Beach, Florida. That November inSouth Beach,[4] he launched his first product: Bawls Guarana, asoft drink with three times the caffeine ofCoca-Cola Classic. Bawls capitalized upon trends of the mid-1990s by being highly caffeinated, derived from natural ingredients, and having a gimmicky premise. By 1998, Bawls was not only popular in thenightclubs ofNew York City,South Florida, andSouthern California, but was spreading togrocery stores in the US and Europe.[2] In its first year, Bawls brought in revenue of$400,000 (equivalent to $771,662 in 2024).[5] By 2000, Bawls was distributed by Arizona Distribution,[6] and two years later, Hobarama moved into new Miami Beach offices at 311 Lincoln Road.[7]
By November 2009, Hobarama was struggling, and creditors likeFifth Third Bank forced outchief executive officer (CEO) and founder, Buppert. Arestructuring plan was put into place, and the company was entertaining anybuyout offers.[8] On stable footing by 2012, the company bought out competitorsCrunk Energy Drink andStrut & Rut.[9] Jon Gunnerson was the company's CEO in 2014, which had since moved its offices toTwinsburg, Ohio.[7]
The marketing and higher caffeine content ofMonster Energy delivered the first damage to Bawls' market share in 2002 by being more-widely appealing. The company later lost even its gamer niche to brands includingMtn Dew Game Fuel,Rockstar, andG Fuel—a brand with over 111 times more social-media followers. In 2022, the drink was being produced bySolvi Acquisition, andBon Appétit reported on both Buppert's prediction that Bawls was in its twilight, and that the drink was "nearly impossible to find in stores".[10]
The Baltimore Sun described Bawls' taste ascitrus-flavoredcream soda, and thesoft drink gets its caffeine from theAmazonianguarana berry.[1]
In 2002, a twelve-US-fluid-ounce (350 ml) bottle had 80 milligrams (1.2 gr) of caffeine, and cost about$1.00 (equivalent to $1.75 in 2024).[4] In 2004, a ten-US-fluid-ounce (300 ml) bottle had as much caffeine as 1.5 cups of coffee, and cost between$1–1.50 (equivalent to $1.66–2.5 in 2024).[3]
In 2015, the 16-US-fluid-ounce (470 ml) can of original Bawls had 95 calories (400 J), and both the composition and guarana suppliers were yet unchanged from 1996.[7]
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In 2003, Bawls sourced itscobalt-blue bottles from Germany, and thebottle caps from Ecuador. They came together inHillside, New Jersey where Bawls was bottled with guarana from Brazil.[11] Circa 2005, Buppert described the drink'sbrand identity as based on the unique bottles, where the raised bumps "convey the idea of 'bouncing balls inside the bottle punching their way out.'"[12]
In 2006,[13] Hobarama developed a canned variant of Bawls both for shipping to overseas fans serving with theUnited States Armed Forces,[14] and distribution at events prohibiting glass containers (e.g.paintball tournaments). The company partnered withCrown Beverage Packaging to develop a can that would evoke the uniqueness of the textured bottles: the 16-US-fluid-ounce (470 ml) aluminum cans are the first to featurefoaming ink, a new and then-unused technology that applies a low-gloss print that swells when heated, giving the cans a surface akin to the bottles. InMontreal, Crown's manufacturing of these new cans took 18.6–30 percent longer than traditional can-printing processes.[12] The can was one ofBrand Packaging's selections for "best new consumer package goods packages of 2006."[13]
By 2002, Bawls was focusing its marketing ongamers, who amounted to 50 percent of the drink's consumers, and were "typically males between 18 and 34." Eschewing the health-benefits claims of otherenergy drinks of the time, Bawls instead focused on just being a soft drink with lots of caffeine, earning "an almost cult-like following among computer addicts looking for a source of energy to keep them awake for gaming binges lasting 15 to 24 hours straight." That year, the company sponsored 2500LAN parties.[4]
To capitalize on the connection, the national chainCompUSA began selling the soda in its stores[1] "to court the hard-core gamer market" (those who playedPC games for more than 40 hours per week).[15] From 2004 through at least 2008, Bawls was featured at thePenny Arcade Expo, which brought the drink "a huge amount of attention". Bawls partnered withGameFly in 2008 tocross-promote each other through mutual discounts.[16] In 2014, the Bawls was still marketed to gamers, including sponsoringQuakeCon 2014 where 4,799.9 US gallons (18,170 L; 3,996.8 imp gal) were drunk.[7]
In a 1998 interview withCNNfn, Buppert said of the name, "[it] represents a state of mind. Bawls is a very common slang term—to be bold and daring—and that's how we see the product. [...] I think it's very difficult for a consumer to forget a product called Bawls Guarana."[5] In 2002,The Mercury News reported that BAWLS was an abbreviation for Brazilian American Wildlife Society, "intended to promote sustainable uses for the rain forest";[4] Buppert repeated that story toCNN in 2003.[11] A 2004 article byThe Cornell Daily Sun said Buppert was brainstorming to emulate the strong names of existing brands (Flying Tiger,Red Bull), when "Bawls" instead came from a friend's joke of "Why don’t you just call it Balls?"[3] When Gunnerson was asked about the name in 2015, he said, "Bounce like a ball. It gives you enough energy and fuel. That was really the inspiration of it from my understanding. […] Bounce with BAWLS was really our one key tagline for quite some time."[17]
Hobarama andVivendi Universal Games made a deal in 2002 for cross-promotion.[18] Bawls receivedproduct placement as a game mechanic in the 2002 video game,Run Like Hell: protagonist Nick Conner drinks Bawls from vending machines to boost hishealth.[19] In exchange, cases of Bawls bore advertisements for the game.[18]
In the 2004 video game,Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel, a shakeup in the management ofInterplay Entertainment led to the replacement of theFallout franchise's iconicNuka-Cola with the real-world Bawls for the franchise's first outing onconsoles. The swap was not well-received by fans.[20]
Bawls has also been featured in TV shows and films, includingThe Big Bang Theory,The Hangover, andSilicon Valley.[17]
In 2002, the soda was the official soft drink of theCyberathlete Professional League.[21] Bawls has also been the official energy drink for theNational Professional Paintball League (in 2004 & 2006),[22]Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week (2008),[23] andOlympus Fashion Week.[13]
In 1998, after Bawls was positively reviewed byStephen Heaslip ofBlue's News, the company's ownsite traffic increased by 2700–11320 percent.[15] In 2003,The Baltimore Sun called the drink "a smooth and tasty sip."[1] In 2005, Hobarama shipped 20 million bottles of Bawls.[14]Ars Technica wrote of Bawls in 2008, "the huge amounts of caffeine within each bottle—along with the fact that it tastes far better thanRed Bull—have made it a favorite beverage at many a LAN party and game tournament since [2004]."[16]
Thesugar-free Bawls Guaranexx was the first variant of Bawls, released in 2003.[13] In 2006, Hobarama partnered with7-Eleven to produce a Bawls-basedSlurpee (Sno Bawls) in theDallas–Fort Worth metroplex.[14] By 2008, additional Bawls variants were available, including Bawls Cherry and Bawls Exxtra.[23] Bawls'root beer variant—G33k Beer—premiered at a 2008Halo tournament inSouth Miami, Florida;[24] that year it was namedBevNET's Energy Drink of the Year.[25]
As of July 2022[update], there were eleven combinations of Bawls flavors and packaging listed on the official website. In ten-US-fluid-ounce (300 ml) bottles were Original Soda, Zero, Orange, Ginger,Cherry Cola, Cherry, and Root Beer. The 16-US-fluid-ounce (470 ml) cans were sold with Original, Zero, Cherry, and Root Beer.[26]
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