Shaun White Drinks the Red Bull Kool-Aid. Will You?

Shaun White

I think Shaun White is a damn good rider and he knows his way around a half-pipe and down the runs. Simply put, I respect his talent and passion for snowboarding. And I know there are thousands of others who feels this way. So when Red Bull stepped up to the sponsorship plate with Shaun White, what did they believe was in it for them? I didn’t write about this when it first came out, because I didn’t think much of it. But I was riding yesterday and couldn’t help but notice all the commercial sponsorships popping up.

Snowboarding is more expensive and requires more dedication than having a full time girl friend (I wonder if anyone will sponsor me to go out with some hot girl), so sponsorships are great. But when I see a sponsor-athlete marriage, it gets me thinking… why did the company do it?

Did Red Bull really think that just by slapping Red Bull logos all over Shaun White’s life, I was going to go out and buy their product? Well maybe if I already was a fan. But if I was a betting man, I wouldn’t put much money on non-Red Bull drinkers to go out and buy the product. But then again, they might try it and love it. Regardless of what Shaun White fans will do, I’m more curious about what Red Bull thinks they will get out of it. What were those Red Bull suits thinking in that boardroom? I wonder if Shaun White was even a dedicated Red Buller himself; after all, it’s not like he needed the wings.

They’re free to do what they wish with their money – they are privately held (not that that has stopped public companies in the past). But after looking at RedBull’s Project X, I think they over did it. I swear, every other frame and pixel has the Red Bull logo. There’s something classy about subtlety, and I think Red Bull completely missed the mark on that. I like their product (I used to go through a case of 25 each week during exams), but now I’m left to question their motives. Do they really have Shaun White’s, and more importantly, the sport’s best interest in mind?

Here’s the Project X Video: