• PRIME arrived at Checkers stores on Monday and since then the Checkers Sixty60 app has been misbehaving.
• The problems that some may have encountered were caused by “unprecedented Sixty60 app usage and demand for PRIME Hydration”.
• The drink is the creation of YouTubers Logan Paul and KSI.

Following a few months where some retailers were charging R500 plus for a bottle of PRIME, Checkers made the hydration drink available at its stores and the Sixty60 app on Monday.

Pre-orders opened on Sunday evening and come Monday millennials and zoomers were flooding Checkers stores to get their fix of the drink. However, Checkers also sold the drink on its Sixty60 app and anybody shopping for groceries this week may have noted some issues.

Just in the Hypertext office we noted that the app lagged, some staffers had their carts cleared without warning and delivery times seemed to be hampered. On Tuesday morning we placed an order only for the app to freeze up. Ultimately our order was delivered within the promised 60 minutes but we were curious to know why the app was acting up.

As it turns out, PRIME is the reason and we weren’t imagining problems.

“The unprecedented Sixty60 app usage and demand for PRIME Hydration intermittently impacted ordering on the app causing it to be less efficient than what customers have become accustomed to. We thank our loyal customers for their patience,” the Shoprite Media team told Hypertext via email.

While PRIME’s founders – Logan Paul and Olajide Olayinka Williams Olatunji (KSI) – are controversial in their own right, it’s hard to ignore the pair’s success.

The beverage is the official global sports drink for UFC and it has brought in $250 million in retail sales.

Locally opinions have ranged from PRIME being palatable to it not tasting good at all. We’re keen to give it a try and compare it to other sports drinks available locally.

While some older folks have criticised youngsters for getting so swept up in the hype we’d all do well to remember the fervour with which we consumed VitaminWater once 50 Cent put his name behind it or maybe even Virgin Cola from the 90s.

It’s just a drink, let people hydrate in peace.