The Red Bull theatre was a seventeenth century playhouse in London.
Red Bull is the brand name of a famous European carbonated soft drink. Sold as an energy drink and to combat mental fatigue, it is very high in sugar, and also contains taurine, glucuronolactone, B-complex vitamins and caffeine (one can of Red Bull contains 80mg of caffeine, as much as one cup of coffee). A sugar-free version has been available since the beginning of 2003. It is popular as a mixer, notably with vodka. Red Bull is exclusively produced in Austria and exported worldwide. The drink is available in over 50 countries and almost 1,000 million of the slim 250ml cans were sold in 2000, 260 million of them in the UK.
The drink was created by Dietrich Mateschitz. He adapted it from the Thai beverage Krating Daeng (กระทิงแดง) in 1984 and approached the local firm TC Pharmaceuticals to manufacture it. They agreed, and took a 51% stake in his firm, Red Bull GmbH. It was launched in 1987, supported by sleek advertising and, with its high-priced small blue-and-silver can, targeted at young urban professionals. The advertising slogan of Red Bull in the United States and the United Kingdom is Red Bull Gives You Wings and focuses on the stimulant properties of the drink.
Despite its rapid success having quickly attracted imitators, Red Bull is still dominant in the energy drink market.
In 2000, Ross Cooney, a healthy, 18-year-old basketball player from Limerick, Ireland died after sharing four cans of the drink before a basketball game. An inquiry into his death ruled that he died from Sudden Arrhythmia Death Syndrome and the connection to Red Bull was inconclusive.
In 2001, the drink was investigated by the Swedish National Food Administration after being linked to the deaths of three consumers. It has been subject to a number of other health scares regarding glucuronolactone, the origin of the taurine and its potential addictiveness. None of these scares have been proven. Sale of Red Bull is prohibited in Denmark, Norway, France and Canada.
Doctors and nutritionists have warned of the dangers of mixing caffeine and alcohol in excessive quantities.