Author: John Loizeaux
In a time when only the most innovative and bizarre advertising campaign will grab the attention of consumers, there seems to be no limit to the absurdity of promotional devices. Red Bull certainly proved this by organizing, promoting and filming Red Bull Stratos, featuring Felix Baumgartner skydiving from 24 miles above the Earth’s surface on Oct. 14.
Baumgartner leaped from a space capsule in the Earth’s stratosphere and dropped faster than the speed of sound at a maximum velocity of 834 miles per hour. Since this stunt was completely sponsored by Red Bull, Baumgartner’s space capsule, space suit and parachute were all covered in Red Bull logos, leaving no doubt which company the 8,000,000 live Youtube viewers should associate with his world record jump. On top of that, Red Bull retains sole ownership of the rights to use footage from Baumgartner’s jump for financial gain in the form of new consumers.
The total price of sponsoring this feat is not yet available, but figures for some components have been released. For instance, Baumgartner’s space suit cost around $250,000 and each helium balloon used in the stunt cost $200,000. While these account for only a fraction of the costs of the stunt, they are a rather insignificant figures for a company valued at more than $10 billion. Still, Red Bull set a new standard for extreme advertising practices with the help of its private stunt man.
This raises the question: what was Red Bull’s motivation behind sponsoring this event? Forbes estimates this stunt will result in tens of millions of dollars worth of global exposure for the brand. People who do not normally drink Red Bull and may not have access to it were exposed to the brand, simply by having an internet connection. Thus, the Red Bull brand reached certain markets before the product, making it more likely to succeed when it does launch into those areas.
Red Bull Stratos was so saturated with the Red Bull brand name that Baumgarnter took a secondary role in what is really his world record jump. Baumgartner was the one putting his life on the line, albeit for his own adrenaline rush. Even though he volunteered for the stunt, he cannot possibly receive fair compensation for the risk he took. His financial compensation has not yet been released, but even when it is, there is little chance it could even come near matching the danger he faced.
However, there is possibly a reason for this. Since Baumgartner loves to do these stunts so much, he is less concerned about cashing in on the opportunity than simply experiencing the thrill. He could be happy enough that Red Bull paid for his all inclusive trip to the stratosphere and back. In that sense, he was fairly compensated because he was able to break multiple world records specifically due to his partnership with Red Bull. Those records will be solely in his name, which is not a bad deal in itself. In a recent interview on CBS, he said that his main motivation was the rush he experienced. Still, if he did not earn at least a few million dollars for the stunt, Red Bull unfairly exploited his passion for their financial gain.
Regardless of whether he cares about money or not, Red Bull definitely does. They have an ethical duty to share the resulting proceeds with Baumgartner no matter what his motivation was for doing the jump. For him, the financial benefits are a necessary added bonus for his services.
Regardless of compensatory issues surrounding this event, Red Bull can now claim to own the most extreme advertising stunt to date. We should expect nothing less from a company that promotes itself as the ultimate supporter of every extreme sport from dirt biking to drag racing, sponsoring events like Red Bull Crashed Ice and Red Bull Supernatural. In the aftermath of this stunt, we are left wondering if Monster, AMP or any other company can create an advertising campaign to upstage Red Bull. What could possibly trump someone free falling from the stratosphere? There is a good chance that the only company able to eclipse this achievement is Red Bull itself.
John Loizeaux is a junior economics major. He can be reached at loizeaux@oxy.edu.
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