Red Bull: Bullies

November 01 2022

February 03 2023

I was compelled to submit this brief post after seeing how the Red Bull brand treat others. My perception of Red Bull is that of a comfortably arrogant business, and I’ll give three examples why that is. And I must stress that this is my opinion.

Red Bull are a big brand with huge revenues. They sold almost 10 billion cans of Red Bull in 2021.

This represents a staggering 24.3% increase on 2020, which was a successful year in itself. Turnover was €7.8B.

But Red Bull have a history of intimidation towards small businesses.

This may be considered acceptable from a ruthless perspective. They haven’t achieved their success by being nice.

So here are some examples of Red Bull arrogance.

A small UK business called Bullards, founded in 1837 and who have only 10 staff, were taken to the UK courts by Red Bull. Bullards wanted to re-register themselves as a business in 2015 after being owned by Watneys since 1963.

Red Bull opposed the application because there was 'Bull' in their company name. Remind yourself of this arrogance when you next pick up a can of Red Bull off the shelf.

This simple example says everything that you need to know about the Red Bull brand. They are giddy with their industry might.

This legal attack from Red Bull against the small Norfolk Bullards brand ended with Red Bull pulling out, but not before Bullards spent £30K defending themselves.

Red Bull also attacked Norfolk micro-brewery Redwell in 2013. Apparently, Redwell's name may 'tarnish the Red Bull trademark'. Redwell were threatened by Red Bull - either change your name or face legal action.

And then we have the Red Bull Formula One team. They were found to have breached their budget for 2021, giving them an advantage over all other F1 teams that season.

Max Verstappen won the 2021 World Championship for Red Bull. And Christian Horner at Red Bull F1 has never satisfactorily acknowledged their failings.

I need say no more. Red Bull cheat.