Red Bull is working to make itself the energy drink of choice for weary library-bound college students by running campus outreach campaigns, including one at Tufts this year.
Red Bull's student brand manager at Tufts is sophomore Elad Cohen, whose current project is coordinating a contest where students use cans of Red Bull to create works of art.
The contest is part of a nationwide grassroots marketing campaign that employs student brand managers to encourage Red Bull consumption. Red Bull supports student activities on campus, and brand managers receive free Red Bull.
Past entries to the Red Bull can art contest have included a can suspended by wings, a sculpture of a bull penned in a cage, and a steam liner, all of which were constructed out of Red Bull cans. The winner receives a trip for two to the 51st annual International Arts Exhibition in Venice, Italy.
"Any student can enter. You can melt them, cut them up, [and] build whatever," Cohen said.
Cohen has also worked on Red Bull's visibility at Tufts at the Entrepreneurial Conference and the Jumbo Jam earlier this semester.
Red Bull use marketing tools like contests to "target college students and try to build customer loyalty," Cohen said.
"People don't really understand [Red Bull]," Cohen said, who added that people have told him they thought the drink was dangerous. "They think it's this mysterious drink."
Much of the mystery surrounding Red Bull derives from bans on the drink in some European countries after deaths supposedly related to mixing the drink with alcohol or consuming it immediately after a heavy workout.
Although Red Bull is often used as a mixer or a chaser in parties or at clubs, recent research in Brazil showed there is no physiological change to the human body after consuming a combination of Red Bull and alcohol, and researchers attributed the popularity of the combination to the placebo effect.
This does not mean that Red Bull is a "healthy" energy drink, however. It contains 110 calories, 200 milligrams of sodium, and 28 grams of carbohydrates, although there is a low-sugar version that contains only 10 calories and three grams of
carbohydrates.
"In general we think that sugary drinks are a major cause for the epidemic of obesity that we have in this country," said Medical Director of Health Services Margaret Higham.
"As for caffeine, it would depend on how much they were taking a day and what symptoms resulted from that," Higham said. Red Bull contains less caffeine than the average cup of coffee.
Hingham said the only way to feel truly refreshed is by "getting enough sleep. There's no shortchange stimulant that gives the body what it needs."
The beverage was first manufactured in Austria in 1987, and derives its stimulant power from caffeine and taurine, a natural compound whose metabolic affects remain unclear.
And Red Bull maintains healthy sales, despite the fact that it is rated "truly painful to drink" by the online industry magazine BevNet.
Many have grown to like its syrupy taste. "I like the fact that it has a set amount of caffeine and you know exactly what you're taking. I like the taste, even though I know most people don't," sophomore Evan Lichtenstein said.
Still, Cohen said Boston has been very receptive to Red Bull. "In Boston, Red Bull outsells Coke in convenience stores," he said.
As an energy drink, students are primarily concerned with whether the drink serves its intended purpose. "It's refreshing and it's lighter than soda," Junior Will Heitmann said. "Soda is a bit too sugary." Heitmann said he drinks it "if I know I'm going to the library and need to be attentive."
