Red Bull false ad settlement means that the company has to pay $13 million to the consumers they lied to by claiming that “Red Bull gives you wings.” Red Bull was sued by Benjamin Careathers who said in court documents that Red Bull’s promise to increase performance and reaction speed are false. But the makers of Red Bull wont be sending out thousand dollar checks anytime soon, instead, they plan to give a $10 cash reimbursement or two free Red Bull products to anyone who can prove that they purchased the energetic drink in the past 10 years.
Red Bull false ad settlement implies that the Austrian company behind the energy drink, Red Bull GmbH, will have to pay $13 million to their clients because they lied to them with their unattainable slogan “Red Bull gives you wings.”
Anyone who is able to prove that they purchased a Red Bull can in the past 10 years will get a $10 cash reimbursement or two free Red Bull products worth about $15 (Red Bull will also cover the shipping cost.)
Between 2004 and 2014, over 50 billion cans of Red Bull have been sold – so imagine if the owners, Mr Dietrich Mateschitz and Mr Chaleo Yoovidhya with an estimated net worth of $4 billion had to reimburse everyone.
Red Bull claimed that they accepted to pay the false ad settlement because they do not want to continue wasting money on lawyers, not because they have done anything wrong. So, why is Red Bull paying a $13 Million false ad settlement?
In 2013, Red Bull was sued in New York by a man named Benjamin Careathers who revealed that the owners of the highest selling energy drink in the world are misleading their consumers. Careathers stated that the company was promoting a false ad with the slogan “Red Bull gives you wings.”
In the suit, Careathers confessed that as a former drinker of Red Bull he has come to conclusion that the drink was not able to increase performance, concentration and reaction speed as promise by the ads. Careathers said the Red Bull false ad settlement has to be paid because:
“Such deceptive conduct and practices mean that [Red Bull’s] advertising and marketing is not just ‘puffery,’ but is instead deceptive and fraudulent and is therefore actionable.”
Careathers gathered a group of experts who explained that Red Bull is falsely claiming to be a superior source of energy because a cup of coffee has more caffeine than a can of Red Bull. A Red Bull can, which contains caffeine, taurine (an organic acid widely distributed in animal tissues,) and glucuronolactone has 80 milligrams of caffeine, while a 7 oz. cup of drip coffee contains 115 to 175 milligrams of caffeine.
The Red Bull false ad settlement is being paid not because of any wrongdoing, but because they want to avoid the cost and distraction of litigation, said a spokesperson for the brand.
