Reading Day 8
ConflictOK #academic, #capitalism, #redbull, #wingsforlife
There is an intrinsic conflict within the concept of Red Bull company. On the one hand, Red Bull energy drink is one of the unhealthiest drinks that you can find in a supermarket, while on the other, through their advertising and marketing strategy this brand has tied itself to a sporty adventurous identity. But how did they extract this potential energy out of this conflict? The US Department for health clarifies on their website that ‘there is a growing body of scientific evidence showing that energy drinks can have serious health effects, among them are diabetes, obesity, insomnia, serious heart rhythm disturbances, and blood pressure. It can also harm children’s still-developing cardiovascular and nervous systems and increase risk-taking behavior in teenagers’ (National Center For Complementary and Integrative Health). The conflict appears when Red Bull continuously represents itself as an energetic supplement and stamina improving drink for athletes, through the sponsorship and ownership of sports teams (five soccer teams, two Formula one teams, and an ice hockey team). The Red Bull experience for the consumer doesn’t stop with drinking a can of energy drink, it becomes the extension of an athletic activity, their trace can be seen everywhere in the sport world, from motorcycle racing and cliff-jumping, to paragliding, windsurfing, and air races. (The New York Times) We might need to take into account the words that most of the time are attributed to Joseph Goebbels, to understand the strategy of Red Bull: ‘If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it.’
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