Starting this article I thought of the last time I wrote about Tentacle Grape soda, the anime soda with a girl on the label with a tentacle. My last post on it was how the drink was circling the drain. After having a big showing at Anime Expo 2012 it seemed to have no presence anywhere, a new campaign was promised and that never materialized. That is until I learned today of a new Indiegogo campaign asking for $20,000. Ridiculous, as it says on it's own campaign page it has a high demand. If it's doing so well, why can't its second owners, Cosplay Deviants who bought it in 2010 from seemingly defunct Mnemosyne LLC, get the business rolling?
The soda has been on the market for a long time and suddenly changing the formula and getting new bottling material will make it better? They say they'll have a stronger distribution, but to where exactly? Just retailers that might be near you? How? That is an extremely hard part of any product business, getting it into the right stores. Currently, the only place to get the drink is online through JBOX or Jlist at $3.75 a bottle, plus shipping.
If supply is so good would it be that hard to ask for a small business loan or even ask for real investors? With the time invested on the campaign page it seems like it would have been easy to go to the local bank or other enterprises and ask for capital.
Tentacle Grape Soda does not support rape
My favorite section of the page of the campaign page. An entire section nullifying any support of rape. Find it at the bottom of the campaign page.The product is a funny idea and should work, but maybe it needs to be managed by a better company. I remember back when there were suppose to be more flavors and more then one logo. Cosplay Deviants asking for money for something that sells adds to my list of unfair uses of Kickstarting platforms including: Bee and Puppycat, which should be funded by Frederator itself and Fantagraphics new line, which needs to hire a replacement editor for their tragic loss, not get money from investors that don't see long term rewards. Just a poster or keychain.
