> and of course, the great big marketing machine - the sodas.

I recently read a science fiction story that described a near-future society in which the space race is restarted following the discovery of an alien drone ship. It describes the situation [1]:

> With rumours abounding that several South American nations are in talks to form their own unified space agency, not to mention the fledgling private endeavours of Virgin, Red Bull, Mitsubishi, Google and BAE Systems, It seems that the second Space Race has begun in earnest.

Red Bull does seem a little out of place in that list, but not much. Why is it that an energy drink company spends SO MUCH on advertising that this isn't all that incongruous?

[1]: https://www.reddit.com/r/HFY/comments/2lkrph/jenkinsverse_9_...

Red Bull is attached to airplane races both legitimate and fanciful. They are not as out of place on that list as you first imagine.

Yes, I think the Red Bull Air Races are awesome, and they're definitely pushing limits in an area of the human and aeronautic performance envelope that's been passed over by the military. But why and how is a fizzy drink company doing all this?

They're also attached as my sibling comment notes to Felix Baumgartner's space jump. Not to mention such diverse activites as snowboarding, mountain biking, freestyle motocross, ice cross downhill, skiing and BMX events. Cliff diving. Soapbox races. Flugtag. F1. E-sports. Stock Cars. Rallycross. Association football. Sailing. Being at the forefront of these industries is not normal for eg. Horlicks.

They manufacture energy drinks, but they're at home in the above industries. How weird is that?

Not to mention the Felix Baumgartner jump[0], which was organized/sponsored by Red Bull.

[0] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Bull_Stratos

I don't understand. What isn't marketed that way?

Around here we see generic marketing from the various egg, chicken, diary, etc lobbies in tv, radio, and print form. It would be impossible to follow the parent poster's rules and eat anything (big time lettuce might not be into marketing, who knows).

Natural commodities like cabbage, potatoes, beans, peppers, etc are barely advertised. Generally, if it's something anyone can make and there's no good way to differentiate it, there's not much point doing much marketing. Can't speak for the OP but maybe this is what they meant?

I have seen potatoes from Idaho advertised, Avocados from Mexico and Milk from California Cows. So Natural commodities are marketed this way.

Absolutely. These campaigns are all the products of Agriculture Marketing Boards[1] and are generally state-based. They're cooperative marketing agencies which growers and producers belong to to collectively promote their generic product. See also the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service[2].

Idaho Potatoes: https://idahopotato.com

California Walnuts: https://www.walnuts.org

California Almonds: http://www.almonds.com

California Raisins: http://calraisins.org / http://raisins.org

are a few of the domestic ones I've worked with over the years.

EDIT:

Here's a list of all the official California Agricultural Marketing Programs[3]

Speaking of foreign avocados, in addition to Mexico, Chile grows and exports a lot to the US. Of of their interesting arguments is that being in the Southern Hemisphere, their crop is counter-seasonal to our domestic avos. http://avocadosfromchile.org

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marketing_board [2] https://www.ams.usda.gov [3] https://www.cdfa.ca.gov/mkt/mkt/pdf/ProgramContactInformatio...

Maybe we should eat more turnips and string beans?

I've always wondered why avocados have so much marketing behind them ("Avocados from Mexico" commercials). Seems like they would be in the same boat as other natural foods. I guess it hasn't bothered me enough to do the research, though.

You ever see an advertisement for broccoli?

You've never seen advertisements for the Jolly Green Giant?

Fresh tomatoes and the like.

In Australia supermarkets certainly advertise fresh fruit and vegetables in multiple forms of media. And not just "we sell vegetables", but "this week Australian grown XXXX are just $Y per kg!"

Australian readers can probably hear that Coles announcer voice in the heads right now.

Does this heuristic only apply if its a standalone advertisement?

That would cut out bananas, mangos, avocados, pistachios, every mainstream meat, eggs, dairy and water (both bottled and tap).

Right, supermarkets are necessarily not selling the product as much as their brand. The message here is - 'Come to our store, we have all these products at discounted prices'.

Lately my own heuristic is that if the label has more than two ingredients (not counting salt / natural spices) I don't eat it. That means if I want something unhealthy I have to make it myself from scratch, which puts a natural limitation on a big chunk of unhealthy eating possibilities. Of course it's still possible to eat unhealthily this way (the all-steak all-the-time diet comes to mind)