Monster energy as status symbols

I know monster energy has become a kind of staple for scene/emo culture, but why are people gatekeeping that shit now?

... It's a drink.

An unhealthy one at that.

I started drinking monster when I was like 15, mainly because of it's reputation at the time, but I genuinely started liking the taste of the original flavor. I developed a crazy bad addiction to it so I stopped drinking it for a while, only to start again during my time in post secondary for animation.

I don't drink it at all anymore because it makes me feel like shit, but I've noticed that whenever I talk to people about what the best monster flavor is, everyone shits on the fact that I like the original. Most people name a bunch of other flavors that I've never tried but pipeline punch is one that I've seen come up a lot. I've tried it, it's ass, but I'm not here to judge.

What I've mainly observed is that people genuinely like to think that they're better than others for enjoying a different flavor of an energy drink. Mostly, the popular flavors I've seen people make into an aesthetic. I know this happens all the time with literally everything else in the world, but with monster specifically it just fascinates me that people can take a drink that seriously. Especially a drink that's proven to kill people.

That being said, comment your favorite monster energy flavor. Mine's the original and pacific punch LMAO.