The release of the Prime energy drink created by two YouTube stars - Logan Paul and KSI - has sparked chaotic scenes at some UK supermarkets.
As reported by the Independent, 19-year-old student Kristina Sheppard filmed frenzied adults physically pushing and shoving children out of the way to get their hands on the drinks - which have a whopping resale value on Amazon and eBay.
The incident happened at an Aldi store in Sydenham, South-East London, at 8:00 AM, when the 500ml bottles of Blue Raspberry, Lemon and Lime, and Ice Pop Prime went on sale at a cost of £1.99 ($2.40) each.
Before the sale, the fifteen-pack of the viral beverage was being sold for as much as £200 ($241) online.
Watch the incident below:According to the outlet, Sheppard described the scenes in the store and claimed adults were "pushing children" and walking out with boxes of the drink - despite Aldi only allowing customers to purchase one each.
"It was just hectic," Kristina said. "I didn’t push anyone, but there was a lot of pushing and shoving going on. I thought there was a limit of one bottle per flavor, but I saw people getting cases of them."
"There were parents pushing children," she continued. "There were kids between the ages of seven and 14 who were being pushed out of the way.
"One of the staff was shouting 'parents, stop pushing the kids'. It was absolute carnage. I just got my bottles and left, I didn’t want to stick around much longer," the student added.
Prime is described as a "hydration" drink rather than an energy drink as it does not contain caffeine. It is made up of water and coconut water with added vitamins and minerals.
Creator KSI - real name Olajide Olayinka Williams "JJ" Olatunji - is a musician and part of the creator group The Sidemen, which has 17.5 million subscribers internationally. The other founder Paul is a US-based online star, who has 23.6 million subscribers.
The drink arrived in American stores earlier in 2022 and was initially only stocked in Asda stores in the UK, until launching in more British supermarket chains on Thursday (December 29). Metro reported that around 50 people joined a line outside a supermarket in Gravesend, Kent, in the morning to get their hands on the coveted drink.
After the supermarket opened, crates of the bottles sold out within seconds. Ellie-Louise Dadswell, 20, spoke about her hectic shopping experience and said that she managed to get one for her 14-year-old brother.
"I began queuing at about quarter to 8 but it didn’t take long to go down as the product was all gone so quickly. No one was talking to each other really, just trying their hardest to get it. There [was] loads of pushing and shoving," she explained.
Aldi in Crawley sold out of the drink in less than 30 minutes after the store opened at 8:00 AM on Thursday morning. By 8.50 AM, the store's management had even put up signs outside informing customers that all Prime stock had been sold out, per Sussex Live.
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