Red Bull was not invented in Austria.
Welcome to Marketing Story by Dots Studio. Today we will tell the story of how a Thai tonic got its wings.
In 1975 a duck farmer's son named Chaleo Yoovidhya mixed a thick, sweet tonic and sold it in an amber pharmacy bottle for about ten baht. Truck drivers and factory workers drank it on long shifts. Japan's Lipovitan had ninety percent of the market, so Chaleo gave millions of bottles away until it did not.
Two red gaurs charged under a yellow sun on the label, and the customers nicknamed the brand after them. By 1978 he was shipping to Singapore with the English words Red Bull on the crates, six years before Dietrich Mateschitz signed anything. Mateschitz was only in Thailand because Chaleo's company distributed the toothpaste he marketed.
Millions drank it every day. He was the one who thought it would travel.
Then the slow part. Three years of tests, a 250ml can when every rival filled 330, at double the price. The research came back so badly he called it a disaster: nobody believed the taste, the logo or the name. He shipped anyway, on April Fool's Day, 1987.
Forty years later, the flavour concentrate for every can on earth is still made in Bangkok.
Chaleo made the drink in a year. Finding the market took eleven more. That is usually the harder half.
[warm, unhurried, close to the microphone]
Red Bull was NOT invented in Austria.
[brighter, a small smile] Welcome to Marketing Story by Dots Studio. [settling back down] Today we will tell the story of how a Thai tonic got its wings.
[softer, settling in] In nineteen seventy five, a duck farmer's son named Chaleo Yoovidhya mixed a thick, sweet tonic... and sold it in an amber pharmacy bottle for about TEN BAHT. Truck drivers and factory workers drank it on long shifts. [matter of fact] Japan's Lipovitan had NINETY percent of the market... so Chaleo gave millions of bottles away [slight smile] until it did not.
[warm] Two red GAURS charged under a yellow sun on the label... and the customers nicknamed the brand after them. By nineteen seventy eight, he was shipping to Singapore with the English words RED BULL on the crates... [landing it] SIX YEARS before Dietrich Mateschitz signed anything. Mateschitz was only in Thailand because Chaleo's company distributed the toothpaste he marketed.
[a beat] Millions drank it every day. [slower, the turn] He was the ONE who thought it would travel.
[patient] Then the slow part. Three years of tests, a two hundred and fifty millilitre can when every rival filled three hundred and thirty... at DOUBLE the price. The research came back so badly he called it a DISASTER: nobody believed the taste, the logo, or the name. [light] He shipped anyway... on April Fool's Day, nineteen eighty seven.
[opening out, warm] Forty years later... the flavour concentrate for every can on earth... is STILL made in Bangkok.
[a real beat. then quiet, plain, unhurried] Chaleo made the drink in a year. Finding the market took ELEVEN more. [final] That is usually... the harder half.
<aside> ⏱️
Written for about 86 seconds. Recorded at 123.4 seconds, 114 words per minute, with 19.9 seconds of silence across 25 pauses. We kept the voice for its warmth and re timed the picture to it. To keep every cut under five seconds, the film went from 27 shots to 36. New shots were always a second picture on a line that already existed.
</aside>
| Shot | In | Out | Colour |
|---|---|---|---|
| S1 | 0.00 | 4.98 | cold blue silver |
| S2 | 4.98 | 8.30 | warm gold |
| S3a | 8.30 | 11.12 | honey |
| S3b | 11.12 | 13.93 | honey gold |
| S4a | 13.93 | 17.66 | warm ochre |
| S4b | 17.66 | 21.38 | warm ochre |
| S5 | 21.38 | 24.62 | honey gold |
| S6 | 24.62 | 27.31 | warm ochre |
| S7a | 27.31 | 29.88 | night amber |
| S7b | 29.88 | 32.44 | night amber |
| S8 | 32.44 | 36.11 | cold grey green, first cool frame |
| S9a | 36.11 | 38.96 | warm ochre |
| S9b | 38.96 | 41.81 | warm ochre |
| S10 | 41.81 | 46.04 | red on yellow, most saturated |
| S11 | 46.04 | 50.06 | night amber |
| S12a | 50.06 | 53.71 | pale sea blue |
| S12b | 53.71 | 57.36 | pale sea blue |
| S13 | 57.36 | 62.33 | warm ochre, blown river light |
| S14 | 62.33 | 64.58 | dusty ochre |
| S15 | 64.58 | 69.34 | dusty ochre, the only frame with both men |
| S16 | 69.34 | 72.00 | pale gold |
| S17 | 72.00 | 76.04 | warm gold, the turn |
| S18 | 76.04 | 80.50 | lamp amber |
| S19a | 80.50 | 83.70 | cool teal |
| S19b | 83.70 | 86.90 | cool teal |
| S20 | 86.90 | 89.74 | cold blue silver |
| S21a | 89.74 | 92.39 | cold blue grey, the refusal |
| S21b | 92.39 | 95.04 | cold blue grey |
| S22 | 95.04 | 99.53 | cold blue grey |
| S23a | 99.53 | 102.40 | pale gold, first light |
| S23b | 102.40 | 105.28 | pale gold |
| S24a | 105.28 | 109.58 | warm ochre, the empty room |
| S24b | 109.58 | 113.89 | warm ochre |
| S25 | 113.89 | 116.61 | warm ochre |
| S26 | 116.61 | 120.44 | honey gold |
| S27 | 120.44 | 123.40 | honey and silver, the only two hue frame |
| S28 | end card, logo animation built in post |
silver → gold → honey → ochre → night amber → GREY GREEN → ochre → RED ON YELLOW → night amber → sea blue → ochre → pale gold → GOLD (the turn) → lamp amber → teal → COLD BLUE GREY (the refusal) → first light → ochre → honey and silver
The refusal from 89.7 to 99.5 seconds is the only cold passage in the film. It is what makes the first light land.