Tuesday, January 17, 2006

That's a Bunch of Bull!

Red Bull, that is.

This advertizing contraption sat on our street yesterday a few buildings down from our apartment. Needless to say, it caught my eye (on the cute little Mini Cooper)!



So, what is it! We always see it at gas stops in the States when we drive from Atlanta to Michigan. It's a soft-drink from Austria, usually in the energy-drink section, supposedly drunk to combat mental and physical fatigue. It's advertising slogan is Red Bull Gives You Wings, focusing on the stimulant properties of the drink. In its 250 ml serving, 80 mg is caffeine, a bit less than an 8-oz. cup of coffee.

The problem is it's popularity as used with alcohol and some health-risk scares from deaths linked to it. It's prohibited in Denmark, Norway and France. In Canada it carries a warning label that says "Cautions: Contains caffeine. Not recommended for children, pregnant or breast-feeding women, caffeine sensitive persons or to be mixed with alcohol. Do not consume more than 500 ml per day." Those who drink 2-5 250ml cans in a 24-hour period complain of nausea, stomach pains, gas, and/or sleeplessness.

But guess what! Despite the doctors and nutritionists who warn about mixing caffeine and alcohol in excessive quantities, "people who appreciate alcoholic beverages feel strongly that the benefits of mixing Red Bull with alcohol far outweigh the risks and take stimulants such as caffeine in order to avoid getting drowsy while drunk." Duh!

I guess that means this much Red Bull (in the above car's can) would either kill you dead as a doornail in one minute flat or keep you awake/stimulated the rest of your life!

8 comments:

  1. And do you know what happened in Canada? Despite alcoolic and cafeine beverages are illegal in my country, some beer companies have created brands were beer and 'guarana' are mixed to circumvent the law. One has to know that guarana is a source of cafeine stronger than coffee...

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  2. Wow, mei shile. That certainly doesn't surprise me; I'm sure it happens everywhere. Thanks for the comment!

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  3. And thanks you two for the information. I didn't know about those. I love coffee, I like alcohols, but usually, I don't take so much and surely not together!

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  4. You're such a good girl, Clo! And a good model for your daughter, Gene, I'm sure.

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  5. mmmm.....red bull. i LIVE on that stuff during finals! and the students of CCS get a little visit from the red bull mini, giving away lots of caffeine to feed the hungry masses at my school! isn't that funny? there's usually an amazing crowd around it too.

    now we have vending machines selling red bull, full throttle and rock star for $2. (those are 2 other energy drinks...they're in larger cans tho).

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  6. Wow, Lesley! The Red Bull fanatic and I never knew!

    It's been fun seeing you in your new LJ context. Seeing you in a bit different light :) I like it.

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  7. I come to you via Mausi--
    Interesting that the US's FDA is sucking down Red Bull rather than protecting it's kids from all that added caffeine stuff.

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  8. Indeed, SP. Donica works for a pharma company and so many things just don't make sense!

    Btw, thanks for your comment. I really like your site and have just added it to my sidebar. It's wonderful to find kindred spirits :)

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