A TikTok Mix-Up Leads to Big Boost for Happypop

It’s no secret that a stray TikTik video can become a major inflection point for a brand, from #WaterTok influencers boosting powder mixes to a viral moment for Poppi rocketing up sales. But now, it looks like social media success can come even from a case of mistaken identity.

Happypop, a brand of functional energy drinks created by Koia co-founders Maya French and Dustin Baker, saw online sales leap over 31,000% last week when TikTok creator Emmy (@emmwee) posted a video about discovering a “happy” drink she had been buying contained kratom, a drug with opioid-like properties that is not approved by the FDA.

Emmy never named the brand she had been drinking in the video (it appears to have been New Brew, a canned “euphoric seltzer” made with kratom and kava), and she was actually trying to warn her followers away from the product, labeling it “gas station crack.” Still, it seems that Emmy’s followers were more interested in finding out what this mood-lifting drink was than in her health concerns. But instead of New Brew, Google searches for “happy drink” led her followers to Happypop – which does not contain kratom, but does have 90 mg of mucuna pruriens and 100mg of caffeine per 8.4 oz. serving.

According to French, that mistake has now led to the company – which only launched in December – selling out of its top two flavors in under 48 hours. From March 20-21, Happypop’s online store visits rose from nearly zero to 35,615 with a conversion rate of 0.96%, and roughly $13,650 in sales across more than 300 orders. The boost also led to over 1,200 new email list subscribers, and a big opportunity to scale Happypop much faster than French or her business partners had anticipated.

In response, French has rushed to start a new production run to keep up with demand, she told us, while also jumping on a new social media campaign to retain these new customers. While the business is making it clear that their product is a very different experience from kratom, the mix-up also hasn’t stopped Happypop from leaning into the humor, offering consumers 25% off with the discount code “Gascrack.”

Past experiences working with Instagram influencers led to an uptick in followers, but not sales, French said. However, a fast response on TikTok and its tongue-in-cheek embrace of the “Gas Crack” label has been transformative for the brand. The next step will be to mount a retargeting campaign for the new email subscribers and encourage those consumers to spread the word and leave reviews.

“People paid us to trial the product, and so I’m expecting another wave of once they try it they’re going to be excited to talk about it,” French said.

Happypop also learned a lot about how to message the brand overall, French added. The company had emphasized caffeine and energy in a lot of its early marketing, but the experience showed that consumers are resonating with the promise of improved mood.

As for Emmy, Happypop sent her a bouquet and a few cases of each flavor.