Bang Energy is removing the term “Super Creatine” from all packaging and advertising, after a jury ruled in September that the company and CEO Jack Owoc falsely advertised the ingredient in its products.
Though the ingredient will remain in its offerings, the tagline “Fuel Your Destiny” will replace “Super Creatine” on the top center of Bang’s cans and energy shots over the coming months, with production already underway, according to a release from the company.
“Bang Energy drinks still contain Creatyl-L-Leucine (CLL). However, pending the resolution of ongoing litigation, we will temporarily not refer to the patented CLL ingredient as ‘super creatine’ on Bang Energy drinks and shots,” the company said.
Claims around “Super Creatine,” first introduced by Bang in 2015, were at the heart of the recently concluded lawsuit filed by Bang’s chief rival Monster Energy. Lawyers for Monster successfully argued that Bang misled consumers by touting the ingredient as being shelf-stable and water-soluble — rather than regular creatine, which is not dissolvable in water and is typically sold as a powder — and effective for increasing the levels of creatine in the bloodstream.
During the trial, Monster presented several studies to back up its claims, as well as a survey that found about one-in-five cans of Bang sold would go to Monster beverages if super creatine was removed or if Bang buyers were more informed about the amount of super creatine (25 mg) in each can.
According to a report from Law360, when asked if he agreed with his previous statements that super creatine is “the greatest invention in the history of supplements,” Owoc said, “By far.”
Monster was awarded a $293 million verdict in the case, which, combined with a $175 million award in separate litigation, helped push Bang to declare Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in October.
In a video to Bang’s partners that was obtained by BevNET, Owoc sought to reassure retailers and its newly reconstructed distribution network that business operations will continue as normal while the bankruptcy process “allows us to put this judgment on hold and give Bang Energy time to restructure.”
However, Owoc refused to back down regarding claims on “Super Creatine.” In the video, he pointed out that a study funded by Monster and cited during the trial showed that creatine levels did increase in human test subjects who consumed Super Creatine, although at a slower rate than its more typical format, creatine monohydrate. However, he added that the study was “defectively designed to make Super Creatine look inferior” and that test subjects were “unfairly under-dosed by more than 60%” compared to the control group.
Owoc cited a separate study from this year credited to “Peking Biotech Medical School” that demonstrated a “significant and steady rise in free creatine levels” in rats after taking “Super Creatine,” including 24 hours after ingesting. The Bang CEO called the study “well-designed, featuring adequate dosages, appropriate blood sampling and responsible controls.” The study has not yet been published, and BevNET could not independently verify the researchers’ academic affiliation.
According to Owoc, Bang’s exclusive patent on “Super Creatine” is the root cause behind Monster’s multiple lawsuits (eight in total, he noted) over the past decade. At one point, the CEO accused his counterpart at Monster, Rodney Sacks, of “trying to destroy my family and children by taking away my house and other possessions.”
Bang fired back recently by filing a lawsuit that refers to more than 100 public reports from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s CFSAN Adverse Event Reporting System linking Monster consumption with “serious adverse health events” including 10 heart attacks and “roughly 20 deaths.”
“At this point, you have to ask yourself: Why hasn’t Monster Energy Drink been pulled from the market?” Owoc asks during the video.
After defending the credibility of “Super Creatine,” later in the video Owoc said only an “extremely small percentage” of Bang consumers purchase the product because of its patented ingredient, citing his company’s own customer surveys. Retailers and distributors will soon receive a letter with scientific evidence that backs up the company’s claims about the ingredient, he promised.
Owoc did not respond to a request for additional comment by press time.