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"FacebookPinterest\n\n Bugged-out energy junkies rejoice! You have a friend in Food Science. Once a field dedicated to sober ventures like vitamins, gustatory science has finally devolved into a tool for gimmick food. Question, shaky Starbucks habitues: Do you like it when your snacks antagonize you with slogans like What's the matter with you? Can't you get it up? Of course you do. THIS IS THE FIRST WORLD MOTHERFUCKERS [crushes Red Bull can against head]. Meet your new friend in ironic intake: Perky Jerky. As the story goes, two self-described \"jerks\" took a bromantic ski lodge trip in the winter of 2005 and raged on energy drink cocktails only to wake up and discover their energy juice had spilled and soaked their beef jerky supply. They ate it anyway. And then they founded a company around the concept of energy-injected beef jerky. (Reread the line about this being the 1st world.) A conversation with Brian Levin, one of the aforementioned jerks:\n\nGQ: Hey Brian, thanks so much for taking the time to talk.\n\n BL: Oh no problem. (yawns)\n\nGQ: Uh, so you haven't had Perky Jerky yet today it seems?\n\n BL: Well I'm not going to say that. Have you tried it?\n\nGQ: I have to admit I was kind of turned off by the concept, but it's actually really tasty.\n\n BL: Totally! That is the key point right there. Our biggest, most passionate fans are women. But there is that leap you have to make to move past the initial, kind of gross or silly idea of the food. It's what I call the four step progression to becoming a jerkaholic: The initial reaction is one of disgust or humor, maybe even a little ridicule. Then you actually taste it, and you become addicted to it. After that you start vandalizing.\n\n GQ:Are women really your best vandals? \n\n BL: It's true. First of all a lot of women eat jerky. But I think they keep it in the closet, so to speak. We're taking jerky upscale, making it more like a healthy functional food. If you look at the little bags we have\u2014the one ounce, have 90 calories, no carbs, low fat, and a bunch of protein. And the guarana flavoring gives it that natural boost so it's really good before a workout.\n\nGQ: I'm very into your cabin story and the spillage, and the ensuing discovery, but is that true?\n\n BL: Of course it's true! Would I lie to you?\n\nGQ: So what in the world possessed you to try the jerky after you had spilled Red Bull all over it?\n\n BL: I was probably still drunk. And hungry. You know.\n\nGQ: How many packets do you eat to start your day?\n\n BL: Well, you kind of go in phases here. It tastes good, but you can't overdo it. I mean it's beef jerky. I average about 4 ounces a day.\n\nFacebookPinterest\n\nGQ: That seems like a lot. How much caffeine are you getting from that?\n\n BL: It's less than like two Starbucks. It's not a huge amount. It's less than an energy drink. And the guarana part of it has a lot of other benefits as well. Plus when you metabolize with protein the energy fix seems to last a little bit longer. For an active lifestyle it's the perfect food. It also goes great with beer.\n\nGQ: How much Perky Jerky would you need to get you through, say, knitting a sweater?\n\n BL: Two packs.\n\nGQ: Parallel parking a school bus?\n\n BL: That would be, uh, probably four.\n\nGQ: Parallel parking a school bus with screaming kids?\n\n BL: That would be ten. Four for you, the rest for the screaming kids.\n\nGQ:Robbing a bank?\n\n BL: None, we don't promote an illegal activities when jerked. It's supposed to make you do happy things.\n\nGQ:Speaking of doing happy things, I was looking on your site and I saw the slogan \"What's the matter? Can't you get it up?\"...\n\n BL: I see where you're going here. I started off my career at Jagermeister. We had a lot of interesting rumors and innuendos that came about. Like people said, \"It has deer blood in it.\" or \"It has opium\" But we never really responded to that. Whatever people want to say about the product or use it for, it's all good. But I can neither confirm nor deny such rumors. Know what I mean? I would just say that Perky Jerky has a lot of wonderful benefits. But yeah, don't know what you're talking about.\n\nGQ: So how are you getting the word out?\n\n BL: Two words: The Jerkmobile. Driving that around is a full time job. You have to keep a hand on the door, ready to go, and flick out samples at people when they pass. It's kind of like being on a mission. I probably throw out like five to ten packets a day when I see someone beckoning to me from a car or the sidewalk. You have to be able to get it in an open car window from as much as ten feet away, it's all in the wrist. And, if you're driving, it has to be left handed, so practice makes perfect.\n\nFacebookPinterest\n\nGQ: Ever run into any trouble in the Jerkmobile?\n\n BL: Not yet, but we follow some rules: Be sure and give free jerky to every cop you see.... unless you're pulled over by them, then they think you're trying to bribe them and they could throw you in the clink. But if you're successful in giving it to most local officers beforehand, then getting pulled over is not an issue. The Jerkmobile is a chick magnet, better than a puppy, although if you let your puppy ride shotgun in the jerkmobile, then the ladies don't stand a chance. Keep in mind your civic duty, and spread the wealth to your friends now and then."^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.gq.com/story/perky-jerky-oh-well-this-changes-everything>