Red Bull Makes Drink Themed After Team They Bought and Named After a Drink

I'm not sure if this is infuriating, exasperating or ingenious -- I'm somewhere near "exasperating" -- but, apparently, Red Bull (the Austrian soft drink company, not the team or teams) is putting out an energy drink themed after the New York Red Bulls.

It will, according to BevNet, be called "Bull" and "combines the functionality of Red Bull Energy Drink with a sweet orange flavor and a whimsical packaging design."

So follow along with me: Red Bull is making a drink themed after the team they bought and named after a drink.

It feels like a weird sort of shell game, but it could be ingenious in this way: People have complained for years that the team is nothing more than a marketing ploy to sell more energy drinks, that they don't care about the team or results on the field. But now Red Bull (company, not team) is using a drink to sell the team. It's a role reversal, to be sure.

And one could argue that Red Bull hasn't done enough to leverage it's marketing prowess to help the team out. If anything, it's been the other way around: Billboards featuring Thierry Henry, mid-bicycle kick with the Red Bull Arena awning in the background with nary a mention of the team. It appeared the drink was leveraging the team, which is all well and good if people know or care about the team. But by and large, they don't.

Also, a lack of whimsy.

Anyway, BevNet reports that it will be a short-term item and that packaging suggests it is a full calorie beverage with a "bitter, orange flavored" taste.