How Red Bull got its wings

WHEN Felix Baumgartner stood at the edge of his space capsule with the vast curvature of the earth glowing blue behind him, the syrupy yellow drink that made it all possible was most likely the furthest thing from his mind.

For the veteran basejumper, this was the culmination of seven years of planning, this was the last unconquered frontier. He’d leapt from all kinds of buildings and bridges, he’d jumped into caves, raced aeroplanes. He held the record of the lowest ever basejump, from the outstretched palm of Christ the Redeemer in Rio de Janeiro. Now, he was about to leap into the record books once more, and just as on every other occasion, the two colliding bulls were everywhere.

But to think of the event as sponsored by Red Bull is to miss the point completely. This was not some pre-existing phenomenon onto which the highest bidder slapped his logo. The space jump was Red Bull conceived, designed, planned, and executed. This was the brand achieving marketing nirvana, becoming one with the content, to the point where the two are indistinguishable.