5-hour Energy ordered to pay $4.3M for deceptive ads

5-hour Energy may be experiencing a crash.

A court in Washington state has ordered the company behind the popular energy shot to pay nearly $4.3 million in penalties and fees for deceptive advertising techniques. The state court determined the maker of the drink – Living Essentials LLC - had tricked customers into thinking the liquid in the small bottle was a more effective energizer than caffeine.

The Attorney General in Washington State first sued Living Essentials in July 2014 over a series of the company's marketing claims. According to Consumerist, those ranged from asserting that physicians recommended the liquid to a claim that imbibers wouldn’t experience a “crash” following a presumed energy increase.

t the time of the ruling in Oct. 2016, the judge noted that the company did not offer proof to support its assertion that the drink’s “combination of caffeine, B vitamins and amino acids would provide energy that would last longer than consumers would experience from a cup of premium coffee (and in some of the ads, longer than 3 or 4 cups of coffee).”

The court also disputed Living Essentials’ position that the non-caffeine ingredients in the drink worked together with the added caffeine to extend the stimulant’s effects. The court claimed that a study provided by Living Essentials actually showed the opposite effect-- that the taurine in 5-Hour Energy could counteract caffeine.