From the Washington Post:

Virgin America Gets Creative: Coffee, Tea, Energy Drink?

Airlines need to make money, and selling seats on the plane is no longer the only way to raise a buck. Many now charge extra for bags, snacks, drinks and assigned seats.

But Virgin America is getting even more creative, partnering with a company called Vitalize Labs to sell its Eboost energy tablet. “With Eboost onboard every Virgin America flight, travelers now have the opportunity to arrive at their destinations feeling invigorated and well rested,” said a recent press release.

For $3, the flight attendant will drop an orange-flavored effervescent Eboost tablet into a glass of water (think Alka-Seltzer for the healthy set), and you’ll get a strong dose of green tea extract with natural caffeine, Vitamin B-12, Vitamin C and a bunch of minerals.

So is Virgin America a trailblazer? Selling products other than food and drink isn’t common on domestic U.S. flights (we all like to look at the SkyMall catalog, but no one wheels out the voice-activated R2-D2 while you’re in flight). But discount air carriers in Europe have been hawking, and selling, products to their captive audiences for many years. On a flight from London to Alicante, Spain, a couple of years ago, the flight attendants went up and down the aisle during the entire flight trying to sell everything from champagne to lottery tickets. I felt as if I were trapped in an infomercial. But the flight was cheap, so, for me, it was a fair trade-off.

Maybe selling a vitamin isn’t all that different than selling a bag of pretzels. But it may just be the first foray into the wonderful world of in-flight product sales.

The Wave Magazine just featured EBOOST’s new Pink Lemonade flavor, which was launched in partnership with the National Breast Cancer Foundation (NBCF).

The Power of Pink

More pink power, this time in the form of a fizzy tablet. The folks at EBOOST have received tons of attention with their ultrahip daily vitamin supplement, thanks in part to celebrity fans such as Heidi Klum. An effervescent tablet, EBOOST is simply dropped into a glass of water, creating a healthy tonic packed with ingredients that help to boost energy, focus, recovery and immunity (think green tea extracts, vitamin B-12, zinc and many more action-packedvitamins and minerals to make you feel good). The original orange flavored EBOOST was a huge hit, and the company has now partnered with the National Breast Cancer Foundation (NBCF) to launch a signature pink lemonade flavor in order to benefit breast cancer research.

ThinkGeek.com had great things to say about our favorite modern-day potion, EBOOST.

Bubbling Energy Potion

Mad scientists have been doing it for centuries: mix a strange powder with liquid, laugh manically as the concoction fizzes and sputters, and drink the potion down. What happens next varies from story to story: sometimes a crazed, alter-ego is created, sometimes body hair grows excessively, and sometimes super human strength is granted. Well, EBOOST won’t give you super human powers, but it will fill you so full of energy you’ll think it had (without the alter-ego or hairy side effects).

EBOOST is a brand new health supplement powder thingie. You mix a packet with water and the water turns into a delicious, effervescent, orange flavored (tastes like Tang), energy potion. In mere seconds, you’ll have a fizzy, yummy drink loaded with vitamins, minerals, and loads of other stuff to boost your energy, immunity, recovery, and focus. EBOOST has been crafted to get all these healthful goodies absorbed into your body fast, too! And you know it’s got to be good because: A) it passed our taste and efficacy test and 2) the name is in all CAPS. That’s right, EBOOST is so good you’ll want to yell its name. We do.