Red Bull renews its summer event “Red Bull Can You Make It?” for the first time since COVID-19, and ASU students are getting ready to take part in the adventure. The May event lasts seven days, during which participants fly to Europe and travel through multiple countries.
While it sounds like a fun summer trip, there’s a catch: teams must exclusively use Red Bull as their currency.
“You’re going to use Red Bull to exchange rides from one place to another, or you’re going to exchange it for some food,” said Drew Engard, a team leader of Red Bull marketing students and a junior studying interdisciplinary studies. “Whatever you need to get to your next location, you’re going to use Red Bull and trade to continue this adventure to get to Berlin.”
One team of current and former ASU students who were accepted into the challenge are already strategizing to make the most of their trip.
“You have to rely heavily on strangers in countries you’ve never met before, and you may not even speak the language,” said Dash McDonald, an ASU graduate and founder of film business Mad Lads Media. “It’s really great because it helps 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 MacDonald heard that Red Bull was revisiting the idea of allowing non-college participants to join as well, he took advantage of the opportunity with his roommate.
The team registers via a 60-second social media video highlighting their individual personalities.
“We text each other 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 much fun to shoot.”
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 was capable of. The video allowed the team to express themselves in the best possible way by adding elements to their videos such as ATVs, golf carts and surfing.
“These videos have to be creative and show a lot of personality,” Sigmund said. “It’s a really good way to introduce yourself, to tell a little bit about yourself to your friends, to the rest of the world that’s going to vote for it.”
The video, which introduces the team and makes a case for why they should be accepted, was shot and edited by McDonald and Reece O’Connor, another ASU alumnus and owner of Modern World Media.
McDonald said he met his teammates before at ASU, forming a friendship together that led to their application for the challenge.
“ASU is what brought us all together in the first place,” McDonald said. “That’s what made this team. That’s where we all met.”
McDonald’s other teammate, Marco Marchese, a sophomore studying marketing, said ASU taught him to find independence and provided him with resources that allowed him to “look for opportunities and take the ones that are in front of me,” like “Red Bull’. Can you do it?” competition.
Sigmund said his experience with ASU’s study abroad programs and experience traveling to countries such as Croatia, Spain and Costa Rica have 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 about perspective and using the resources around you,” Sigmund said. “I was able to take full advantage of studying abroad and basically those things that I learned going abroad and going around the world will definitely transfer to this Red Bull race.”
McDonald said he spent some time last summer in Amsterdam, Marchese studied abroad in Italy and Sigmund was in Spain. Marchese said these are all experiences they can expand on during their time in Europe for the competition.
“We all have experiences abroad now, and I would say that for all of us, they are some of the most transformative experiences of our lives,” Marchese said. “But this experience that lies ahead is unlike anything I’ve ever heard of.”
Sigmund said the biggest factors that help them stand out from the competition are the connections they made before applying and their outgoing personalities.
“Other teams don’t have Marco, and he’s one of the most charismatic people I know,” Sigmund said. “I think one thing that sets us apart as a team is that we’re all very close now,” Sigmund said. “We’re all best friends.”
Sigmund said he is most excited about anticipating where they will land when they begin their journey. According to Engard, there are five possible starting places for the teams: Amsterdam, Barcelona, Budapest, Copenhagen and Milan. The teams will travel to the final destination of Berlin, entering designated checkpoints where Red Bull personnel will refill them with the necessary supplies.
The McDonald’s team, dubbed “Team Mad Lads,” said they would love to see more ASU students take on the challenge in the future. Enrollment for this summer closed on March 31.
“Our campus is a very social campus, and it’s a really social kind of adventure,” Engard said. “Being in a state that’s so big, there’s also a lot of things that students can do that are outdoors, so since this adventure takes place most of the time outside, it’s a good combination of what students value in the area.”
Edited by Katrina Michalak, Sadie Bugle and Alexis Heichmann.
Contact the reporter at [email protected] and @George_Headley7 of X.
Like The State Press on Facebook and follow @statepress of X
Continue to support student journalism and donate to the State Press today.
