The topic I chose to research was coffee. I chose this topic simply because it contains a drug that is frequently used in our society and it is a drug that is often seen as harmless without much reason to why it would or wouldn’t potentially be dangerous. Caffeine intake can come in various forms, including use of coffee, pre-workout, caffeine supplements, energy drinks and soda. Caffeine is a psychoactive, licit drug that is used very commonly in our society. Being a stimulant, caffeine will accelerate the activity of the central nervous system and its inhibitory effects include; alertness, wakefulness and increased heart rate, which can be helpful to some who need that extra boost in the morning or during the day when they are winding down and need more energy (caffeine). Since caffeine is often seen as a harmless, legal drug that everyone uses; it is easy for companies to use advertisements effectively.

How does it affect you?

The effects of caffeine may be felt for four to six hours and typically reaches its max level in your blood within one hour of consumption. Caffeine can also affect your body’s metabolism; which includes potentially interfering with absorption of calcium, increasing the release of acid in your stomach, acting as a diuretic and increasing blood pressure. Some side effects you may see if you consume too much caffeine include: restlessness, insomnia, headaches, dizziness, headaches, arrhythmia, dehydration, anxiety and dependency. Caffeine may affect each person differently, but normally it is not harmful to your health to consume up to 400 mg of caffeine in a day (Caffeine). Caffeine does have an addictive element and if you stop taking the drug, the symptoms of withdrawal may include: headaches, drowsiness, irritability, nausea and difficulty concentrating, but typically disappear after two or three days (Caffeine). According to the Healthline article, “In most people, there is no long-term effect on blood pressure, but if you have irregular heart rhythms, caffeine may make your heart work harder. If you have high blood pressure (hypertension) or heart-related problems” (The effects). So there are some cases where caffeine can potentially be dangerous for a person. While rare, death could occur to do convulsions or irregular heart beat when a person overdoses on the drug (The effects). Caffeine is also commonly mixed with alcohol to “cancel” out the effects of alcohol, which is a depressant. When caffeine is mixed with alcohol it can be easy to forget how much caffeine or alcohol you have consumed. Combining the effects make it easy for a person to make poor decisions such as driving while under the influence of alcohol and to be taken advantage of. In severe cases it can lead to death, especially if alcohol is combined with too many energy drinks. A Jägerbomb and Four Loko are popular drinks that do this. Too much of this on a given night and depending on the person, can lead to being hospitalized or even death due to a heart attack for example.

Friend or Just a Customer?

Another popular way caffeine is consumed is through coffee. I would say that it is typical for a cup of coffee to be part of a large amount of people’s daily routine; I myself regularly consume coffee about each morning. Advertisements for coffee typically show no stigma. The United States is the leading consumer in coffee consumption with Americans consuming about 146 billion cups of coffee per year. There are thousands of Starbucks across the country and as of July 2017, there are about 7,500 Starbucks-owned stores in the United States. Starbucks started in 1971, in Seattle, WA and has become the most popular name-brand coffee house. Billions of dollars are spent on advertising by Starbucks and it’s hard to miss their signs, billboards, commercials, etc all over the country and often attempt to make their advertisements as personal as possible for the consumers. In the advertisement for Starbucks, I found this to be pretty similar to most other Starbucks commercials. Their target audience is young adults and teens who are on-the-go and need a quick drink and a lot of times use the coffee shops as a place to socialize. In the advertisement, they use upbeat, feel good music combined with the images of steam coming from a fresh cup to help the audience associate their product with a positive vibe. They use “here’s to friendship” in an attempt to make the service seem more personal, while also emphasizing the display of the person’s name on the cup. But this commercial could be deceiving. Starbucks has millions of customers and the service doesn’t always seem as genuine as shown in the commercial. They use the word “friendship” in their ad but it is not uncommon for the barista to put little effort into writing the customer’s name on the cup. Also with regard to the writing of the customer’s name on the cup, the ad shows the name very neatly written and spelled correctly when really it isn’t uncommon for the customer’s name to be completely different from the one they are told and in writing that is hard to see. Also, I am not trying to say all Starbucks baristas don’t work hard at what they do, but with as many customers as Starbucks attracts there is almost no way each of your Starbucks experiences are going to be as personal as the one displayed in the ads. They also avoid displaying the price for the drink and for how cheap it is to make coffee; Starbucks seems to sell their drinks overpriced but instead grab the attention of the customers with the flashy drinks. They also typically offer certain drinks for a limited-time varying on the season, persuading the customers to come buy the product when they can before it’s gone until next year and will glorify it in their advertisements. In other advertisements I have seen when it comes to coffee and even other caffeine products, the people in the advertisements typically look distressed and “not themselves” until they have had their coffee and when they have their coffee, they appear more happy. They also typically offer certain drinks for a limited-time varying on the season, persuading the customers to come buy the product when they can before it’s gone until next year and will glorify it in their advertisements.

Taking it to the Next Level

Another way caffeine is consumed is through pre-workout, which is an interesting workout supplement because they almost always include large amounts of caffeine and this type of supplement seems to be becoming more popular among athletes and those who exercise regularly. In the Gold Standard pre-workout, the caffeine intake is 175 mg per serving. This is another way caffeine is normalized in our culture and is often seen as a legal way to gain an edge for athletes or anyone who likes to train as opposed to use of a substance that is illegal such as steroids. In the video advertisement for the Gold Standard pre-workout, use words like “energized”, “focused” and when the man in the video took a drink of the pre-workout, he instantly appeared stronger as if he were transforming into the hulk. This is deceptive because pre-workout is not something that will instantly make you stronger, rather it is something you use to help facilitate your workout that could help you eventually get to the desired physique. The advertisement also does not tell you what is in the supplement, rather it just shows you what it could help you become, and there are many other factors than using pre-workout to reach your fitness goals such as the type of exercises complete and nutrition.

In my opinion, I find this drug to be quite helpful and would recommend this to a good friend or family member. However, I would also recommend to my friend or family member that they use caffeine in small doses. Although if the person has high blood pressure or problems that are heart-related, I would advise those people to be cautious and watch their intake, if any.

Caffeine: MedlinePlus. (2017, September 29). Retrieved October 25, 2017, from https://medlineplus.gov/caffeine.html

The Effects of Caffeine on Your Body. (2017, August 07). Retrieved October 25, 2017, from https://www.healthline.com/health/caffeine-effects-on-body