It was seven o'clock one morning last December when Sean Evans made his way to his local branch of Aldi. The supermarket had tweeted that it would be selling a limited supply of Prime Hydration that day: 300 bottles to each shop. When he got there, a queue had formed outside and the car park was full. Within twenty minutes, the bottles had sold out.

"That experience was mental," says Evans on his YouTube channel. "There were older people pushing kids out of the way so that they could get drinks for family members... Mental!"

The Prime range of drinks was launched last year by the American boxer Logan Paul and the British rapper KSI. Both have huge followings on social media, which created great excitement around the brand. KSI, whose real name is Olajide Olayinka Williams Olatunji, has 24.1 million subscribers on YouTube and Logan Paul has 23.6 million.

Add Instagram and TikTok, and the pair have more followers than there are people in VietnamA Southeast Asian country with a population of nearly 100 million. .

When the first Prime drinks went on sale in the US 18 months ago, they sold out within hours. In June last year, Prime Hydration arrived in the UK, causing similar excitement.

So big was the demand that supermarkets began limiting the number of bottles customers could buy, and raised prices. Bottles which should have cost around £1.50 were being sold for £100 in some places.

"A buzz doesn't happen overnight... It takes months," says marketing expert Eddie Hammernan. "Limit the supply and then you create the demand. This is called scarcity marketing."

Prime Hydration is mainly water, but also contains coconut water and electrolytes - minerals that can be lost from the body through sweating. Dr Linia Patel, a sports nutritionist,¹ questions its value: "The majority of us don't need a special drink to hydrate us. Just get a good bottle of water."

But while Prime Hydration is considered safe for children, Prime Energy - launched in the UK in April - is a different matter. A 335ml can contains 200mg of caffeineA drug that increases the activity of the brain and nervous system. It is found in many drinks, such as tea, coffee and soft drinks, as well as energy drinks, which have large amounts of caffeine. - nearly twice as much as Red BullAn energy drink brand. . Experts say that even older children should not have more than 100mg of caffeine a day.

Prime Energy is not supposed to be sold to anyone under 18, but some children are getting hold of it nonetheless. A pupil at Milton Primary School in Wales had to have their stomach pumped after drinking Prime Energy and having what the school called "a cardiacRelating to the heart. episode".

In 2018, the Royal College of PaediatricsThe branch of medicine dealing with children and children's illnesses. and Child Health called for a ban on the sale of all energy drinks to those under 16. It said that far from providing energy, the drinks often made young people "lethargicA lack of energy or sluggish. , agitated and anxious".

Now some schools are banning Prime, and not only for health reasons. One said that Prime had become a status symbol and children were "removing themselves from their lessons to be seen drinking with the Prime branded bottles".

Others said that some pupils were selling Prime to classmates for far more than the shop price.

Yes: There is no way Prime would be so successful if it did not have Logan Paul and KSI behind it. People can get all the hydration they need from water and most have plenty of energy.

No: There was already a big market for sports and energy drinks before Prime came along, so there is obviously a big demand for them. All brands use advertising: Prime's is just better than most.   

Or... There is nothing wrong with a bit of hype. People today buy products for the excitement they create and lifestyle they suggest as much as for their intrinsic value - and Prime is very exciting.

Vietnam - A Southeast Asian country with a population of nearly 100 million.

Caffeine - A drug that increases the activity of the brain and nervous system. It is found in many drinks, such as tea, coffee and soft drinks, as well as energy drinks, which have large amounts of caffeine.

Red Bull - An energy drink brand.

Cardiac - Relating to the heart.

Paediatrics - The branch of medicine dealing with children and children's illnesses.

Lethargic - A lack of energy or sluggish.