[HN Gopher] The Mythology of Red Bull
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The Mythology of Red Bull
Author : jseliger
Score : 42 points
Date : 2021-04-05 17:27 UTC (5 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (www.readthegeneralist.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (www.readthegeneralist.com)
| [deleted]
| ufmace wrote:
| The marketing side is pretty impressive, but it seems like the
| logistics side might be even more impressive. I'm not sure how
| they manage this, but it's the only consumer product that seems
| to be virtually impossible to purchase in bulk at a reduced
| price, at least in any quantity below a full pallet. The price
| per can is remarkably consistent even in widely varying
| geographic areas.
| Mediterraneo10 wrote:
| > The price per can is remarkably consistent even in widely
| varying geographic areas.
|
| Indeed. It amazed me that Red Bull costs the same in Europe and
| Madagascar, in spite of the distance to transport it from
| Europe to the latter. I suppose that the cost of producing a
| can is tiny, and so Red Bull makes a huge profit in Europe,
| while in the developing world it is content to make lesser
| profits as it plays a long game.
|
| I saw a similar situation with a Peru-made milkshake-in-a-can
| that is the same price in Peru and in West Africa.
| 0b01 wrote:
| Little do people know Red Bull is originally a Thai energy
| drink: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Krating_Daeng
|
| Tastewise I also enjoy Jamaican Baba Roots:
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baba_Roots
| albntomat0 wrote:
| I'm a fan of multiple big projects of Red Bull, including Formula
| 1, skydiving and Flugtag.
|
| I've honestly looked for ways to support their activities, as I
| enjoy this "advertising", but dislike their drink.
| narrator wrote:
| The 2+ hour documentary about the Red Bull jump from space
| project was great -- lots of low budget space engineering fun.
|
| https://www.redbull.com/us-en/films/mission-to-the-edge-of-s...
| dustinmoris wrote:
| Red Bull is one of the greatest examples of successful marketing
| of all times. They brought extreme sports to the forefront of
| mainstream media and have built a brand like no one else. Before
| Red Bull people didn't really know much about various niche
| extreme sports, but today everyone knows what a wing suit it,
| what base jumping is, big wave riding or the that you can fly
| with a jet pack next to real fighter jets.
| polygotdomain wrote:
| Red Bull operates under a fundamentally different principle than
| other brands. Other brands look for something to sponsor that
| aligns with their brand ideals or image. Red Bull creates the
| sponsorship opportunities for their brand. In doing so, Red Bull
| creates a) a much deeper connection with the activities and
| athletes they sponsor, and b) creates a brand that feels far more
| genuine than simply slapping their name on something.
|
| The result is not something that's "brought to you by" or "in
| partnership with". The sponsorships, the teams, the athletes;
| they _are_ Red Bull. That sort of identity has an incredible
| connection, and one that can drive it's own revenue in addition
| to driving fizzy drink sales.
| jariel wrote:
| RedBull is a master class in marketing, from top to bottom.
| nonick wrote:
| In the town that I live in, Red Bull is the sponsor of what they
| call "The World's Toughest Hard Enduro Rallye". Every year it
| draws a crowd of tourists to the city and produces some great
| entertainment. https://www.redbullromaniacs.com/
| bumbledraven wrote:
| "Like one of Darwin's long-beaked finches, Red Bull bears the
| marks of a business with one specific attribute selected for over
| and over again: garnering attention."
| Mediterraneo10 wrote:
| Always funny to read accounts of Red Bull's history which mention
| that people hate the taste. I recently overcame a 20-year daily
| addiction to Red Bull (thanks COVID, I guess - only a forced
| 2-week quarantine keeping me away from the shop worked) and my
| dependence was based on its taste. It couldn't have been the
| ingredients, because similar energy drinks just didn't do it for
| me. At a certain point I was wishing that all food tasted like
| Red Bull, and that's when I decided that my consumption might be
| a problem.
| amelius wrote:
| The acidity of Red Bull is also very bad for teeth.
| richm31415 wrote:
| It's because of the secret ingredient of Red Bull -
| https://youtu.be/JbBQqMC0Htw
| DaveExeter wrote:
| Now I'm happy to never have tried it!
|
| Would never spend $2+ for a drink that costs about $0.09 to
| manufacture.
| david_shaw wrote:
| _> Would never spend $2+ for a drink that costs about $0.09
| to manufacture._
|
| Sadly, adhering to this rule would prevent buying coffee and
| beer -- two things I'm looking forward to as the world re-
| opens :)
| andi999 wrote:
| lets not get started about bottled water...
| Nav_Panel wrote:
| Coffee seems far more expensive than this to produce,
| especially for good/specialty coffee.
| Mediterraneo10 wrote:
| It would also prevent one from buying plain Coca-Cola or
| other soft drinks in certain countries. One of the odd
| things about the history of pricing in the Nordic countries
| is that the price of ordinary soda has climbed to that of
| Red Bull, while the price of Red Bull itself has stayed
| about the same.
| DaveExeter wrote:
| In the USA, I can buy 67oz of Coca Cola for $1.
|
| 8.4oz of Red Bull is about $2.
|
| 1.4 cents per ounce vs 47 cents per ounce!
| AdmiralAsshat wrote:
| YMMV, I guess. Red Bull always tasted like liquid SweeTarts, to
| me.
| tylerscott wrote:
| Here I thought I was alone in this opinion. I've often wished
| for a caffeine free version of Red Bull so I could drink more
| without jitters. It is fascinating how divisive that flavor is.
| asciimike wrote:
| NileRed has a video where he takes the caffeine out of Red
| Bull (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oY8tz1paj6o), though
| it's unfortunately not super practical :/
| rlaabs wrote:
| Have you tried cape gooseberries (Physalis peruviana)? IMO
| they taste very similar to sugar free Red Bull.
|
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Physalis_peruviana
| cwwc wrote:
| Concurred. Would love the flavor in a clean seltzer.
| internetslave wrote:
| Yeah I agree. For some reason, Red Bull is just better than
| other energy drinks. The other ones taste "cheap"
| staticelf wrote:
| I also stopped drinking red bull not long ago because it would
| mess with my sleep cycle. I would not be tired late at night
| and stay up way too late. Then I would not get enough sleep and
| start the viscious cirle to drink more red bull.
|
| I decided to stop when I my heart started racing randomly (im
| closer to 30 than 40) sometimes so I visited the doctor and
| they basically told me to stop drinking energy drinks and sleep
| more.
|
| I have tried before to lower the amount but if I drink energy
| drinks I always end up in that bad circle. That said I love red
| bull. I love the taste, how clear my head gets whenever I drink
| it etc but I cannot drink it anymore because it is very harmful
| for my health.
| nickelcitymario wrote:
| I'm in the same boat, although I preferred Monster drinks.
| They were the most effective (legal) productivity booster
| that I've yet to find, but eventually I needed 5 just to get
| through the day and started to notice a lot of side effects
| to be health, in terms of sleep quality and my stomach.
|
| Sadly, I don't do moderation well, so it's on my list of
| things I used to love but can no longer tolerate. Right up
| there with cola, sugar, tobacco, and alcohol.
| matwood wrote:
| Same on the taste, although I prefer the sugar free Red Bull.
| The regular is too sweet. Other energy drinks taste too
| medicinal to me, and tbh I don't need 24 ounces or however much
| those giant cans contain. The standard small Red Bull is like
| the perfect amount of liquid.
| bumbledraven wrote:
| https://archive.is/2021.04.05-180259/https://www.readthegene...
| anonu wrote:
| 2 completely unrelated redbull thoughts:
|
| 1. I look back at my college years when "Red Bull Vodka" was a
| thing. I still am a bit in shock that we'd go out and have
| multiple of these in an evening and then go to sleep... In my
| later years I've gone to bars and - on a whim - asked for a "red
| bull vodka" and bartenders would look at me strange and say
| something like "we dont have redbull here".
|
| 2. I've had the extraordinary good luck to visit "red bull
| island": a private island resort called Laucala, one of the Fiji
| islands. The owner is the German co-founder. Every mini fridge is
| stocked with... red bull.
| bluedino wrote:
| Jaeger Bomb (Jaeger + Red Bull) or Red Bull and Southern
| Comfort...
|
| My pet peeve from 'those days' were bars that would charge you
| the 5.50 for Red Bull and then give you Monster or Vault or
| even worse a dollar-store style energy drink.
| Etheryte wrote:
| For anyone travelling to Southeast Asia, I strongly urge you to
| try out Krating Daeng, the predecessor of Red Bull. It's an
| interesting experience in that it's both similar yet completely
| different -- and not carbonated. Whatever the reason, almost all
| energy drinks and the like are carbonated in the west. It's an
| interesting contrast and well worth the try.
| xzel wrote:
| I spent a few weeks living in Bali and these were so much
| better than the Red Bull back in the states. I don't even think
| I've had a Red Bull since I've been back (almost 5 years)
| because I know I'd rather have a Krating Daeng.
| 0b01 wrote:
| You should try Baba Roots, also not carbonated and has a
| similar taste.
| ziptron wrote:
| Red Bull does not invest in sponsorships, they invest in creating
| 'history'. This is an example of Red Bull creating history.
|
| They do this also by buying sports teams. You can blow 200M on
| side line advertising throughout several soccer seasons, or you
| can buy an entire soccer team. When that team wins, you build
| history.
|
| Its brilliant marketing.
| schnevets wrote:
| I never realized it, but Red Bull spends money similarly to
| Google's early days. They have their "cash cow" revenue stream
| and a bunch of seemingly unrelated explorations that may burn
| capital or prove to diversify the portfolio.
|
| By keeping the logo so prevalent, it mitigates customers from
| developing brand judgments. I'm not going to judge a coworker for
| drinking a Red Bull because the brand is equally associated with
| European soccer, quirky commercials, flugtag, and celebrity. In
| the same way, Google became associated with Google Earth, Google
| Glass, lush office campuses, and "don't be evil" (remember those
| days?).
| joncrane wrote:
| I have to admit, Red Bull really knows how to spend their
| sponsorship dollars.
|
| I practice and am a big fan of two sports they sponsor heavily:
| skateboarding and auto racing.
|
| They sponsor some of the absolute best and "real" skaters,
| including Jamie Foy and Zion Wright, among others. They aren't
| corporate or try to mold fiercely independent skaters into an
| image. They just pay the best skaters in the world to wear their
| logo. They also pay to build some of the best skateparks/obstacle
| courses in the world by sponsoring some of the contest series.
|
| In auto racing they sponsor the iconic Red Bull Racing team,
| headed by an absolute troll of a human being but also insanely
| successful. They have the best aerodynamicist in racing history
| (Adrian Newey) and some of the best drivers in the world. They
| won 4 straight championships with Seb Vettel, and now look poised
| to finally challenge Mercedes' dominance this year.
|
| I personally don't drink any energy drink besides coffee, but two
| of the big things I'm passionate about are the better for Red
| Bull's involvement.
| metachris wrote:
| Same with climbing. They have been big sponsors, of athletes,
| competitions and events. And been putting out really great
| videos.
|
| * https://www.redbull.com/int-en/tags/climbing *
| https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=red+bull+climbi...
| at-fates-hands wrote:
| > Jamie Foy
|
| The dude turned the entire skateboarding world on its head. Guy
| looks like a varsity football player who quit to skate, but
| absolutely rips. The guy is the antithesis of what people think
| of when they think skateboarders. I'm so glad Red Bull
| sponsored him. Dude won the SOTY in 2017 and is a legit elite
| skater.
| selykg wrote:
| I am hopeful for Red Bull finally putting up a real legit fight
| this year in F1... I am not sure Red Bull won't get in their
| own way just yet... Too soon to tell.
| art3m wrote:
| The most toxic team in F1, the only moments I root for Mercedes
| are when they compete with RBR.
| DrSiemer wrote:
| What is so toxic about them? I'm from the Netherlands and all
| we get here is good news.
| Cshelton wrote:
| How is Christian Horner (Red Bull Racing F1 team principal) a
| troll of a human being? He's one of my favorites in F1. He's
| blunt and strictly business, but a troll...?
|
| Edit: Ah, never mind!
| dgritsko wrote:
| I thought the same thing at first, but I'm pretty sure OP is
| referring to Helmut Marko.
| Bootvis wrote:
| Is he that bad?
| User23 wrote:
| As someone who doesn't know much more about F1 than engine
| go vrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr what's the issue with Helmut Marko?
| dgritsko wrote:
| This article[1] describes him as "ruthless" and
| unnecessarily critical, and I'd assume that's most
| people's issue with him. It has recently resulted in him
| not giving young drivers much of a chance to "find their
| footing" before demoting them (e.g. Kvyat, Gasly, Albon).
|
| [1]: https://www.planetf1.com/features/formula-1-villain-
| helmut-m...
| tcoff91 wrote:
| He's talking about Helmut Marko.
| edf13 wrote:
| But he's not the head of Red Bull racing, is he?
| art3m wrote:
| Almost is. He's a good friend of Mateschitz and basically
| can 'recommend' any decisions in team.
| [deleted]
| Maarten88 wrote:
| I'm also a big Formula 1 fan, they also sponsor some of the
| best surfers like Kai Lenny and awesome events like King of the
| Air. I enjoy Red Bull, the marketing.
|
| Not so much the product. The problem I have with them is that
| they make the money for all this good stuff by selling
| expensive and extremely unhealthy drinks to youngsters. I'm
| wondering if they are a net positive for the world, my
| conscience whispers maybe they are not.
|
| Red Bull may be the only company that I like for their
| marketing but whose product I'd like to be taxed to oblivion
| (together with all sugary softdrinks).
| verall wrote:
| Unlike other energy drinks, due to high price, small size,
| simpler flavor, it's not the choice for young teens. Young
| teens are drinking Monster and Fanta and nowadays boba tea.
|
| Mostly grown ups drink red bull. And most that I know drink
| the sugar free version.
| gdubs wrote:
| Back in 2000 I went to the Edinburgh film festival. There was
| buzz about a film called "Battle Royale". None of us had any clue
| what to expect. But one of things I remember to this day about
| the experience was they served the audience Red Bull and Vodka --
| and the Red Bull was in these commemorative cans. Brilliant
| marketing, all the way back then.
|
| Everyone was ordering Red Bull and Vodka all week. There were
| lots of tales about people having heart attacks from that combo
| (not that week, but from around that time). I wonder how true
| those stories were -- or if they were mostly urban legends spread
| by the company themselves to seem more powerful, and appeal to
| young thrill seekers.
| GVIrish wrote:
| My first memory of Red Bull was in game advertising in the PS1
| game WipeoutXL. As a teenager living in Panama at the time I
| had no idea what it was, I thought it was a made-up product
| just for the game. Looking back they were way ahead of their
| time even then.
| drhitchcock wrote:
| Similar experience here, I first came across the Red Bull
| advertising in Wipeout 2 on the PS1 in New Zealand. I don't
| think you could even buy it here at the time.
| reducesuffering wrote:
| I'm inclined to go against the grain and say that the alcohol-
| and-energy-drink combo causing heart attacks is more urban
| legend and "the dangers of sugar+caffeine", i.e. soda, than
| anything particular to energy drinks. Red Bull, and other
| energy drinks, are essentially an extra-caffeinated soda with
| taurine and B-vitamins. Still less caffeine than a cup of
| coffee at that.
|
| So ya, it'd be healthier to stay away from 5 shots of vodka and
| 5 sodas at once. Nothing too particular about energy drinks
| that make you overdo caffeine+sugar+alcohol.
| 45ure wrote:
| I discovered it in apres-ski bars of Kitzbuhel, where it was
| given away liberally with shots of vodka (almost for free). It
| was hard to refuse it, as alcohol/socialising costs accounted
| for a significant budget of a skiing holiday.
| [deleted]
| riffraff wrote:
| I just wanted to mention that I remember the Baumgartner freefall
| for a specific thing: I watched it streaming live on youtube and
| I remember looking at the number of active viewers climbing above
| 3M (I think maybe up to 8).
|
| This was 2012, and I realized 1) youtube had insane scalability
| 2) live streaming was going to be a much bigger thing then I
| could ever imagine.
| jefftk wrote:
| This was just after I had started at Google, and I was on the
| same floor as the YouTube engineers responsible for the CDN. I
| remember a crowd around their dashboards as the spectacle of
| "we didn't know our metrics could go that high" competed with a
| spectacle of someone jumping from space.
| ctdonath wrote:
| YouTube famously rolled view count of Gangnam Style to
| negative because long int wasn't big enough.
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