I have "swallowed the future."No, wait...hungrily gulped the future. Yes, that's what I've done. And soon, with help from a little-bottler-that-could, you will too.
The World Wide Web has nearly become just that. Its strands extend to television, the newsstand, and desktops of every freshman screenwriter with grandiose allusions to how hackers really look.
The last place you'd expect the Web's influence is a convenience-store shelf, next to bottles of Geyser cherry-lemonade and Arizona ginseng iced-tea. But that's where <META REFRESH> CEOs Scott Mager, Dave Hicks, and David Ziegler are looking to make their first million metabucks by marketing the first soft drink made exclusively with the WIRED generation in mind.
That which beget <META REFRESH> is truly the essence of the Web -- an HTML tag which allows the dynamic renewal of content as specified by its creator. In layman's terms, pages change when specified. As a beverage, <META REFRESH> meets the parable head on with the aid of five savory spheres of flavored concentrate injected into the bottle's caffeinated spring water at the drinker's inclination.
Over lunch at a diner in SoHo, the <META REFRESH> principals gave me the lowdown on the thirst-quenchiest way to keep late-night coding fests burning well into the morn.
How was <META REFRESH> born?
<DAVE_H>From a growing distaste for Mountain Dew? Our inspiration was a kind of health food bar, like a Tiger's Milk bar or something, with the word "meta" on the wrapper. Et voila, a spark!</DAVE_H>
Have a distributor or bottler?
<SCOTT>We're in the process of scheduling talks with two bottlers in NYC, and three capital investors -- one of which may surprise you. After all that's taken care of we'll announce the distributor and go live with the Web site. Right now there's just a teaser up. If need be, though, we'll deliver it ourselves out of a Civic hatchback.</SCOTT>
The <META REFRESH> I had was surprisingly good. I get the feeling, however, that some of the combinations might taste a little peculiar. Is there a concern that, unless schooled in the proper combining of flavors, people might find <META REFRESH> tasting rotten most of the time?
<DAVE_Z>Well, you know, Art, taste is only throat-deep.</DAVE_Z>
<SCOTT>Our philosophy is let <META> be as poor as the majority of online content today, and watch as everyone runs out to buy it anyhow.</SCOTT>
<DAVE_H>That's our philosophy? Did I miss a meeting?</DAVE_H>
[Laughter]
<DAVE_Z>It just depends on the consumer. The concentrate spheres are tasty...when diluted with the spring water, obviously. One of the plug-ins features exotic flavors, another a kind of unusual Jelly Belly-esque combo taste sensation.</DAVE_Z>
<SCOTT>We'll provide a chart. Jeez.</SCOTT>
This is a great bottle; it's kind of like a Coke bottle on steroids from The Jetsons' refrigerator.
<DAVE_H>Someone called it the Dangerous Dildo.</DAVE_H>
<SCOTT>We're keeping the bottle under wraps until <META REFRESH> actually hits the shelves. The packaging is almost as big a selling tool as the concept itself.</SCOTT>
Speaking of which, any flavor schemes?
<SCOTT>We have three, Dave mentioned two. Our "flavor technician" is working on a fourth. If <META REFRESH> sells like we hope, we might release the specs so people can create their own plug-ins. Maybe an LSD-25 plug-in. The possibilities are sky-high, no pun intended.</SCOTT>
<DAVE_Z>A few alcoholic twists, probably.</DAVE_Z>
So what does the future hold in store?
<DAVE_H>We'll try and make a few million and then dissolve like most other online ventures.</DAVE_H>
<DAVE_Z>Limo rides eighteen hours a day up and down the streets of NYC, tossing bottles of <META REFRESH> out the sunroof. We're also working on a candy called Raw Binary. There's a lot of people making money off the Web and the Internet, why not us? At least we're providing something that has the potential to taste good, the potential to throw a party in your mouth where everyone's invited.</DAVE_Z>
<DAVE_H>People like to eat and drink, and we recognize that. We're visionairies, really.</DAVE_H>
