How Checkers hit the Prime time
South Africans queued for hours on May 1 in the hope of buying bottles of Prime from select Checkers stores. The success of the launch is a case study in influencer culture, and how social media can drive consumption patterns
11 May 2023 - 05:00
By 8am on Monday May 1, more than 120 people were waiting outside the Checkers in The Point shopping centre, in Sea Point, Cape Town. Across the country, similar scenes were playing out with snaking queues of parents and teens outside Checkers outlets, ready to rush in as the doors opened to lay their hands on bottles of energy drink Prime Hydration.
For Kelli Dorman, it was an early start. She arrived at Checkers at 5am, eldest son and a friend of his in tow, bringing along chairs for herself and a friend. (Her children had wanted to get there by 3am to secure their place in the queue.) ..
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