Beverage Industry last covered Monster Energy in our December 2007 cover story. At that time, Monster’s leadership team, including this year’s Executive of the Year honoree Rodney Sacks, chairman and chief executive officer of Hansen Natural Corp., was somewhat reluctant to participate in our cover photo shoot. Sacks, along with Monster Beverage Co. President Mark Hall and Hansen Natural Vice Chairman and President Hilton Schlosberg, obliged for the cover photo, but the company also extended an invitation to the Monster Beverage staff.
Employees were notified that the magazine was conducting a photo shoot that evening at the company’s warehouse near its Corona, Calif., headquarters. To take advantage of the large neon Monster claw sign on the side of the building, we planned the photo shoot for dusk. It was stunning to see the number of Monster employees who stayed after business hours to gather for a group photo shoot, which was published inside the magazine alongside the article.