I remember when it first hit the market. At first, they were advertising it on black-and-white flyers in Bally Fitness centers. Then it was in Southern Muscle (known at that time as Florida Muscle News). Most of the bodybuilders endorsing it were local and state-level bodybuilders from Florida.
The two biggest names in bodybuilding and powerlifting that endorsed Hot Stuff were IFBB pro Steve Brisbois and the late strongman, Anthony Clark.
Hot Stuff was the NITRO-TECH of the late 80s and early 90s. It was marketed as a one-stop shopping supplement. The idea was simple: Take the most popular supplements of that era, blend them into one super-powder. The result: A protein powder with boron, Smilax, OKG, Royal Jelly, Orchic (the aforementioned bull testicles), and other goodies from two decades ago.
The claim was the old synergistic effect; that is, combining and consuming them together worked better than taking them separately. Hot Stuff became so popular that other companies jumped on the bandwagon with knockoffs: Real Strong Stuff (Genesis Nutrition), Right Stuff (Strength System USA/Amerifitt), Flex Fire (Weider).
National Health Products got some unwarranted attention from the FDA, because the company referred to its product as an "anabolic activator". To get the feds off their back, NHP simply re-labeled Hot Suff as a "Fitness Potentiator". That's rather odd, especially when one of the Hot Stuff imitator was actually named Anabolic Activator (Optimum Nutrition).
Hot Stuff cooled off, so to speak, when MRPs (i.e. MET-Rx) became popular. It didn't help matters that NHP kept trying to add every so-called breakthrough supplement that hits the magazines into Hot Stuff. Furthermore, National Health Products was attempting to take a stand against steroid use in bodybuilding, as they began multi-page ads featuring Brisbois publicly swearing off steroids and other drugs, after what happened to his friend, Mohammed Benaziza.
