Everybody loves zombies.

Then again, nobody really wants to be a zombie either.

It’s this love/fear relationship with zombies that will be celebrated at an event Saturday that combines our current pop culture fascination with zombies and a fairly clever marketing strategy.

The free event is called Zombie Fest, at the Bull Moose music store in Scarborough. It is most definitely a celebration of zombies, featuring free zombie makeovers and music by Pete Witham and The Cozmik Zombies.

But at the same time, it’s promoting a new Maine-based energy drink called Zombie Blast Energy Shot. The drink comes in a bottle shaped like a shotgun shell, and it’s supposed to blast away that 2 p.m. zombie many of us become when daily fatigue sets in.

“The idea is, don’t be a 2 p.m. zombie; blast your zombie away with this,” said Reggie Groff, a veteran Portland videographer who started Zombie Blast Energy Shot.

Groff has made corporate videos and other video projects for years, and lots of his work is designed to help market other people’s products. But when he came upon the idea of an energy drink with a zombie angle, he thought it was so good, he should do it himself.

So with some investors, he began making the drink. It began showing up on shelves in stores around New England, and sells for $2.99.

Saturday’s event is an opportunity to draw attention to the product while giving people lots of zombie antics. It’s perfect timing for people sick of all the Valentine’s Day stuff — all that mushy love stuff. Instead, they can go to the Zombie Fest and get their fill of mushy brain and guts stuff.

The event includes free zombie makeovers and portraits. Groff and makeup artists will apply zombie makeup to folks, then there will be opportunities for zombie portraits. There will be zombie-related giveaways, including free samples of Zombie Blast Energy.

At 4 p.m., there’ll be an in-store performance by Pete Witham and The Cozmik Zombies. The band describes its music as rockabilly/psychobilly, and at least one of its songs is zombie-themed: “I Wanna Be a Zombie.”

Groff thinks zombie events — zombie kickball, zombie dances, etc. — are popular because zombies are relatable, so they can be scarier than imaginary monsters. They look like us — more or less.

And zombies are generally funnier than most monsters.

“You see a lot of comedies out there, you end up with a zombie in a wedding dress or something like that,” said Groff.

Groff is hoping the zombie trend continues long enough to get his Zombie Blast Energy Shot off the ground.

And that people will want to kill their inner zombie with a drink that comes in a shotgun shell.

Staff Writer Ray Routhier can be contacted at 791-6454 or at:

rrouthier@pressherald.com

 

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