So how Exactly did Bender Extender become a Thing?

Hey everyone, Cameo here, one of the founders of Bender Extender. We've been getting asking a ton lately where we got the idea for Bender Extender, so what better way to answer that then a heartfelt blog post.

Early Days

Back when I was in college, I used to mix pedialyte and vodka if I was on a bit of a heater, and coined it the Bender Extender. Now I didn't go on true benders very often since I was playing college basketball, but when I did I needed to bring out the big guns to keep me going. See photo evidence below... now THAT was a deadly combo.

More Recent Origins

Fast forward to the summer of 2024, and I found myself working on a startup called The Talent Effect, that focused on creating a simple yet highly effective system for brands to access influencer marketing. I was working with a handful of brands, but what I really wanted to be able to do was demonstrate my creator marketing philosophy at scale as a case study, which would pretty much require me to launch my own brand.

Around that time, by luck of the draw, me and my three pals (Alicia, Cody, and Bryce) found ourselves on a bit of a bender, and the term "bender extender" got thrown in the group chat. Alicia asks, "wait, is that a thing?", a few google searches commence that come up negative, and then boom, we find ourselves with a brand new product idea.

V1: Bender Electrloytes

Initially, we were actually going to launch a powdered electrolyte, much like Liquid IV or Biosteel, but position it right in the centre of partying from a marketing perspective. As any seasoned drinker knows, before you embark on a night out, you almost always purchase your favourite hydration remedy to leave on your bedside table, and we thought "well that might as well be bender extender they're reaching for and not some sports drink."

Turns out Stick Packs are Really Expensive

So, we get started on the brand, designing logos, packaging, fonts, you name it. Once we get a bit deeper into the product process however, we realize that stick packs are actually pretty expensive to produce at the order quantity we wanted. At this price point, we wouldn't really be able to do a meaningful production run without investor funding, and our idea of another powdered electrolyte just simply wasn't novel enough to warrant this.

So, we get back to ideating, and realize that the hangover support market is a little bit underserved and the companies that live within it are quite frankly unspeakably boring. Nobody was leaning into the ridiculousness of boozin'; instead they were all positioning themselves as the scientific or corporate leader, which is where we saw our opportunity. See, Bender Extender is a brand that is positioned smack dab in the middle of party culture, and represents the chaos that a bender really is. We aren't afraid to be a bit wild, and meet people at the level they are at, which is in the depths of an absolute heater, probably hanging on by a thread.

Thankfully Cody, one of our Founders, had a knack for natural health, and a degree in some sort of science. This paired with a little bit of outside knowledge, and the Bender Extender's signature hangover support formula was born. It wasn't quite this simple though - we had over 500 of our friends trial bender extender pills that we made in our kitchen to land on a formula that worked. 

What's in it though & why does it work..

Great question. The Bender Extender formula includes Vitamin B1 (Thiamin HCl) 30mg, Vitamin B6 (Pyridoxine HCl) 30mg, Milk Thistle Extract, Dandelion Extract, Astragalus, Grape Seed Extract, Ginger Root, and Activated Charcoal. Our signature two-part blend maximizes the body’s ability to process alcohol & detoxify by utilizing natural ingredients that are proven to combat the physical symptoms associated with hangovers, and support liver function.

Currently, you take one capsule before you drink, followed by a second (which is purely activated charcoal) before you go to bed. Next thing you know, your Sundays (or Wednesdays...) are feeling pretty damn good.

So, how is this all getting done?

Four friends, all with different skills, are bootstrapping the hell out of this thing. Honestly at this point, the only thing that we are not physically doing is manufacturing the product itself. We design and manage everything from our brand elements to the product formulas to distribution and pretty much everything in between.

We chose not to take outside investment since we wanted to retain equity, but with that comes a limited marketing budget and resources. So with that being said, this is an open call out to anyone who may be reading this: If you happen to know of any events, retail spots, distributors, influencers, collaboration opportunities, or honestly anything that could help us grow Bender Extender, we would love to hear from you.

This is all of our first product, so we've got a lot to learn, and are leaning on the power of the network to help teach us these lessons as quickly as possible and help us move in the right direction.

If you've got something in mind, please send us an email at info@benderextender.com. Don't worry - unlike many ghostly info@ emails, this one feeds directly into my inbox so you will most definitely be getting a reply.

That's all for now. Thanks for reading, and remember:

bend, don't break.

-Cameo Hanlon

CEO & Co-Founder, Bender Extender