COMPANY: Coca-cola
CAN DESIGN: Yeah, the can looks like it was designed by a tattoo artist. I'm not saying that's a bad thing, especially with the renewed interest in tattoes such as the shows Miami Ink and Inked. The danger of these kinds of designs with the flames and fancy lettering is that you can't read them, especially if the lettering is vertical. The graphic designer for this can made some professional choices that work nicely: horizontal logo, easy to read, nice color scheme of red, orange and yellow, and "Sugar Free" in big letters at the top. Actually, I almost feel like a pussy buying a drink that looks like a biker tattoo but then prominently says it's "sugar free." What biker give's a rat's ass about "sugar-free" drinks. Ahh, the magic of marketing to nerds like me.
CAN DETAILS: 16 fl oz, 5 calories
PRICE: 1.99 at Rite-aid Pharmacy
WEBSITE: Over the top! Someone got it right. There is a Full Throttle site selling the image on the can with flash animation, games, video and downloads. You can visit it at: FullThrottleEnergy.com . On the site they have Full Throttle Theater with that great commercial where every guy with a "manly" vehicle starts chasing a Full Throttle delivery truck. I don't like to give too much hype to commercials but when I saw this in a theater for the first time I did think it was pretty entertaining and humorous. Then after the commercial plays they have a documentary on the making of the commercial. I would expect this idea of showing "the making of" a commercial to fail except there was a lot that when into this shoot including the gathering of some interesting characters from real bikers to Mexican Wrestlers to an Appalachian Man with an attitude. Excellent ideas on the marketing front for whoever was in charge of this site project.
TASTE: The immediate taste that came to mind was carbonated Tang. Has a citrus flavor mixed with Taurine. Compared to most energy drinks I liked it. And it's the first energy drink that my wife actually liked. Usually she tries my energy drink of the day and thinks it tastes terrible. On Full Throttle Fury Sugar Free, she took a second swallow.
AFTERTASTE: Nothing distinct.
SUSTAINED EFFECTS: No more of a buzz than usual. I may becoming immune to the effects of these high energy drinks or maybe it's more hype than real energy.
OVERALL: Good. Taste is pleasant. Product image and marketing is excellent. Website was enjoyable to visit.
WOULD I BUY IT AGAIN? Yes

GENERAL COMMENTS: Full Throttle Sugar Free is impressive overall mainly because it has the backing of Coca-cola's considerable wealth to do promotions that work. A manly image for semi-manly men (you won't see me on a motorcycle, those things are dangerous).