In defense of Red Bull

27/02/2013

27 Comments

 
So everyone's been giving Red Bull a bit of shit today, thanks to the not-so-VIP VIP Race Experience won by a pair of their fans last year.

It's a shame Red Bull didn't call me to the stand, because I think I could have saved them a whole bunch of legal trouble.

The whole complaint boils down to the fact that a pair of fans who won a VIP Belgian Grand Prix experience were flown into one country and out of another on a budget airline, missed the end of the race to make their return flight home, and ended up staying in a dodgy hotel in a third country. The contest winners had grandstand seats, not VIP seats, and had to arrange their own travel between Maastricht and Spa.

Sounds to me like they had a classic VIP experience in F1 terms. At least, they had a fairly standard experience from a journalist's point of view.
  • Flying into one country and out of another for cheap travel? Been there, done that.
  • Missed the end of a GP to make the flight home? Tick, and more than once.
  • Stayed in a separate country to the one the race was being held in? Happens a few times a season. And the Maastricht to Spa cab ride isn't actually all that expensive.
  • Dodgy hotels promising facilities that turn out not to exist? Welcome to my world.

Sure, the fans' experience itself may have been something of a disappointment. And it always sucks when the dream prize turns out to have been a bit of a damp squib. I'm pretty sure the competition winners aren't going to be spending any more of their hard-earned dosh on cans of Red Bull.

But maybe they can take some solace in the fact that their VIP F1 experience was  less VIP and more typical Formula One? If only they'd taken baby wipe showers in a public bathroom at some point - then they'd really have lived like we do...
 


Comments

Jem
27/02/2013 12:37

If it'd been advertised as "the authentic F1 journalist experience" then perhaps there wouldn't have been a case. Though I'd imagine that media accreditation offers better access around the track and the pitlane than a grandstand ticket - mind you, VIP access probably goes further...

That said, did another ski world cup event at the weekend and most of the top VIPs (the ones the bigwigs like to impress) came to us for their coffee and grub, so either the media gig isn't too bad or perhaps skiing needs journalists more than F1 does.

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Kate link
27/02/2013 12:54

You'd be surprised, actually... For my first two years I was on a green pass, which gives you access to the paddock but not the pitlane or track. There are ways of getting track access on a green pass, but it's by no means guaranteed.

On a red pass you can go anywhere (except garages, which are invite-only).

So while the competition winners were ripped off by not getting paddock access (which I would have assumed to be included had I entered the competition), that's the only way their experience differed from that of a green pass journo.

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Steve
27/02/2013 12:43

Baby wipe showers? Can you explain further, I'm intrigued..

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Kate link
27/02/2013 12:56

Admittedly I've not had to do this since I started getting airport lounge access (I can take real showers now), but...

Deplane and head to nearest bathroom. In stall, strip off and clean self as much as possible using baby wipes. Change into clean clothes, travel through immigration and customs, head to the circuit and get to work.

I also did this that year in Silverstone where I slept in my car at the media carpark because I couldn't afford accommodation.

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Leigh O'Gorman link
27/02/2013 14:58

Out of interest, I head a quick look at hotel prices for Silverstone this year (might not bother to be honest) and clocked that one of the Best Western's in the area are doing rooms at a price 1627% higher than usual.
Ouch.

Alianora La Canta link
28/02/2013 01:33

Maybe the F1 circuits should do what Vallelunga does and install showers in the toilet areas (its paddock toilet block had two, and there was one in what appeared to be a general-access toilet block just beyond the secondary gate. It seems strange that a Grade 2 track has better facilities than (at least some) Grade 1 ones...

Sudha S
27/02/2013 13:02

Baby wipe showers? Kate this is on par with your "Schumacher's butt sweat" :-) We should start an F1 Phraseology by Kate Walker list

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Kate link
27/02/2013 14:07

It's all about the lack of glamour where I'm concerned!

I think the title of my F1 autobiography might have to be"Butt sweat and baby wipes: the Kate Walker story".

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Sudha S
12/03/2013 06:27

As adventurous as the life of a F1 freelancer is, as you say it can also be tough. Is it so hard to get a job with a newspaper or TV network to cover F1 ? They would pay for travel , work everything. Surprised and curious why somebody like you cant get a job like that.

Kate link
14/03/2013 12:04

Oh, so hard. So, so hard. The jobs are few and far between, and with falling circulation figures fewer and fewer papers have the budget to send people to races.

TV has money, but I'd need to lose a lot of weight before they'd even give me an audition. I'm not fat, but I'm not TV skinny.

Keziah
27/02/2013 14:11

Was there no fine print or a general "terms and conditions" page? Come on, Red Bull, this is basic "trick customers into buying your shit through some misleading gimmick".

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Kate link
27/02/2013 14:41

I'll admit that I'd assume a VIP prize would include Paddock Club treatment, but whoever laid out the T&C for the prize obviously did a very bad job. I wouldn't be surprised if they've been shown the door...

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Keziah
27/02/2013 15:05

Honestly, I'd expect at least a Paddock Club ticket as well. Poor show for whoever wrote the T&C, ended up being bad press for the team too.

elephino
28/02/2013 04:19

The absolute minimum I'd expect (and seen) from a VIP F1 prize was a tour of the paddock with a decent grandstand ticket.

Rachel link
27/02/2013 14:50

The team probably had nothing to do with this, it'll be the brand and may be and agency. One of the reasons I always read the T&Cs to understand what is beign provided. There was one contest done my a team that said you'd get a ticket - but the T&Cs implied the winner would have to buy everything except the flight (that was a mistake, they corrected it). But T&Cs reading is always fun!

And Kate, if I'd know you were sleeping in car for Silverstone, I could have offered a spare tent space!

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Keziah
27/02/2013 15:09

Yeah, it was probably the brand and an agency who came up with it. Just unfortunate for the team that the bad press is directed their way.

When it comes to contests, it always pays to read the T&Cs to know what to expect. I pulled out of a luxury car raffle draw when the T&C said the winner would have to shoulder taxes. Um, no thank you, tax on a luxury car is enough to buy a sensible car.

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Kate link
27/02/2013 16:08

Yeah, there's no way the team would have been directly involved. Which is a pity, as if the RBR PRs had known what was going on I'm sure they would have sorted out VIP paddock passes for a few hours, minimum.

Kate link
27/02/2013 17:16

Aww, thanks very much! Sleeping in the car wasn't so bad - I covered all the windows and put the seat back as far as I could. :)

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Alianora La Canta link
28/02/2013 01:44

My favourite T&C document was the one for the online games shop Gamestation. They were trying to prove that only 12% of people read T&C documents carefully before making a purchase, so on April 1 2006, it placed an extra term at the end stating that anyone agreeing to the T&Cs without clicking on a specific link (clearly indicated at the end of the T&Cs) first, they would owe Gamestation their immortal soul. (Clicking on the link would explain the whole thing was an April Fool, that no claim would be made against anyone's soul and reward the observant individual with a £5 voucher). <a href="http://www.out-law.com/page-10929">Nobody clicked through to earn the voucher</a>...

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Kate link
28/02/2013 13:26

I remember that story! Have you ever seen the (rather gruesome) South Park episode where Steve Jobs goes a bit nuts about T&C on iTunes? It's disgusting, but also makes me laugh like a drain.

Alianora La Canta link
28/02/2013 21:10

I don't watch South Park, but somehow it doesn't surprise me that it poked fun at this as well.

tony
28/02/2013 00:21

When I used to go to Silverstone for the GP I always slept in the car, and moved it closer to the exit on race day morning to ensure a quick exit at the end of the race. I'd rather be in a car with a nice metal roof if it trained and the seats were very nice beds.
My first trip to spa was a Fast and Cheap deal , sleep on the bus overnight in route and going home after the race, wouldn't have swapped it for the world.

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Alianora La Canta link
28/02/2013 01:47

I tried camping at Silverstone in 2009. After a completely sleepless night due to ambient noise (the people were respectful once they'd finished singing bad renditions of "Wonderwall", the wind was not), I used the back of the car as my bed instead. Fortunately I still had access to the campsite showers, which proved to be a good way to meet new people as well as to get clean.

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Kate link
28/02/2013 13:28

I remember taking an overnight coach to Valencia back in 2010, arriving in town at 6am, heading to my hotel to check in and sleep for an hour. I was in the press room and working by 8am. That was a miserable weekend, especially as I was still working full-time then and covering F1 in my spare time, so I had to go straight to the office on Monday morning! Not fun.

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Auntie Loch-Braiques
04/03/2013 17:39

I love the expression "damp squib", and that's what it sounds like, only worse.
Isn't the company that hires the PR firm, that engages the company that engages the company that sets up the damp squib of a prize trip ultimately responsible? The bad feelings go right back up the chain of command to them after all, no matter how many layers there are in between.

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Leigh O'Gorman link
04/03/2013 17:43

Maybe so, but that probably still has nothing to do with the F1 team and everything to do with Red Bull.

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Alianora La Canta link
08/03/2013 23:31

Responsibility goes to whichever level of the chain caused the errors. If the PR firm was promised things it didn't get, then whoever did the promising was responsible. If the PR firm were told exactly what they could get and overstepped the offer received (or plain forgot to ask), then it's the PR firm's fault. I do agree, though, that Red Bull will be the one paying the PR price, whoever ends up paying the lawyers.

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