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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