`The phenomenally popular drink Red Bull is soon to be banned under EU directives. The drink, which is partly made from bull's testicles, has been found to be addictive and such is its potency that you will test positive in a drugs test after drinking just half a can. The drink is already banned in many of Dublin's rugby clubs with people saying that using the drink is no different to sniffing glue and that it promotes anti-social behaviour."
The only true statement in the above paragraph is that Red Bull is phenomenally popular - everything else is the result of a series of groundless rumours and ill-founded coverage of the drink. Never have so many urban myths gone into circulation about a nonalcoholic drink. Since its introduction here in 1995, Red Bull has recorded massive sales figures - last year, sales increased by 2000 per cent. Sold in 250 ml cans or in bottles, it's not cheap - it costs £1-£1.50 in a supermarket and £2£2.50 in a bar or nightclub. An "energy drink . . . especially developed for times of increased stress or strain" (it says on the can) it's a carbonated taurine - of which more later - drink with caffeine which carries the warning that "it is not suitable for diabetics, children and persons sensitive to caffeine".
On its introduction in Ireland, its first target market was clubbers, people who bought it to keep them dancing through the night: by now, it has crossed over to appeal to anybody, anywhere who feels the need for a quick "lift". A form of Red Bull has been around in south-east Asia for centuries. There, people drink it in order to improve their concentration and keep them awake. An Austrian businessman, Dietrich Mateschitz (now MD of the Red Bull company), travelling in the area noted how managers used it to perk them up before important meetings. Mateschitz brought the formula back to Austria in 1987, carbonated it and "Westernised" its taste.
In Austria, Switzerland and France, it was initially aimed at the apres-ski crowd - people who wanted a blast of energy after a hard day on the piste. It then became popular in Ibiza at the same time as the Balearic Beat explosion (dance music, basically) and clubbers took to it with a vengeance. It is now available in 30 countries and the last available figures for worldwide consumption show that in 1996, 140 million cans were consumed. It's as big a success story as bottled water, if not bigger.
Here's the science bit: in its promotional literature Red Bull claims it vitalises body and mind and improves stamina and concentration due to its mix of ingredients. Apart from carbonated water and caffeine, these include taurine and glucuronolactone - both substances that occur naturally throughout the human body and it is these Red Bull claims "help revitalise the mind and body". And here's the nonscience bit: despite what you may have heard or read elsewhere, there is slightly less caffeine in a can of Red Bull in a cup of filter coffee. The drink is non-addictive and the "bull's testicles" rumour came about because taurine was first detected, 40 years ago, in cattle - hence the name (taurus - bull). You will not test positive in a drugs test after drinking Red Bull - unless the testers are looking for caffeine use - and no, it's not going to be banned by the EU.
But with so many similar "energy" drinks on the market, how it is Red Bull which has gained so much popularity - to the point where the owner of last year's Pub of the Year, Michael Wright of The Bloody Stream in Howth, is quoted as saying that he now sells more Red Bull than Coca Cola? Barry Connolly of Richmond Marketing, the company which imports Red Bull into Ireland, says that when the drink first became available in Ireland three years ago, he had a very specific market in mind: "We selected four or five fashionable nightclubs such as The POD and The Kitchen and worked with them for display space - while Irish people who had been skiing in Austria or clubbing in Ibiza would have been aware of the drink, no one else was and the clubs suited because we wanted Red Bull to be a fashion-led drink.
"We then started to supply it to the `feeder' bars for the clubs, places such as The Globe and now, The Odeon. Three years on, we're now supplying 40 to 50 cases of Red Bull a week to the nightclubs and non-clubbers are aware of the product because of the `Red Bull gives you wings' television ad campaign," he says.
And why all the scare stories? "People need to be aware of what Red Bull exactly is. They have to realise that you don't `drink' Red Bull, you `use' it," Connolly says. "It's for people who want to stay alert or people who are driving long distances. It states quite clearly on the can or bottle that it is a stimulant and is not suitable for use by children. However, Red Bull is also a style choice and is very popular as such.
"This is also reflected in Red Bull's continuing sponsorship of a variety of extreme sports (snowboarding etc) which appeal to a younger and stylish crowd," he says. "At the moment, of 30 markets for Red Bull worldwide, Ireland is the third biggest behind Austria and Switzerland, and what those three have in common is that they are all relatively small markets and the popularity of the product has come about through word of mouth, particularly in fashionable circles." The latest concern about Red Bull is its use as a mixer with alcoholic drinks, in particular vodka: indeed, vodka and Red Bull is now de rigueur in most stylish new bars. But if people drink eight vodka and Red Bulls and then exhibit drunken behaviour, it's due to the vodka.
"We're quite clear on this," says Connolly. "Red Bull is a brand in itself, nowhere on the can or bottle or in the ads is it promoted as a mixer with vodka or any other alcoholic drink."
Whether you choose to believe Red Bull's claims that it "revitalises" physically and mentally is very much up to you as a discerning customer, but the message seems to be that, while it won't send you raving through the streets, it is not a soft drink and is not promoted as such - and should not be knocked back unthinking, not least because of its caffeine content. Barry Connolly's words - "This is an adult drink - and should be used as such".
