Comments on: Why Red Bull's Stratos Jump Was Just a Publicity Stunt—and Only Partially Successful

By: Mike Borg

Mike Borg — Mon, 12 Nov 2012 15:16:49 +0000

Amy Shira Teitel, you clearly didn’t even watch the broadcast, as most of what you claim was not discussed actually was. On top of that, you should be embarrassed for claiming some expertise, “albeit brief,” in marketing, only to display an utter lack of understanding of how marketing actually works. Even if you were correct that Red Bull hadn’t discussed the history of ultra-high jumps or the technical and scientific hurdles that such a jump entails, how would it have been a marketing failure to omit that information? Red Bull is an energy drink. Their marketing is aimed at selling that energy drink. The history and science behind the Stratos jump is completely irrelevant to that end. I think Red Bull showed incredible restraint, considering the money they put into this project, by keeping the corporate noise limited to the use of their name and logo. They deserve kudos for funding such a grand adventure and yet avoiding the temptation to turn the whole thing into a huge “Red Bull gives you wings” commercial.
The Stratos project worked as a marketing vehicle, at least as far as I’m concerned. Before Stratos I had never consumed a Red Bull. Since then I have, and will continue to do so. It’s as simple as that.

By: David L. Hasse

David L. Hasse — Tue, 06 Nov 2012 19:16:10 +0000

Watching the FPS readout during the ascent it was obvious they were way off on their neutral bouyancy calculations, major venting had trouble even slowing him down and had to be repeated several times. They did not account for the sonic, ultrasonic and microwave pressure in the lower atmosphere compressing the bag of helium which as he left the density and multifrequency screaming below resulted in a much greater expansion as he approached the silence of space. Helium has some special properties we’re still discovering, we’re still learning a lot of things that need to be put together.
Working at Litton Industries in the mid-eighties on microwave ovens gave the water vapor frequency obtained from their newsletter as the target of the magnetron in their ovens and it is clear our atmosphere would be really loud at that and other gas’s and phase transition’s frequencies.
Loud and ubiquitous, possibly part of our biology and definitely something to be considered in the future.
It took guts to be that level of pioneer and Felix deserves every kudo he gets.

By: Kennith Wellen

Kennith Wellen — Mon, 05 Nov 2012 20:34:30 +0000

Another issue is that video games are normally serious as the name indicated with the most important focus on understanding rather than leisure. Although, we have an entertainment aspect to keep your young ones engaged, just about every game is normally designed to work towards a specific group of skills or course, such as instructional math or research. Thanks for your posting.

By: David Sanz

David Sanz — Sun, 28 Oct 2012 03:25:14 +0000

Whoever wrote this article… didnt do the right homework… didnt even went into the red bull project website… this article is just blah blah blah…

By: Scribbler

Scribbler — Tue, 23 Oct 2012 15:13:50 +0000

Uh, the ingredients are posted on the side of the can/bottle and what it does to the human body is why people buy it.

By: Ted

Ted — Tue, 23 Oct 2012 09:27:30 +0000

All I can say is “I could not disagree more with what this viewpoint”

It has NOTHING to do with science or whatever,what a firm decides to do with its money.

And this has NOTHING to do with Felix’s epic success; that is,how Red Bull managed the whole thing,from a media perspective.

By: IW

IW — Sat, 20 Oct 2012 15:36:05 +0000

Why on Earth (or off it) would Red Bull have the slightest interest in educating people? If they were that interested they would tell people what’s in Red Bull and what it does to your body.

Rest assured that Red Bull’s only interest is in making money. That’s what corporations do. Have no doubt that they succeeded in their aim; this was huge success for Red Bull.

By: emkay

emkay — Sat, 20 Oct 2012 14:40:18 +0000

Wow! what a mess of comments, which took me 5-6 minutes to read through. But I learned that no one seems to understand what a “publicity stunt” is..

“Mayor speaks in downtown park”, “Obummer flies to Cinncinati for fundraiser”, “local TV channel sponsors 2k run for homeless”, “high school newspaper sells advertising to help build new gymnasium”, “famous author has book signing”, “un-famous book author has signing”, ” Eviel Knievel jumps Snake River Canyon on motorcycle”, and “woman writes article on highest balloon jump” are ALL PUBLICITY STUNTS… Anything that deliberately draws attention to a product, service, person, or even a concept or idea is a “publicity stunt”..

I want my 5-6 minutes back….

By: Rob

Rob — Sat, 20 Oct 2012 03:12:28 +0000

Sounds like the author of this article is bitter about something. After reading this, I guess the jump was all for nothing, and completely pointless.

Get over yourself

By: Joe L

Joe L — Fri, 19 Oct 2012 22:47:03 +0000

This review really blew an opportunity to position the expense and level of commitment that some corporations undertake to attract fans while promoting “exploration of frontiers” or “extreme sports” – and to expose the pragmatic compromise of pursuing positive brand impressions while exposing good people to risk.

I wonder if the writer ever thought about contacting the producers of the Stratos Project and asking how they felt about this compromise. Or Joe Kittinger, who must have been under the influence of a mind control device.

It is sad and disturbing that American society places greater emphasis on junk like “energy drinks” and cable television subscriptions than on publicly funded, manned exploration and testing.

With its factual errors and mischaracterizations of the Stratos project’s web site, the author shakes her finger at Red Bull – as if they were somehow disingenuous about a profit-oriented agenda. This attitude is about as constructive as chastising MTV for not illustrating the full beauty of the Garden State on “The Jersey Shore.”