M&S is set to launch a new soft drinks range called ‘Punishment Juice’.
The retailer has filed a trademark application for the name, to apply to non-alcoholic beverages, fruit juices and fruit drinks.
It is thought it will be framed as beneficial for health and fitness, despite one possible interpretation being that drinking it is punishment.
Punishment Juice could join a range of health shots already available from M&S, including Yay Mushrooms, with fruit juice and Lion’s Mane, and its Tropical Kefir Brain Food, which were among more than 100 new and revamped products annnounced in January. The retailer said at the time that 2025 would be “a big year for health & wellness at M&S Food”.
M&S has not provided a comment on Punishment Juice.
Soft drinks with a negative-sounding name do not have a good recent track record in the UK, with US canned water brand Liquid Death last week announcing its retreat to its domestic market.
Read more: Why Liquid Death failed to ‘murder the thirst’ of UK shoppers
The brand is exiting the UK after two years, despite generating considerable hype and benefiting from listings in major supermarkets and convenience stores. It achieved sales of £2m last year [NIQ 52 w/e 7 September 2024], compared with category leader Evian’s £207m.
Industry experts have said Liquid Death’s branding may have confused UK consumers. “I think it will have switched an awful lot of people off,” Mark McCulloch, CEO of marketing agency Supersonic Inc, told The Grocer this week.
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