Red Bull recently launched a rather disturbing and disrespectful ad. In it, a captain of a ship watches a crew member upload a crate full of Red Bull aboard the ship. The captain first asks what it is, and the crew member explains it’s an energy drink that “gives you wings”, to which the captain responded, “Why on earth would you need wings on a ship?”

All of this seems fine until the captain commands the crew member to lower the crate and the name TITANIC is visibly shown.

Now what does this imply? So if the captain and the crew of the Titanic had drunk Red Bull during its expedition to New York City, she wouldn’t have hit the iceberg just south of Newfoundland, and over 1,500 people would have lived?

What puts Red Bull in a position to criticize and make fun of the events that transpired on the Titanic? People have a sense of humor, but there’s a line, and with this one, Red Bull definitely crossed it. It’s not okay to be laughing at people dying, but that’s exactly what this ad is promoting to our society.

“It is very offensive and just disrespectful,” said Howard Nelson, the founder of the Titanic Heritage Trust, an organization formed to remember those who died in the tragedy.

The ad is also unethical in the sense that it is incorrect in portraying the effects and the benefits of its product. Can Red Bull guarantee that accidents won’t happen if people drank their product? That’s a pretty courageous claim, and one that they will probably never be able to live up to.

Sources:

http://www.marketingmagazine.co.uk/article/1211947/red-bull-hits-iceberg-titanic-ad-draws-79-complaints
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/10306683/Red-Bull-criticised-for-tasteless-Titanic-advert.html
http://www.thedrum.com/news/2013/09/15/red-bulls-titanic-advert-prompts-complaints-asa