Zombie Blood: From Thriller to Your Fridge

Who is to blame for our collective zombie-philia? Might have to be the King of Pop himself, Michael Jackson, whose 1983 Thriller music video became one of the most popular videos ever. And then came Return of the Living Dead 2, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, zombified episodes of The Simpsons and South Park… and zombies, zombies, everywhere!

Now we don't just have to watch - we can drink, too, thanks to Zombie Blood, an energy drink for those who don't want to feel faint of heart.

As its website touts, “Zombie Blood contains the extra strong green zombie blood cells that helped zombies to become the strongest, most horrifying scourge on the face of our planet. These cells temporarily give you zombie strength in the form of additional energy for sports, long workdays, late night studying, or ironically, killing zombies with a cricket bat.”

Seeking a chunk of Red Bull's brain (er, market), it's made from "4 grams of whey protein, caffeine and not even a trace of brains" and "delivers up to four hours of energy.” And despite Fast Company's pondering if it's a prank product, we can verify it's real.

Who actually extracts the green zombie blood cells? Turns out its Harcos Labs, founded by two "gamer geeks" who dipped their toes in the energy drinks category with Mana Energy Potion, which began selling online in 2008 with a “potion shaped alchemic bottle, the blue colored shot looked identical to the ones found in over 100 video game titles.”

The two-person shop grew into a large e-tailer, which last year started selling another unique, tongue-in-cheek beverage catering to vampire fans - Blood Energy Potion. Boasting "the color, consistency and nutritional profile of actual blood" (and dripping with irony), Harcos billed the beverage as a "caffeinated formula ... packaged in a pouch resembling an IV bag.”

Blood Energy was promoted with viral videos on YouTube (such as this deliberately cheesy spot) and on the company's Twitter page.

And now – to assuage the zombies in our midst – Zombie Blood is being primarily promoted on Facebook, the cause of many late-night Web zombies. It's also behind a mock campaign, the Zombie Protection Agency (ZPA), to promote its zombie drink with a wink.

Smells like a very clever social media marketing ploy; tastes like an energy drink; but watch out for the behaviors it may spawn. Who know what’s next from these bloody-minded and viral brand marketers? For now, the Zombies have it!