Synergy Energy: Green Day Gets A Jolt With Monster & 7-Eleven Coffee Partnerships

hen Green Day began plotting out their “Saviors Tour,” their team and agency CAA reached out to Monster Energy about a potential collaboration. The trek celebrated 30 years of landmark album Dookie and 20 years of American Idiot, marking 2024 as a massive year for the band as they played the seminal albums in full along with music from new LP Saviors.

“Monster Energy has a very identifiable brand,” Kevin Gelbard, Head of Music Brand Partnerships at CAA, tells Pollstar. “I think consumers think of a high-energy, active brand that does great partnerships. They have a whole crew with skaters, motor sports and action sports-oriented fans that aligns with Green Day, with their energy and their live shows. It was a very authentic partnership.”

Gelbard said Monster Energy’s experience in music made it a great partner for this activation. As part of the collaboration, Green Day put together an 11-minute skate film directed by Russell Houghten that Monster Energy funded. The film, dubbed “Monster & Saviors,” features Green Day classics “Longview” and “American Idiot,” plus the single “Bobby Sox” off Saviors, as well as Monster Energy’s skateboarders including Jake Yanko, Nyjah Huston, Giovanni Vianna and others.

“What made the partnership so successful from our side was they didn’t try to drive home their creative and their messaging,” Gelbard says. “It was a true collaboration. The skate film that we put together started from them having an idea of wanting to do some organic content. We were able to say, ‘How about if we do something like this?’ And they went with the idea that we knew would resonate with the band and their fans.”

Green Day is a highly caffeinated band, the group also having their own coffee brand, Punk Bunny Coffee, which entered 7-Eleven stores as a separate brand activation supporting the “Saviors” tour and album. The coffee started locally, originally named Oakland Coffee and was sold in the Bay Area. The band opted to rebrand their coffee, expanding where it was available so more fans could access it.