Cocaine Cola anyone? In 2008 Red Bull developed a new,
non-energy drink product, called Simply Cola, which was released in 23 test
markets (countries). The plan was to introduce a “natural” cola without the added
phosphoric acid and high fructose corn syrup ingredients typically found in
products like Coke and Pepsi. What they ended up with, however, was a headache after
German food regulators found trace amounts of cocaine in the beverage in 2009.
Despite
only trace amounts being found, the negative press resulted in the drink
disappearing from shelves in Germany. This German ban then prompted Taiwan to mistakenly
confiscate 18,000 cans of the original Red Bull Energy Drink.
The German
Institute for Risk Assessment did declare the product safe shortly after the
fiasco and Simply Cola was placed back on shelves in August of 2009. Great news
for Red Bull right? But no – the combination of negative press and an already
saturated cola market proved to be too much of an uphill battle for Simply Cola
to withstand. Largely considered a failure, In 2011, Red Bull Simply Cola was forced to
retreat back to it’s core markets in Germany and Austria where it is now
distributed exclusively.
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