Look, another update! I think I misinterpreted the point of the legal threats yesterday when I wrote this post. As Savage listeners point out in the comments below, Michael Savage has never hidden the fact that his son is the CEO of Rockstar Energy Drink. The legal threats seem to be against people who are claiming that Michael Savage is directly involved in the company, which he is not. And no, there’s no behind-the-scenes shenanigans at work here making me post this; I just feel I need to clarify it after reading the comments.
Original Post:
“Rockstar Energy Drink Doesn’t Want Consumers To Know About Connection To Shock Jock Michael Savage”
Did you know ultra-conservative talk radio guy Michael Savage has intimate family connections to Rockstar Energy Drink? If lawyers for the company have their way, you wouldn’t, because over the past week they’ve started going after people who have publicized the connection. They managed to get one guy’s “Boycott Rockstar” facebook account closed without warning, and threatened him with a business libel lawsuit if he didn’t publicly apologize. A gay news website, gaywired.com, has had to publish a partial retraction. None of this changes the fact that Michael Savage’s son is listed as the founder and CEO of Rockstar, or that Michael Savage’s wife is listed as the director, treasurer, and secretary of both Rockstar and Savage Productions. Or that both companies share the same address.
For those who don’t know who he is, Michael Savage—whose real last name is Weiner—is a shock jock who likes to make outrageous statements about, among other things, gays and immigrants. Specifically, he doesn’t like either of those groups, and occasionally pops up in the media for (real examples) telling a gay caller to get AIDS and die and calling for the banning of all Muslim immigration to the U.S. He’s also a bestselling writer who’s written several books on herbalism and homeopathy, which is certainly in the same sphere of expertise as formulating an herb-laden energy drink. Who knows, maybe his son read his dad’s books in private.
We’re not calling for a boycott of Rockstar Energy Drink—personally, I think Savage is a giant colostomy bag of a man, but I don’t buy energy drinks in the first place—but we think companies owe their consumers a fair amount of transparency when it comes to who’s behind a product, or where the profits are going. Imagine buying your favorite ketchup and assuming it’s politically meaningless, and then finding out Michael Moore rakes in cash from it. Yes, Michael Moore. How’s that ketchup taste now?
Anyway, so now you know. Michael Savage officially has nothing to do with Rockstar Energy Drink. His son, his wife, and his address are all participants, however.
Update: Seriously, some of you guys see anything political as an opportunity to haul out the partisan make-up kits and clown yourselves up. This is important to consumers because of the political views involved, sure, but there’s a bigger issue, which I made explicit above: transparency is necessary. It’s unfair to hide political affiliations from consumers when the product is something that otherwise would appear politically inert. It doesn’t matter where it falls in the spectrum of political discourse.
If knowing that Michael Savage may have something to do with Rockstar Energy Drink makes you want to buy it more, congratulations. You’re now an informed consumer and making a choice in full view of the relevant details, which is far more important to me than the deliberately provocative statements of a radio personality.
“Don’t Drink Hate. BOYCOTT ROCKSTAR* my apology” [Facebook] (Thanks to Kim!)
“Rockstar Demands Retraction from Gaywired” [GayWired.com]
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Three years ago when I was in high school, my chemistry class did an experiment where we extracted pure caffeine from different energy drinks to see if the amount extracted matched the amount that was supposed to be in the drink. Unlike some drinks, Rockstar did not list caffeine content on the can. Unlike AMP, they also did not list the caffeine content online… Over the course of a few weeks I left at least 3 or 4 messages with their “technical department” (which I am pretty sure is just an answer machine), and I never got a call back. I tried calling outside of regular business hours, and a lady answer the phone with a simple, “Hello.” I asked if this was Rockstar and she responded with an, “Oh crap,” and transferred me to an answering machine.
I like Rockstar; it tastes okay for an energy drink. But dang, that is one shady company.
The Facebook group linked in the story changed its name from “Don’t Drink Hate. BOYCOTT ROCKSTAR* my apology” to a pro-Rockstar group this morning. Follow up story??
I missed the part where a private citizen’s business interests is particularly relevant to consumer issues.
Shame on you, Chris Walters, for allowing your personal feelings (colostomy bag, sheesh) to interfere with your responsibilities to write such a incendiary post.
Shame on you, The Consumerist, for greenlighting this.
@SgtMajorFragg: Why don’t you think that information doesn’t want to be free?
“Imagine buying your favorite ketchup and assuming it’s politically meaningless, and then finding out Michael Moore rakes in cash from it. Yes, Michael Moore. How’s that ketchup taste now? “
You mean like Heinz ketchup? Of the Heinz-Kerry ketchup. Personally it does not affect me. I don’t like John Kerry, but it doesn’t mean I’ll stop buying Heinz ketchup if I like it.
Further, boycotting an energy drink is an exercise in futility. Who effin’ cares?
Politicians, political spokesmen, and media representatives are going to have sons daughters.
Sometimes these individuals become successful starting a company.
Parents and children do not always share the same political opinions.
Focus on the facts and please leave out the hearsay or quasi “consumers must know this fact!” connection.
Guess what, your computer you are writing this on was probably made in china! Did you know china supports bad things?! Please post a story on this.
I was already aware of this, but I have to say: this is one of the best articles I’ve seen on Consumerist.
Vote with your pocketbooks / wallets people!
Another update, the original facebook group creator created another one called “Don’t Drink Hate. BOYCOTT ROCKSTAR* my apology”, which was still pretty damning towards rockstar.
But now, I have to laugh, I have 2 emails regarding this group.
1. That the name was changed from “Don’t Drink Hate. BOYCOTT ROCKSTAR* my apology” to “LEGALIZE CHILD LABOUR!”.
2. That the name was then changed from “LEGALIZE CHILD LABOUR!” to “ROCKSTAR ENERGY DRINK FANCLUB!”.
Clearly, someone must have thought that those who supported the boycott would have been more embarassed supporting Rockstar than supporting child labour. Which says a lot about Rockstar.
This is why I don’t buy Heinz or “Newman’s Own” products because the money goes straight into the anti-American Democrat party!
If you buy Heinz, you buy hate!
I own bars and nightclubs. Not gay ones. But I hate MS! The guys is such a scum bag. Full of hate. Anyway I have banned the product from my establishments and am working with my colleagues around town (LA) to get them to dump it too. Its like if the Shas/Likud/KKK party had a energy drink. Boycott it!
Thanks for the heads up, and you’re absolutely right, corporate transparency is important. I’m a big believer in putting my money where my mouth is. I don’t appreciate unknowingly supporting something/one I disagree with. Take Dominoes, once I found out that their big corporate charity was Operation Rescue I stopped ordering from them. Simple as that.
So, an (un)popular celebrity’s son has a popular business/product, um, and this is news how? Oh right, Facebook was involved, and of course that makes it news.
I had heard this several years ago… ho hum…
If no conspiracy exists, let’s invent one!
I know I’ll never drink another Rockstar Drink. I’ll drink RedBull, Monster, Vitamin Water, anything but Rockstar. I don’t want one penny of my money going anywhere near Michael Weiner, even if it’s just his son buying that racist thug a father’s day present.
Boycott Rockstar Energy Drink!
@Chris Walters
“I figure any attempt to be sincere or honest on my part is going to bring on more mockery. *shrug* At least I feel like I’m being as fair-minded as possible, both yesterday and today. I guess I can handle any criticism.”
I noticed some anonymous posts were not posted here, presumably because they are antithetical to your pro-gay agenda of digging Rockstar, Mike Savage et al into the ground. And a couple of other posts that did appear seem removed.
Fair, sincere, and honest? Hmmmm. I’d like to know how censorship that goes against your views is “fair.”
@captainproton: Don’t mix up the post with the comment section. I said I was trying to write a fair post: here is Savage, here’s what he’s known for, here’s his relationship to a product, here’s why people should know about this sort of thing in general (regardless of political views). And I was trying to be fair-minded by posting a follow-up that clarified what I understood about the situation after further reading.
I think you’re complaining about the fact that the comments section is moderated and not a free-for-all. That’s by design! It makes the comments more readable and helps us police against trolls.
Read more about our comments code here:
[consumerist.com]
If you don’t think it’s being moderated appropriately according to the code, you can email the moderator (see sidebar for email link). If you disagree with the code itself, you can email Ben or Meg (again, see sidebar).
I don’t moderate the comments. I just read them, bang my head against the desk, distract myself by doing some obscenely gay stuff with gay people (and/or ducks), and then occasionally reply.
@captainproton: Should someone calling himself Captain Protein, of all things, really be using dog-whistle phrases like “pro-gay agenda”?
E.G., Ted Haggard, is that you?
So why exactly is Michael Savage’s family enterprise sponsoring Marilyn Manson and Slayer on the Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival? Who’s duping who? Would Marilyn Manson agree to this sponsorship knowing the ownership connections? Or is it possible that Michael Savage’s family members are secret admirers of Marilyn Manson? Corporate sponsorships sure make for strange bedfellows, if nothing else.
Well Its not like I drink crappy energy drinks but this is nice to know. I wouldn’t want any of my cash going to a bigot like Michael Savage family. Its not about being politically correct this guy is way off the radar when it comes to political debate. He has a 1st amendment right to spew hate all he wants but on the other hand people also have a right to boycott.
i still say shenanigans., just like OP. break out the broomsticks
Explain to me how they are not connected? The website CLEARLY lists his dad as one of the inventors on archives and his mom is the CFO. I like how Rockstar is stripping these references off the site but archives show the truth.
It’s rather ironic to criticise Savage for wanting to end Muslim immigration to the United States. In banning him from entering Britain, the UK’s home secretary said:
“‚ÄúComing to this country is a privilege … If you can‚Äôt live by the rules that we live by, the standards and the values that we live by, we should exclude you from this country and, what‚Äôs more, now we will make public those people that we have excluded.‚Äù
I believe that this statement neatly sums up Savage’s concerns about Muslim immigrants.
Who cares? I like listeng to Savage and drinking Rockstar. In AMERICA we have the freedom to do so just like we ALL have freedom of privacy. Get a life and clean your own backyard before complaining about your neighbors. Every liberal wants something to bitch and whine about. In AMERICA I should have the freedom to bitch and whine too…even if it offends someone. I’es called freedom of speach and expression.