January 4, 2008
Youk's Rep to Track Girls: SlumpBuster's Clean As a Whistle
Lest the world find Kevin Youkilis unsavory for signing up to market an energy drink named "SlumpBuster," which refers to an ugly woman a guy sleeps with to break a losing streak, the Track Girls called Youk's rep.
Youk's rep informed them that SlumpBuster refers to the other "SlumpBuster":
“Unfortunately, like many common sayings, the ‘slumpbuster’ term can also be twisted to having negative connotations,” said Youk’s agent, Joe Bick of Pro Star Management, in an e-mail. “That would be incorrect in this particular case, and not something Kevin would condone or wish to be associated with. In this particular case, the term should be taken in only the traditional sports sense.”And that, he contends, is “a commonly used sports expression to describe either a player who does something to break his team’s losing streak, or changing certain routines to break a personal batting slump.”
So, the image on the can of a busty, pantsless woman holding a large bat has nothing, nothing to do with the pure intentions of the drink. (The Track Girls also referred to the woman as "thick-gammed.")
We don't want to give Youkilis a hard time. Offensive (or slightly offensive) names and energy drinks go hand-in-hand. Once upon a time, Bostonist reviewed a peppery liquid beverage that went by the name of "Cocaine." So SlumpBuster is, pardon the pun, minor league. How much do you want to bet that Youkilis, his girlfriend Enza Sambataro, and his reps stick with that name?
Image of the perfectly innocent SlumpBuster from the SlumpBuster MySpace page.



At this rate, they'll have to change the terminology to "not quite strikes" rather than "balls". Nature (and the "Track") abhors a vaccuum (or a slow news day). If someone wants to find a sexual connotation, they will always do so.(The "Gals" ARE a bit like "Wayne's World", now that I think about it.)