The Arnold Palmer is often called the Half-and-Half. Sometimes, people will even call in the 50-50. That's not good enough for Jay-Z, however, who has launched a sports drink to compete with the King's signature beverage.
Jay-Z, in partnership with a company called Go N'Syde, has launched a sports drink called 40/40, which has an "Arnold Palmer-esque" flavor to it, marketed to "sports-loving males." The name of the drink is a reference to the rap mogul's New York club. Launched in late May, the bottles sell for $1.99 each and can be found at Walgreen's and Duane Reade stores.
On each bottle, there's an augmented reality tag which drives buyers to a mobile platform for Jay-Z and his music.
“We have great tasting beverage,” said Kevin Liles, head of Go N'Syde and former man at the helm of Def Jam records, to Forbes. “But the second part of it is providing a new network for the brands or icons to communicate with their fans. I call it disrupting the consumer packaged goods industry by having your products actually talk to you.”
The Arnold Palmer drink meant more than $200 million in revenue last year to the Arizona Beverage Company. If Jay-Z can tap into any of that, he'll have another hit on his hands.
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