I Got To Hand It To This Guy For Jumping Off Of The Edge Of The World
I’m not a fan of Red Bull, mainly because I think it tastes like a combination of armpit and cough medicine, but I absolutely love the philosophy that it promotes. Adventure.
Pretty much everybody I know was talking about Felix Baumgartner, who with the help of his Red Bull sponsor, literally flew himself up in a balloon and jumped off of the edge of the earth, at one point breaking the sound barrier, and then landing via parachute safely back to the planet.
It was freaking crazy.
It was also one of the first times I’ve ever been captivated by the Internet during a live broadcast with the rest of the world. Normally, this kind of thing is for television only, but through genius viral marketing, Red Bull was able to capture an audience that I’m sure is making its rivals squirm in their boardroom seats, all of them thinking, “Why the hell didn’t we think of this.”
You climb Mt. Everest “because it’s there” and you jump off of a platform from outer space because “you have a balloon to get you up there.”
I’m hoping that this event will spark some sort of space race between all of the different energy drinks out there. Wouldn’t it be great to watch somebody sponsored by 5-Hour Energy do the same thing, only they add a little spice to it? Like say, he launches fireworks off as he’s falling or perhaps fires a flamethrower the whole way down? Or better yet, he jumps off inside of a Ferrari or a military tank.
Somebody needs to give Old Man McGumbus on Shelter Island a call, I’m sure he will have some ideas.