An internal battle over whether to publicly support the Black Lives Matter movement at Red Bull has led to the exit of two of the energy drink maker’s top North American executives, according to media reports this week.
In an email to BevNET, Red Bull confirmed that Red Bull North America (RBNA) CEO Stefan Kozak and president and CMO Amy Taylor were “no longer with the company.” Alexandre Ruberti, EVP sales for RBNA and also the president of Red Bull Distribution Company, and Marc Rosenmayr, EVP of operations, finance and IT for RBNA, will co-lead the company in the interim.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Kozak and Taylor’s departure came after Taylor began advocating for Red Bull to take a stronger public stance on issues of racial inequality, but faced internal pushback from the brand’s Austria-based headquarters. Taylor had reportedly been working on internal diversity and inclusion efforts for several years with Kozak’s support.
Reports in Adweek and Business Insider state that the pair were fired following the leak of an internal memo, dated June 1, in which over 300 employees criticized the company’s “public silence” in response to the killing of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer on May 25.
An additional leak last month showed images of a slide from an internal presentation featuring an offensive meme that ridiculed other nationalities and races. The slide, detailing international trade sales, featured a years-old cartoon map called “The World According to Americans” which labelled the Middle East as “evil-doers” and India as “call centers” among other stereotypes. The presentation prompted multiple reports to Red Bull’s human resources department, but no action was taken, according to Business Insider.
The presentation, delivered by the company’s Austrian HQ to American employees, was led by Florian Klaass, Red Bull’s global head of music, entertainment and culture marketing. Red Bull confirmed to BevNET today that it had fired Klaass.
“We reject racism in every form, we always have, and we always will,” the Red Bull board of directors said in a statement. “Red Bull has always put people and their dreams and accomplishments at its core and values the contribution of each and every person — no matter who they are. We want everyone who feels this way to be welcome in Red Bull.”
Additionally, the company said it will work to “strengthen the focus of its culture marketing programs” and will discontinue the bulk of its culture-based marketing efforts. Programs that will remain include Red Bull BC One, Red Bull Dance Your Style and Red Bull Batalla de los Gallos.
Taylor’s exit ends a 20-year career with Red Bull, where she started as a division marketing manager in 2000 before moving into a leadership position as the VP of marketing in 2007, according to LinkedIn. In June 2018 she was named president and CMO. Her tenure at the company saw Red Bull rise from an international insurgent in the U.S. market to one of the leading brands and pioneers of the energy drink category. Taylor has also been a frequent advocate for social justice — according to an interview on OutLeadership.com, she founded the Inclusion and Diversity initiative at Red Bull; outside of Red Bull she is an executive committee member of The Trevor Project, a non-profit dedicated to suicide prevention among LGBTQ youth. In 2013, she testified before the U.S. Senate during a hearing on the marketing of energy drinks to children.
According to LinkedIn, Kozak’s exit ends a 10-year tenure as CEO of RBNA, which began in July 2010.