Rivers Glover, a junior material science and engineering major, drinks one serving of Celsius each morning — which contains 200 milligrams of caffeine.
“I’m definitely 100% reliant on it. [Without it], I would definitely feel a hole in my life,” Glover said.
Celsius is an energy drink that has gained traction in recent years, especially among young people. Though Celsius drinks first launched in 2004, it wasn’t until PepsiCo invested $550 million into the Celsius company in 2022 that the drink really took off. As a Pepsi-affiliated university, Pitt has recently joined in the Celsius promotions.
Glover started drinking Monster Energy drinks, which have 160 milligrams of caffeine, during the COVID-19 pandemic to combat trouble focusing due to her ADHD. During the pandemic, Glover said the only way she could focus on schoolwork was to combine an energy drink with her ADHD medicine. She does the same in college.
“Taking my ADHD medicine on top of drinking energy drinks makes me really anxious, and that anxiety is very much what fuels me to focus,” Glover said. “Otherwise, I can’t bring myself to [care] about doing school or studying.”
Now, Glover can’t afford to buy a can of Monster every day as a college student. Glover said she has switched to Celsius because it contains more caffeine for the same price, which she previously bought using her dining dollars at Campus Coffee and Tea in Litchfield Towers. Since Glover does not have a meal plan anymore, she now buys Celsius drink packets at CVS.
“I’ve definitely noticed that it doesn’t affect me as much as it used to, probably because of how much Celsius I’ve been consuming,” Glover said. “My favorite thing to do is get to Hillman, fill up my water bottle, pour in my packet of Celsius, and shake that s— up. I like the packets, too, because you can put it in as much water as you want, and it makes the drink go a lot longer, in a way.”
Pitt Eats has increased its Celsius promotions across campus with late-night caffeine bars, retail deals and giveaways at some Pitt events. It sponsored retail deals last spring where purchasers could get two Celsius cans for $6 at on-campus dining locations, including Forbes Street Market, Cathedral Cafe and the Market at Sutherland. Pitt Eats also hosted a “Celsius Caffeine Bar” on Sept. 3 from 9 to 11 p.m. in the Eatery, where students could craft their own Celsius “mocktails.”
“Pepsi is the exclusive beverage provider for the University of Pittsburgh. Celsius is a Pepsi brand,” University spokesperson Jared Stonesifer said.
Pepsi partners with more than 800 colleges nationwide. A report from 2022, which examined more than 100 of the largest U.S. public universities with Pepsi or Coca-Cola contracts, showed that 95% of the contracts contained at least one provision tying payments to sales volume. In the contracts, universities received about a mean of $930,000 a year, with the highest contract valued at $2.9 million.
A 2018 investigation into university beverage contracts reported that many contracts included redacted sections, and many universities said the contracts were not public records.
Kalynn Kuchta, a senior marketing major, is one of Pitt’s first Celsius Student Marketing Ambassadors. The Celsius-sponsored marketing program, Celsius University, pays college students to represent the brand on campuses. The program, which commenced in 2022, is kicking off its first academic year at Pitt this fall.
Kuchta’s roles include bringing cans of Celsius to events on campus for Greek life organizations and athletic programs, giving out free cans to students at various locations on campus and holding pop-up tents.
Kuchta has been in contact with the University’s Pepsi representatives, who were keen on collaborating with Celsius, but is still figuring out the program in its entirety. However, since Pitt is partnered with Pepsi, Kuchta said it will be easier for her to work on a partnership between Celsius and the University.
“Theoretically, down the line, Pitt could have big events, such as the club fair in the Pete, that could be sponsored by Celsius and have Celsius tents everywhere,” Kuchta said.
In August, Pepsi increased its ownership in Celsius and proclaimed Celsius as the “PepsiCo strategic energy lead in the U.S.”
Anthony Pizon, professor of emergency medicine and chief of the division of medical toxicology at Pitt’s School of Medicine, said the recent popularity of energy drinks started when Starbucks coffee became popular, which has a higher caffeine ratio than average. However, Pizon noted that selling caffeine is also about building a market, and he has noticed similarities between previous cigarette advertising that targeted young people and current energy drink advertising.
“We’re doing much of the same thing with caffeine — certainly starting at a young age, getting people dependent or addicted, if you will, to caffeinated beverages,” Pizon said.
Pizon said because caffeine and ADHD medicine are both stimulants, they can “spark” a better focus. Pizon added that the maximum recommended amount of caffeine consumption is 400 milligrams per day, but beyond that limit, consumers can face effects like high blood pressure, anxiety, nervousness, sleeplessness, stomach irritation and gastritis.
The American Academy of Sleep Medicine advises consuming caffeine no less than six hours before going to bed, and a new study shows that drinking coffee at night may lead to impulsive behavior. Pizon said he finds it “strange” that Pitt Eats held a caffeine bar late at night.
“Two hundred milligrams is a larger dose [to consume] at once, but as long as you’re keeping within a couple hundred milligrams a day, you should be okay,” Pizon said. “Certainly drinking it at night [could be] disrupting your normal sleep-wake cycle, [and] that could be problematic.”
For those who consume high levels of caffeine, Pizon said that there is “absolutely a possibility” of withdrawal symptoms. Although people will face withdrawal in different ways, it can result in headaches, fatigue, listlessness and lack of motivation, according to Pizon.
“With daily drinking of coffee, you will build tolerance, and you will need to drink more to get the same clinical effect over time for sure,” Pizon said.
Kuchta said she is excited to see where the partnership between Celsius and Pitt goes.
“It seems like everybody’s really excited about Celsius and the opportunity it brings with it,” Kuchta said. “[The Pepsi representatives are] all for collaborating on things and getting bigger events, but it sounds like everyone’s just trying to learn more about what this type of partnership would look like.”