Monster and UFC Sponsorship - Strickland vs. Costa.
Updated: Jun 25
The Monster Energy Drink sponsorship of the UFC Strickland vs. Costa match was overdone. I watched the match at my local pub, surrounded by teenagers and their parents in a family-friendly environment, enjoying the event on a large screen and the communal atmosphere it fostered.
While the floor decal in the ring's center was appealing, the additional branding efforts were off-putting. It appeared that Monster had negotiated for UFC fighters to drink from Monster-branded bottles, giving the impression they were refueling with Monster during the fight.
These elite athletes are not consuming Monster Energy Drinks. Moreover, the Monster-branded drinking bottle resembled a Gatorade bottle, a product not sold by Monster, at least not in Australia.
After Strickland won the title, he was given a can of Monster to parade around the ring with, which he never drank from. Even during the winner's announcement, he held the referee's hand in one and a Monster can in the other.
This is a sports event where children watch their role models, the fittest and toughest men in the world, and advertisers cleverly suggest that the fighters are replenishing with Monster during the match and celebrating with it afterward.
Perhaps I'm mistaken, and they are drinking Monster instead of water, but I'm fairly certain I'm not. The line between marketing to teenagers and deceiving them is really blurred in this sponsorship deal.
Monster, laden with sugar, is not what elite athletes drink during a fight; they drink water.
The subsequent fight was sponsored by Bud Light, prompting me to leave the pub, too frightened to see how much the UFC had compromised the sports integrity for advertising dollars.
4/6/24 editor note: Since 2021 Monster have been the official water sponsor of UFC. However, as the Aussie market has no knowledge of the Monster Water range, the premise of Monster misleading Aussie kids is still completely relevant.
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