Here's Why Logan Paul's Prime Drink Is Being Pulled From Shelves
Prime is often accused of having many times the lifetime limit of "forever chemicals," prompting stores to pull the product from shelves.
Published Nov. 19 2024, 1:34 p.m. ET
Influencer Logan Paul rose to fame in the earlier days of the internet, when pranks and Vine-like videos reigned supreme. Yet these days, Logan's fame is a complex and interwoven tapestry of multiple products and events throughout the years.
Once blasted for his insensitivity in visiting Japan's suicide forest, Logan is now an influencer-turned-businessman. Whether or not he's a savvy one is up to interpretation. One of his business ventures has been a thorn in his side since its launch: Prime sports drink. Here's why the drink is being pulled from shelves, and why people love to hate it so much.
Here's why Prime is being pulled from shelves.
Logan launched Prime Hydration in 2022 alongside Olajide Olayinka Williams Olatunji, known simply as KSI. Prime Energy later followed. But from the beginning, there were rumblings of trouble.
In 2024, a class action lawsuit was filed against Logan, KSI, and Prime claiming that the drink, and one flavor in particular, had more than three times the recommended limit of "forever chemicals" that a person should consume. In their entire life. It was a shocking claim that sent ripples of concern down through parents the world over who had been buying the seemingly innocuous drinks for their children, who were inspired by the influencer's popularity and marketing.
The energy drinks, containing around 200 mg of caffeine, were never marketed to children. But the marketing was a failure because people failed to distinguish between that and Prime Hydration, meaning the brand became quickly known for being dangerously high in caffeine; too high for children. Stores, frustrated with the dangerous lack of clear marketing and responding to the class action lawsuit, have been pulling the drink from the shelves sporadically over the past year.
Logan's foray into Prime was perhaps doomed from the start.
Unfortunately for Logan, his Prime product seems to be facing an uphill battle. Back in 2023, concerned Canadian legislators banned Prime Energy from being sold, telling stores to pull the product from shelves. But there was one problem with the move: The drink wasn't even sold in Canada at that point.
A frustrated Logan has made video after video trying to clear things up and call out the credentials of people who criticize his product, but the bad press remains. And to add to his legal woes from the class action lawsuit claiming high "forever chemicals," Logan and Prime are now facing another $68 million lawsuit.
This time, from distributor Refresco Beverages, Inc. According to this new lawsuit, the initial deal between Prime and Refresco called for the distributor and bottling company to spend a significant amount of money customizing its production line to meet the brand’s specifications. Yet as they ramped up efforts, Prime dragged their feet on delivering payment for shortfalls.
MrBeast, Logan Paul, and KSI pose with their products in India
It's all bad news for Logan, who's used to his product being himself. But of course, things get complicated when your product is consumable. Initially, sales for Prime were boosted by eager Gen Z fans who wanted to get in on the craze and scrambled to collect the more coveted flavors. Now, with quality controversies and confusion about how safe the drinks are, Logan's Prime could be on borrowed time.