Detox-O-Box: A care package for party-loving students

The care package — a college-life staple that provides a visual and satisfying indicator of… The care package — a college-life staple that provides a visual and satisfying indicator of how much your parents love you.

There are care packages for exam preparation, spa nights and sporting events, but what about those parts of students’ lives that they might not be quite so eager to write home about? Like, say, a hangover?

Care package company Box-O-Box has the answer: the Detox-O-Box. For $49.99, plus shipping and handling, the anti-hangover kit will come right to your door.

Box-O-Box co-founder Michael Hauke said he was inspired not by desperate students, but rather parents concerned for their children’s happiness, no matter how hard they party.

“The idea actually came from a parent who called us and said ‘Hey, listen, do you have any packaged for my son who has been up late … studying?'” Hauke said.

Box-O-Box expected anti-party advocates would shoot down the idea, but Hauke said that his market research revealed a wide audience for the product.

“At first we said ‘Yeah right, there’s no way we can have a hangover care package.’ But parents were the biggest proponents of it. [Parents we talked to] said it was a fantastic idea and that they would really send it,” he said.

Hauke posed two scenarios: Student gets drunk, comes back late, vomits everywhere and misses class; or student gets drunk, comes back late, gets the Detox-O-Box, doesn’t throw up and makes it to class. If the going out and getting hammered is inevitable, what parents might influence is the aftermath.

“A call from parents saying ‘Hi, I miss you honey’ is great, but sending a package like this helps students and parents connect on another level. Most students think their parents would never be cool or understanding enough to send something like this,” he said.

Hauke said this is because the box does not at all condone drinking but instead focused on helping students revive and recover — a sentiment also expressed in a disclaimer on the Detox-O-Box’s online product page.

“The disclaimer is completely for us, it’s our own message,” he said.

So … what’s in the box?

The most important inclusion is the Boozer Hangover Drink, which Hauke said is the only beverage on the market scientifically proven to help relive hangovers. The makers of the all-natural drink are co-sponsors of the Detox-O-Box.

“We test all of the products in all of our boxes. Out of 45 products we tried, Boozer is the only one that actually worked,” he said.

Three Boozer drinks are included in the box, and the manufacturer recommends that they be consumed within 24 hours of each other: one before drinking, one prior to bedtime and one the next morning. Hauke says that in the product test he conducted, “people were floored by how well it actually worked.”

Karlee Smith, a senior at Point Park University, tested the beverage after a night at the bars. While she initially thought the product seemed like a gimmick, she woke up pleasantly surprised.

“I’m not sure if it was the placebo effect or if it really worked, but I definitely felt better than I thought I would when I woke up,” Smith said. “I didn’t feel dehydrated at all, but I still had a little bit of a headache.”

She said that the taste, while not completely appealing to a sour stomach, was definitely mild enough for even the most horrendous of hangovers.

“It’s citrusy, sort of like a mix between Mellow Yellow, Red Bull and Sprite. I wouldn’t drink it if I didn’t need to, but it wasn’t bad,” she said.

Boozer features a whopping 500 percent of the daily recommended intake of vitamin B6, 420 percent of vitamin C and 330 percent of thiamine, a vitamin B complex. The drink is not currently distributed anywhere other than Detox-O-Boxes, though there are plans for it to hit the market soon.

The box also includes several delicious edibles aimed at combating the effects of a long night out. These edibles include potato chips, the grease of which — according to Hauke — coats the stomach and relieves nausea, salty pretzels to help fix alcohol-related sodium deficiency and products containing ginger and mint to help with nausea.

“We bend over backwards to find healthy, organic, all-natural products. Many of our products are vegan and fair-trade certified. They’re harder for us to include but are delicious,” he said.

In an effort to “change the game a little bit,” Hauke said that all of Box-O-Box’s boxes are made from 70 percent post-recycled material and printed with vegetable-based ink. The company also undertakes other efforts to cut its carbon footprint.

“Go through the boxes, and you’ll really see that most of [the content] is health conscious and socially responsible,” he said. “There’s a whole lot of do-gooding going on. We’re really pushing to not be a generic company.

“Hopefully, someday, we’ll get to the point where Hershey’s will say ‘You know what, Box-O-Box? You guys are so awesome we’re going to turn our whole product line organic,’ but until that day, we’re going to have to meet them in the middle,” he said.