1st of April 2008: Red Bull Arrives in France

The magic potion enters Gaul

PARIS, April 1, 2008 /PRNewswire/ -- Red Bull made a spectacular entry
into France on Tuesday. The world's largest energy drink producer celebrated
its long-awaited arrival in the country with 150 "Wings Teams" from around
Europe forming a magnificent get together as they circled around the Arc de
Triomphe in their distinctive blue and silver Minis just hours after a BASE
jumper got the "Wings for Paris" day off to a flying start by leaping off the
Eiffel Tower and a motorcycle rider made a gravity-defying ride over a
50-meter high landmark arch in the La Defense business district.
(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080401/LATU176)
The Austrian company known for its non-conformist style lived up to its
reputation on April Fools' Day, picking April 1, of all days, to end the long
dry spell for France.
The highlight of the celebrations marking the arrival of the energy drink,
which is already available in over 140 countries with more than 3.5 billion
cans sold in 2007, was a Red Bull-style car rally around the Arc de Triomphe
by the "Wings Teams."
The roundabout around the famous arch at the end of the Champs-Elysees
might be one of most challenging for motorists anywhere in Europe -- with
swift-moving traffic entering and exiting from 12 different avenues. But the
"Wings Teams" from 10 different countries across Europe skillfully navigated
their Minis into and around the monument -- and after safely parking their
cars they surprised curious Parisians by giving them wings -- free samples of
the energy drink.
When asked for her experience, one of the charming British drivers
replied: "It was a bit hairy getting in here at first, but the Parisians have
been very kind and let us in. It's great fun. All the tourists stopped taking
pictures of the Arc de Triomphe and now they're taking pictures of us. I think
that says it all."
Earlier, just after daybreak, Swiss BASE jumper Ueli Gegenschatz got the
Red Bull "Wings for Paris" day off to a dazzling start with his
picture-perfect leap off the top of Eiffel Tower, France's 324-meter high
national landmark.
After a three-second free-fall Gegenschatz pulled his pilotchute to unfurl
his canopy for a 35 second gentle descent to the ground. He landed safely in
the city of love about 600 hundred meters northwest of the city's tallest
structure and world's most recognizable monument.
"It was an exciting climb up and the jump went well with a nice opening,"
said Gegenschatz, who had made his clandestine ascent up the side of the tower
in the early-morning hours under the cover of darkness. "It was pretty cold up
there and there was quite a bit of wind. I was glad when the sun finally came
up. It's a great way to introduce Red Bull to France."
Gegenschatz was briefly detained by a French police officer who happened
to be driving by the landing spot just as he saw the Red Bull canopy fly over
his windshield and was on the scene within 10 seconds of his landing. "That
was just a bit of bad luck at the end," said Gegenschatz. "The police later
told me it was purely by chance that they were there right when I was
landing."
About two hours later French trial motor bike specialist Julien Dupont
gave countless thousands of rush-hour commuters in Paris's La Defense business
district a rush of their own with a gravity-defying motorcycle ride up, over
and down the other side the 50-meter-high arched concrete roof of the CNIT
center building.
"Everything went according to plan on the way up and it was my greatest
accomplishment on the bike ever," said Dupont, who was helped by two tall
women in short skirts who distracted security. "The roof was a bit slippery so
I had to slow down a bit on the way back down the other side. It was tricky
getting the (80-kilo) bike over the fence but that all worked out well."
SOURCE Red Bull

Red Bull France - Communications, + 33 1 78 42 38 57, or Femke Doeksen,
femke.doeksen@fr.redbull.com, or Patrice Radden,
Patrice.radden@us.redbull.com, both of Red Bull