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I suspect that the interest comes from the radical branding. "Ensure" is associated with hospitals and the aging population, whereas "Soylent" is historically a

by ynniv 13y ago

I suspect that the interest comes from the radical branding. "Ensure" is associated with hospitals and the aging population, whereas "Soylent" is historically associated with dystopia and recently with some ambitious kids. One exit would be to create an energy drink-like (young target market) product that's just a re-branded Ensure. But if you're currently using Ensure, perhaps you know of other ways to improve on it? They're both basically ramen for the well-off. (And +1 to tlb: simply removing sugar is an improvement in my eyes.)

cube13 13y ago
> I suspect that the interest comes from the radical branding. "Ensure" is associated with hospitals and the aging population, whereas "Soylent" is historically associated with dystopia and recently with some ambitious kids. And people. It's associated with people.
- ynniv 13y ago
  Nice. It is an extremely good name for what it is, and it might (sadly?) succeed based on that alone. Countless energy drinks have paved the way.
  - pydave 13y ago
    Really? Soylent sounds like it's made of soy, but the name essentially means cannibalism. I'd expect the former to kill enthusiasm from the energy drink market (where the cannibalism angle makes it sound more extreme) and the latter to put off everyone else.
    - ynniv 13y ago
      The literary evocation is far more powerful than the word-part "soy". Even so, given soy's ubiquity I suspect that no one would seriously be turned off by it at this point. The name doesn't "essentially mean cannibalism", it refers to a fictional future company that makes the bulk of the worlds' food in the form of Soylent Red and Soylent Yellow. In the movie Soylent introduced a new product Green that you refer to, which means that the only people who are disturbed by the name are those who take things too seriously and also didn't actually watch the movie.
      - dragonwriter 13y ago
        > Even so, given soy's ubiquity I suspect that no one would seriously be turned off by it at this point. I actually know many more people that would be turned off by the word part "soy" than by the literary reference.
      - pydave 13y ago
        I haven't seen Soylent Green in a long time and all I remember is "Soylent Green is people". I'd guess that many people who haven't seen the movie know that line and nothing else.
sowhatquestion 13y ago
Have you tried Ensure Complete? I got so impatient while waiting for my Soylent order to arrive that I actually did. First of all, it's loaded with sugar, and lacks Soylent's heavy dose of fiber to balance out the glycemic index. Result: sugar rush followed by a nasty crash. Secondly, it lacks some of Soylent's extras like creatine and MCT fats. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, it's expensive: it would be almost $465/month, or $15/day to get 2400 calories from these ( http://www.walmart.com/ip/Ensure-Complete-Chocolate-Nutrition-Shakes-8-fl-oz-4-count/22569718#Nutrition+Facts http://www.walmart.com/ip/Ensure-Complete-Chocolate-Nutritio... ). Whereas the Soylent team is working to get the price down to ~$200/month, or ~$6.50/day. Soylent will be not only one of the highest-quality products in its category, but also perhaps the first one that isn't "for the well-off." I anticipate that it will shrink my food budget substantially. Not to mention the future savings on food-related things like dishes and silverware. Hell, if I really switch to it full time, I might even be able to save on electricity by unplugging my refrigerator!
- zorpner 13y ago
  > heavy dose of fiber to balance out the glycemic index. Result: sugar rush followed by a nasty crash Good God, man, that is not at all what fiber does, and has nothing to do with the role of fiber in diet. Please stop consuming this before you hurt yourself, and please stop talking about it before you hurt others.
  - cjp 13y ago
    https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11858448 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11858448 Wouldn't want to actually stfw or anything.
    - zorpner 13y ago
      Oh, you're one of the people that believe that a perceived "sugar rush" has something to do with diabetic glycemic excursions? They're entirely different phenomena. Dismissed. But thanks for the irrelevant link!

by ynniv 13y ago

cube13 13y ago

> I suspect that the interest comes from the radical branding. "Ensure" is associated with hospitals and the aging population, whereas "Soylent" is historically associated with dystopia and recently with some ambitious kids. And people. It's associated with people.

ynniv 13y ago
Nice. It is an extremely good name for what it is, and it might (sadly?) succeed based on that alone. Countless energy drinks have paved the way.
- pydave 13y ago
  Really? Soylent sounds like it's made of soy, but the name essentially means cannibalism. I'd expect the former to kill enthusiasm from the energy drink market (where the cannibalism angle makes it sound more extreme) and the latter to put off everyone else.
  - ynniv 13y ago
    The literary evocation is far more powerful than the word-part "soy". Even so, given soy's ubiquity I suspect that no one would seriously be turned off by it at this point. The name doesn't "essentially mean cannibalism", it refers to a fictional future company that makes the bulk of the worlds' food in the form of Soylent Red and Soylent Yellow. In the movie Soylent introduced a new product Green that you refer to, which means that the only people who are disturbed by the name are those who take things too seriously and also didn't actually watch the movie.
    - dragonwriter 13y ago
      > Even so, given soy's ubiquity I suspect that no one would seriously be turned off by it at this point. I actually know many more people that would be turned off by the word part "soy" than by the literary reference.
    - pydave 13y ago
      I haven't seen Soylent Green in a long time and all I remember is "Soylent Green is people". I'd guess that many people who haven't seen the movie know that line and nothing else.

sowhatquestion 13y ago

Have you tried Ensure Complete? I got so impatient while waiting for my Soylent order to arrive that I actually did. First of all, it's loaded with sugar, and lacks Soylent's heavy dose of fiber to balance out the glycemic index. Result: sugar rush followed by a nasty crash. Secondly, it lacks some of Soylent's extras like creatine and MCT fats. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, it's expensive: it would be almost $465/month, or $15/day to get 2400 calories from these ( http://www.walmart.com/ip/Ensure-Complete-Chocolate-Nutrition-Shakes-8-fl-oz-4-count/22569718#Nutrition+Facts http://www.walmart.com/ip/Ensure-Complete-Chocolate-Nutritio... ). Whereas the Soylent team is working to get the price down to ~$200/month, or ~$6.50/day. Soylent will be not only one of the highest-quality products in its category, but also perhaps the first one that isn't "for the well-off." I anticipate that it will shrink my food budget substantially. Not to mention the future savings on food-related things like dishes and silverware. Hell, if I really switch to it full time, I might even be able to save on electricity by unplugging my refrigerator!

zorpner 13y ago
> heavy dose of fiber to balance out the glycemic index. Result: sugar rush followed by a nasty crash Good God, man, that is not at all what fiber does, and has nothing to do with the role of fiber in diet. Please stop consuming this before you hurt yourself, and please stop talking about it before you hurt others.
- cjp 13y ago
  https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11858448 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11858448 Wouldn't want to actually stfw or anything.
  - zorpner 13y ago
    Oh, you're one of the people that believe that a perceived "sugar rush" has something to do with diabetic glycemic excursions? They're entirely different phenomena. Dismissed. But thanks for the irrelevant link!