This is a genuine photograph of a product with a label reading "Root Beer-Flavored Vape Juice-Flavored Root Beer" available at the OmegaMart art installation in Las Vegas. However...
This is not a real product available for purchase. This label was created for an art installation and does not accurately reflect the contents of the beverage.
On March 10, 2021, a photograph supposedly showing a root beer-flavored vape juice-flavored root beer beverage was widely circulated on social media:
This is a genuine photograph of a product bearing the label root beer-flavored vape juice-flavored root beer. However, this photograph was taken at an art installation, not at a grocery store, and does not show a real product available for purchase.
This photograph was taken at the "OmegaMart" in Las Vegas, an art installation by the entertainment company Meow Wolf. This surrealist "store" features products like "Definitely Not Butter Air Freshener Spray," Whale Song Deodorant (billed as a "vegan antiperspirant and antidepressant for all genders") and 5G Lip Balm.
While people can truly purchase some of these items — we were unable to find a link to purchase this "root beer" — it seems that the customer is paying more for the novelty of the label than the product itself. As Las Vegas Eater writes, "think of Omega Mart as more art than actual grocery store."
A spokesperson for OmegaMart told us that while a number of items are truly for sale at the art installation, this root beer was a "fake product."
The root beer is a fake product, but Omega Mart does have many original beverages: we've got juices (lemonade, apple, apple-ginger) and then sodas (cola, grape, orange, pricky pear...)
The Las Vegas Review-Journal reported that OmegaMart has more than 150 products, and that many of them are for sale. However, customers should beware of the labels. For instance, a jar of "Nut Free Salted Peanuts" is just a jar of salt.
The new Meow Wolf experience, set to open at Area15 in early 2021, will be an interactive installation that is equal parts fun house, choose-your-own-adventure story and social commentary on American consumerism.
“Our guests enter a bright poppy store and realize that things are not as they seem,” says Marsi Gray, senior creative producer of Omega Mart. “There is a huge line of products that support the storytelling and lead to portals into other worlds.”
[...]
The more than 150 products are bizarre, but also real. Customers can purchase a jar of Nut Free Salted Peanuts (Hint: it’s salt) or the sultry Salt After Dark (Hint: also salt).
Here's an OmegaMart ad for this root beer-flavored vape juice-flavored root beer:
While this is a genuine photograph of a product labeled root beer-flavored vape juice-flavored root beer, this is not a genuine product. This photograph was taken at an art installation in Las Vegas.