Ibiza scandal gives Red Bull wings

Austria | After a tumultuous week, which saw the country’s conservative-nationalist coalition government collapse on 18 May and the Chancellor Sebastian Kurz ousted on 27 May over the so-called “Ibiza scandal”, the energy drink Red Bull is ironically emerging as a winner.

In the video, filmed on the Spanish island of Ibiza in 2017, Mr Kurz’ deputy, Heinz-Christian Strache from the hard-right Freedom Party, is offering lucrative public contracts to an unidentified woman, purporting to be the niece of a Russian oligarch, in exchange for campaign support. As says the UK newspaper The Guardian, the chain-smoking Mr Strache may have realised he was being set up if his judgement had not been clouded by copious shots of vodka and Red Bull.

The video was released by two German newspapers on 17 May 2019.

The only one to benefit from the scandal is Dietrich Mateschitz. The richest Austrian (USD 19.8 billion according to Forbes) and co-owner of Red Bull has reaped in free advertising in the seven digit euro range because of all the mentioning of Red Bull in media and on the internet.

Red Bull was launched in 1987 and sold 6.8 billion cans in 2018, hiking turnover to about EUR 5.5 billion (USD 6.2 billion). It was ranked third most valuable beverage brand in 2018 behind Coca-Cola and Pepsi.