Red Bull is resuming their summer event, "Red Bull Can You Make It?" for the first time since COVID-19, and ASU students are preparing to partake in the adventure. The event in May lasts for seven days, during which participants fly to Europe and travel through multiple countries.
While it sounds like a fun summer trip, there is a catch: teams must exclusively use Red Bull as their currency.
"You'll be using Red Bull to barter for rides from one place to another place, or you'll be bartering it for some food," said Drew Engard, a student marketeer team lead at Red Bull and a junior studying interdisciplinary studies. "Whatever you need to get to your next spot, you'll be using Red Bull and bartering to continue on that adventure to get to Berlin."
One team of current and former ASU students who were accepted into the challenge are already brainstorming strategies to make the most of their trip.
"You have to rely heavily on strangers across countries that you've never met before, and you might not even speak the language," said Dash McDonald, an ASU alum and founder of the filmmaking business Mad Lads Media. "It's really cool because it does help you rely on the gratitude of others."
He originally applied for a previous "Red Bull Can You Make It?" trip in 2019, but never made it to Europe after the trip was canceled in 2020. When McDonald heard Red Bull was revisiting the idea, allowing participants who were not in college to join as well, he jumped at the opportunity with his roommate.
The team registered through a 60-second video on social media highlighting their individual personalities.
"We've been texting every day about it," McDonald said. "We shot the video, and honestly, I think the video will speak for itself a little bit. It was so fun to film."
Charles Sigmund, a senior studying marketing and one of McDonald's teammates, said the registration process was an incredibly fun chance to show what their team is capable of. The video allowed the team to express themselves the best way they could, adding elements to their videos like ATVs, golf carts and surfing.
"These videos are supposed to be creative and show off a lot of personality," Sigmund said. "It's a really good way to put yourself out there, to tell a little bit about yourself to your friends, to the rest of the world that's going to be voting on this."
The video, which introduced the team and presented an argument for why they should be accepted, was shot and edited by McDonald and Reece O'Connor, another ASU alum and owner of Modern World Media.
McDonald said he met his teammates previously at ASU, forging a friendship together that led to their application for the challenge.
"ASU is what brought us all together in the first place," said McDonald. "It's what created this team. That's where we all met."
McDonald’s other teammate, Marco Marchese, a sophomore studying marketing, said that ASU taught him to find independence and provided him resources that allowed him to "seek out opportunities and take the ones that are in front of me," such as the "Red Bull Can You Make It?" competition.
Sigmund said his experiences with ASU's study abroad programs and experience traveling to countries like Croatia, Spain and Costa Rica taught him how to be as cost-effective as possible while traveling, preparing him for the challenge.
READ MORE: How Sun Devils can go global: A guide to understanding study abroad programs
"Life is all about perspective and using the resources around you," Sigmund said. "I was able to extract all the value out of studying abroad, and, basically, those things that I've learned, going abroad and getting to go all over the world, are definitely going to transfer to this Red Bull competition."
McDonald said that he spent time last summer in Amsterdam, Marchese studied abroad in Italy and Sigmund was in Spain. Marchese said these are all experiences that they can expand upon during their time in Europe for the competition.
“We all have experience abroad now, and I'd say that for all of us, that's been some of the most transformative experiences in our lives,” said Marchese. “But this experience that is coming up is nothing like anything I've ever heard of before.”
Sigmund said that the biggest factor in helping them stand out among their competition are the bonds they formed prior to applying and their outgoing personalities.
"The other teams don't have Marco, and he's one of the most charismatic people I know," said Sigmund. "I think one thing that differentiates us as a team is we are all very close already," said Sigmund. "We're all best friends."
Sigmund said he is most excited for the anticipation of where they will land when starting their journey. According to Engard, there are five possible starting locations for the teams: Amsterdam, Barcelona, Budapest, Copenhagen and Milan. Teams will travel to the final destination of Berlin, hitting specific checkpoints where Red Bull staff will restock them with necessary supplies.
McDonald's team, named "Team Mad Lads," said they would enjoy seeing more ASU students take on the challenge in the future. Registration for this summer closed on March 31.
"Our campus is a very social campus, and this is a really social kind of adventure," said Engard. "Being in a state that's so big, there's also a lot of things for students to do that is outdoorsy, so being this adventure takes place a majority of the time outside, it is a good blend of what the student values in the area are."
Edited by Katrina Michalak, Sadie Buggle and Alexis Heichman.
Reach the reporter at gheadle@asu.edu and @George_Headley7 on X.
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