Popular energy drink brand Red Bull is well-known for its wide range of sports sponsorship deals.
One tournament it is not sponsoring is the US Open, which is currently underway in Flush Meadows in New York.
But this didn’t stop the drink from getting some worldwide publicity.
During his match against Sumit Nagal, world no.2 seed Dominic Thiem demanded the tournament officials bring him a can of Red Bull.
Thiem is sponsored by Red Bull.
The tournament officials were initially hesitant, as Red Bull is not a sponsor of the US Open, but eventually gave in to the request.
But rather than giving Red Bull any publicity, an official held up a towel in front of the can of Red Bull as Thiem poured it into his cup.
You can watch the strange incident here.
Thiem FINALLY got his Red Bull in a cup.
However, the USTA-guy is doing everything in his power not to show the label. Lol. pic.twitter.com/PexGXxGJmM
— Alex Theodoridis (@AlexTheodorid1s) September 3, 2020
As you can see, the can was still visible (at least in this particular shot) and the towel arguably drew more attention to it.
Social media users have been quick to point out that by attempting to thwart Thiem’s request, Red Bull has only been given more free publicity.
“They’ve inadvertently given Red Bull more promotion than if they’d just given it to him and asked him to put an upside down cup over the opened can,” said one Twitter user.
“This advertises Red bull a lot more than if they’d just given him a can,” said another.
