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The lawsuit against Red Bull was not actually about gaining physical wings, but rather, the fact that Red Bull implied their drink was a super energy drink with

by cowsup 3y ago

The lawsuit against Red Bull was not actually about gaining physical wings, but rather, the fact that Red Bull implied their drink was a super energy drink with that slogan and related materials, when in reality, it was about as energy-fueling as a cup of coffee [0]. This court case, like the McDonald’s Hot Coffee case, are commonly twisted out of context to sound so absurd and frivolous, when in reality there’s quite a good reason for it. [0] https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/red-bull-settles-false-advertising-lawsuit-for-13m-1.2793536 https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/red-bull-settles-false-adve...

SeanAnderson 3y ago
I don't feel this explains Red Bull's response to the lawsuit, then? Red Bull still show ads with the slogan. I saw one on Twitch yesterday. The only difference is now there's three i's in wings. So it's just "Red Bull gives you wiiings." I thought that edit was to try and make it clear that the wings were in jest. It seemed similar to Pepsi Co's "Just Kidding" addition to their jet offer. If it was really about false advertising and not the implication itself... then shouldn't the ads either stop entirely or continue without modification? EDIT: oh, maybe I am completely off-base here. It looks like the slogan always had three iii's and I'm just assuming it changed in response.
ApolloFortyNine 3y ago
The coffee one where it's brewed between 195-205 yet people say keeping it at 180 was negligence? That's always bugged me ever since I made pour over, McDonald's essentially heated their coffee to the temperature it'd be if it was made fresh. Sure it was hotter than competitors, but it was hardly an impossible temperature for coffee to be. It's literally brewed hotter than they served it.
- whatshisface 3y ago
  I am not sure how that analogy is supposed to work, would you mind if I handed you a knife at 900F when they're forged around 1000F and above?
  - ApolloFortyNine 3y ago
    It's not an analogy lol if you brew coffee and immediately pour it in a cup, it could easily be 180. There's a world where your cup or brew vessel is ridiculously cold and it drops to 165, but that doesn't change the fact the coffee is brewed at 195-205 degrees. Your argument is closer to a strawman.
- dfsalkjasflkj 3y ago
  Yeah I mean sunlight is made at 10,340 F and human beings sometimes complain about the heat in the summer.
- extraduder_ire 3y ago
  It wasn't negligence. Internal emails were found during discovery explicitly describing their strategy of keeping the coffee that hot so that fewer customers would avail of the free refills, because by the time it had cooled enough to comfortably drink the majority of customers would leave the store.
- dragonwriter 3y ago
  > but it was hardly an impossible temperature for coffee to be Yes, its true that the law (the things enforced by government, not "laws of nature", which are unrelated despite the similarity of name) generally prohibits things which are seen as undesirable but possible, and is far less concerned with prohibiting things which are actually impossible.
- Guvante 3y ago
  Don't confuse the brew temperature and the serving temperature they aren't the same thing. Coffee grounds are at room temperature (when properly brewing) meaning that the temperature of the actual coffee is significantly less. It might be as high as 180 but doubtful fresh brewed coffee is any hotter (I would bet it is lower but not willing to test). Additionally McDonald's got in trouble for intentionally harming it's consumers. When discussing internally about incidents of burning executives thought that the cost of paying for medical bills was less than the cost of refills. Aka they said "we know this will harm people but ensuring people can't get free refills is more important".
- PH95VuimJjqBqy 3y ago
  It harmed that woman in a very bad way, that should be enough to convince anyone that it was entirely too hot. Then there's the fact that they KNEW and did it anyway.

by cowsup 3y ago

SeanAnderson 3y ago

I don't feel this explains Red Bull's response to the lawsuit, then? Red Bull still show ads with the slogan. I saw one on Twitch yesterday. The only difference is now there's three i's in wings. So it's just "Red Bull gives you wiiings." I thought that edit was to try and make it clear that the wings were in jest. It seemed similar to Pepsi Co's "Just Kidding" addition to their jet offer. If it was really about false advertising and not the implication itself... then shouldn't the ads either stop entirely or continue without modification? EDIT: oh, maybe I am completely off-base here. It looks like the slogan always had three iii's and I'm just assuming it changed in response.

ApolloFortyNine 3y ago

The coffee one where it's brewed between 195-205 yet people say keeping it at 180 was negligence? That's always bugged me ever since I made pour over, McDonald's essentially heated their coffee to the temperature it'd be if it was made fresh. Sure it was hotter than competitors, but it was hardly an impossible temperature for coffee to be. It's literally brewed hotter than they served it.

whatshisface 3y ago
I am not sure how that analogy is supposed to work, would you mind if I handed you a knife at 900F when they're forged around 1000F and above?
- ApolloFortyNine 3y ago
  It's not an analogy lol if you brew coffee and immediately pour it in a cup, it could easily be 180. There's a world where your cup or brew vessel is ridiculously cold and it drops to 165, but that doesn't change the fact the coffee is brewed at 195-205 degrees. Your argument is closer to a strawman.
dfsalkjasflkj 3y ago
Yeah I mean sunlight is made at 10,340 F and human beings sometimes complain about the heat in the summer.
extraduder_ire 3y ago
It wasn't negligence. Internal emails were found during discovery explicitly describing their strategy of keeping the coffee that hot so that fewer customers would avail of the free refills, because by the time it had cooled enough to comfortably drink the majority of customers would leave the store.
dragonwriter 3y ago
> but it was hardly an impossible temperature for coffee to be Yes, its true that the law (the things enforced by government, not "laws of nature", which are unrelated despite the similarity of name) generally prohibits things which are seen as undesirable but possible, and is far less concerned with prohibiting things which are actually impossible.
Guvante 3y ago
Don't confuse the brew temperature and the serving temperature they aren't the same thing. Coffee grounds are at room temperature (when properly brewing) meaning that the temperature of the actual coffee is significantly less. It might be as high as 180 but doubtful fresh brewed coffee is any hotter (I would bet it is lower but not willing to test). Additionally McDonald's got in trouble for intentionally harming it's consumers. When discussing internally about incidents of burning executives thought that the cost of paying for medical bills was less than the cost of refills. Aka they said "we know this will harm people but ensuring people can't get free refills is more important".
PH95VuimJjqBqy 3y ago
It harmed that woman in a very bad way, that should be enough to convince anyone that it was entirely too hot. Then there's the fact that they KNEW and did it anyway.