Buying In - (Page v) introduction Imagine that you’re thirsty. That shouldn’t be too hard to do—it’s a basic human condition that pretty much everyone, across every culture, has experienced. It is a signal from the body calling for hydration, a fundamental human need. But never mind what you need when you are thirsty. Any casual visit to a grocery store or even a gas station food mart offers a riot of choices; we all know about the awesome variety that contemporary consumer culture offers. What do you want? What are you thirsty for, exactly? One day in December 2001, I traveled to Miami Beach, where the skies were clear and the weather was warm. I was there to work—to cover what was essentially a marketing stunt on behalf of Red Bull, the energy drink. At the time, the corporate owners of Red Bull were still in the early stages of introducing their product, and the idea of energy drinks in general, to the American marketplace. In other words, Red Bull offered a new answer to the question of what we might be thirsty for.
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