Chikara is a kanji often used in tattoos which means strength and it’s meaning becomes more complex when it is paired with other characters. In this drink’s case, Chikara means boring energy drink made by 711 that was done by scratchers who
The drink is all about the packaging, not the taste or the buzz, choosing a flash flavor from the wall over uniqueness and originality.Not much here is different from the other flavor – except from the supposedly tattoo design on the front and a different name on the can. But, I think the convenience store chain is forgetting that with a package, you need to deliver something yummy as well. If you want a Red Bull, a clone is not good enough.
“We wanted to create a drink that appealed to men and women, and the tattoo culture has really become popular with both genders,” said Michele Little, 7-Eleven category manager of noncarbonated beverages. “Surprisingly, the tattooed public is pretty evenly split between males and females, and more professionals are sporting tats, but hidden under their suits. “Most of the other energy drinks on the market target a male audience through extreme sports sponsorships, alternative rock music and ‘darker’ macho graphics,” Little said. “The tattoo culture crosses all those interests, and with Inked, we hope to reach the male extreme sports and alt-rock fan base without forgetting about the females. Instead of an emblem of patriotism or mark of rebellion, today’s tattoos have become status symbols, first among celebrities like athletes and performing artists, and now with the young and the hip.”
Taste:4
supposed to be grapefruit – but I would not even know it if it was not mentioned that way. This tastes more like a ruby red grapefruit than a real one – and not even close to tasting like other grapefruit drinks like fresca. Overall, I found this to be a drinkable pop, but in terms of an energy drink it is pretty worthless.
Buzz/nutrition:5
So all the can does is list the bad stuff. It has a crapload of calories (180!), flavored with high fructose corn syrup, and contains an undisclosed amount of taurine and caffeine, but I could feel that it was not an amount to write home about. My guess is about 75 MG a can, because it woke me up for about half an hour before needing to search for extra caffeine consumption. Nothing special about the EDM here either, just B vitamins and Taurine. No ginseng or Yerba Mate, or even little temporary tattoos to help sell the whole “undergroundy” look.
Website:0
They mention viral campaigns and websites, but a thorough search on search engines turned up nothing for their official site. Too bad.