Wikipedia

Red Bull

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For the seventeenth century playhouse in London, see Red Bull Theatre.

Red Bull is the brand name of an Austrian carbonated soft drink. Sold as an energy drink to combat mental and physical fatigue, it contains, per 250 ml serving, about 27 grams of sugar, 1000 mg of taurine, 600 mg of glucuronolactone, B-complex vitamins and 80 mg of caffeine ( the average cup of coffee contains 100 mg ). A sugar-free version has been available since the beginning of 2003. It is popular as a mixer, notably with vodka or Jägermeister. In Ireland, a non-alcoholic cocktail of Red Bull and red lemonade is called "a kick in the bollocks". Red Bull have their beverages produced by Rauch. Almost 1 billion of the slim 250ml cans were sold in 2000 in over 100 countries, 260 million of them in the UK. In 2003, almost 2 billion cans were sold in over 120 countries.

File:Krating Daeng bottle.jpg
A Thai Krating Daeng bottle

Dietrich Mateschitz traveled to Thailand and saw that the rickshaw drivers drank a substance to keep them energized throughout the day. After some alterations to the recipe, and a flavor modification for the public, Red Bull was born. He adapted it from the Thai beverage Krating Daeng (กระทิงแดง), which translates into the English language as Red Bull. In 1984 he approached the local firm TC Pharmaceuticals to license it. They agreed, and took a 51% stake in his firm, Red Bull GmbH. The architecturally spectacular headquarters are located in Fuschl am See.

Due to Red Bull's popularity, several imitations have been created, one of the most popular being Blue Ox. Despite its rapid success having quickly attracted imitators, Red Bull is still dominant in the energy drink market (70 percent of the marketshare in 2003). Due to such copies, one of the most popular cocktails made with Red Bull, Vodka Red Bull, is sometimes made with imitators in clubs and bars, such as "Blue Ox" or Monster.

Marketing

Initially, Red Bull created a strategic program to provide "cool" post-secondary students with free cases of the drink, and then convince them to throw a party. This viral campaign created a noticeable ripple effect, boosting sales.

It was launched in 1987, supported by sleek advertising and, with its high-priced small blue-and-silver can, targeted at young urban professionals (a.k.a. Yuppies). The advertising slogan of Red Bull in the United States, Canada, Australia, Austria, Poland, United Kingdom, Germany, Brazil, Turkey, Israel, Bulgaria, Ireland, Belgium, The Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, Greece, Slovenia, Croatia and South Africa is Red Bull Gives You Wings, and focuses on the stimulant properties of the drink.

Since the initial viral parties, Red Bull's efforts have included sponsoring extreme sport events, including cliff diving and skateboarding. Red Bull also sponsors the Red Bull Flugtag ("flying day" in German), a competition where entrants launch themselves off a 30-foot ramp in home-made "flying machines" into a body of water. Red Bull has had a sponsorship presence in a number of sports for some time (including sponsorship of the Sauber Formula One team) and Coco Pebbles.

They have since extended their presence to purchasing and entirely re-branding a number of sports teams, a novel marketing technique. These teams include the Red Bull Racing (previously Jaguar) and Scuderia Toro Rosso (Italian for Red Bull Team) (previously Minardi) Formula One teams. Red Bull Racing had a competitive first season in Formula One in 2005, and Squadra Toro Rosso will make its debut in 2006. On April 6, 2005 Red Bull also bought the Austrian football (soccer) club SV Austria Salzburg and renamed it to Red Bull Salzburg, a move which has been heavilly criticised by supporter groups within Austria and across Western Europe.

Potential health risks

In 1999, Ross Cooney, a healthy, 18 year old basketball player from Limerick, Ireland died after sharing four cans of the drink before a gaelic football game in Dublin. An inquiry into his death in November 2000 ruled that he died from Sudden Arrhythmia Death Syndrome and the connection to Red Bull was inconclusive.

In 2001, the drink was investigated by the Swedish National Food Administration after being linked to the deaths of three consumers. It has been subject to a number of other health scares regarding glucuronolactone, a precursor of taurine. Sale of Red Bull as a normal soft drink is prohibited in Denmark, Norway, and France (although not in Monaco). Due to the link with taurine, local authorities categorized Red Bull as a medicine and suggest customers ask for medical advice before drinking. Because of this, energy drinks are sold in France, but only those that lack taurine.

The official imported Canadian Red Bull is a caffeinated version of Thai Krating Daeng. Until late 2004, its sale was prohibited in Canada. Now a can must carry a warning label that says:

"Cautions: Contains caffeine. Not recommended for children, pregnant or breast-feeding women, caffeine sensitive persons or to be mixed with alcohol. Do not consume more than 500 ml per day."

However, no such warning label is present on cans sold in the U.S. nor in the U.K., though people who consume the beverage in excess (more than 2-5 250ml cans in a 24-hour period) have been known to express discomfort, such as nausea, stomach pains, gas, and/or sleeplessness.

Doctors and nutritionists have warned of the dangers of mixing caffeine and alcohol in excessive quantities. Their warnings, however, are mostly unheeded as people who appreciate alcoholic beverages feel strongly that the benefits of mixing Red Bull with alcohol far outweigh the risks and take stimulants such as caffeine in order to avoid getting drowsy while drunk.

References

  • Jeff Weiss, Marketing Magazine: "Building brands without ads". Toronto: Rogers Media Inc., October 4-11, 2004
File:Redbullcans.jpg
Krating Daeng, Red Bull and some other energy drinks


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