Oft-criticised and much-read monthly men’s magazine Loaded has announced the launch of an own-brand energy shot drink with neutraceuticals company Podium Brands. It’s a partnership that brings new life to the idea that you are what you read.

The Loaded Stamina Shot contains amino acids, herbal extracts, vitamins and natural stimulants, claiming to provide all the benefits of a 250ml can of energy drink, for “hours of energy without the jitters”. According to IPC Media, the new product will tap into consumers’ growing desire for drinks that offer more functional benefits than simple energy.

But that’s not all – the Loaded Stamina Shot is staying true to its parent brand’s heritage as a magazine famed for bringing T&A to the middle shelves of newsagents across the UK, with “a few extras under the hood at night time to help drinkers to lift their game”.

From a brand strategy perspective, it’s an interesting move on the part of IPC’s licensing arm. Will Loaded’s core audience of 18-30 males go for a product that’s positioned as helping them to ‘lift their game’? This is, after all, a demographic whose performance is better known for being hindered by than helped by drink.

At its heart, the question is one of associations. Loaded’s heritage is one of supplying well endowed, scantily clad models around editorial carefully worded to leave no doubt as to its male readership. Can a brand known and loved by its readers for its laddish, pub-time values tune (retune) consumers’ perceptions of stamina to become something of everyday desirability, standing apart from the dreaded phenomenon of ‘PE’? 

Loaded, the world may be your mollusc of choice. We’ll await results with interest.