Red Bull Gives You Swings: Kris Bryant Lands Rare Endorsement Deal

By now I’m sure you’ve seen more than your fair share of the animated commercials for Red Bull energy drinks. You know, the ones in which some poor schlub is able to extricate himself from a sticky situation by drinking the ubiquitous beverage and growing a pair of wings?

Well, Kris Bryant is neither a poor schlub nor in need of wings (he’s already quite capable of flight without them). He is, however, now under a national marketing agreement with Red Bull, becoming only the second MLB’er (Evan Longoria) to have such a pact.

I could get into the various nuances here, like the fact that both players were held in AAA stasis in order to slow their arbitration clocks or the fact that they’re both easy on the eyes or the fact that they were/are both managed by Joe Maddon. But that kind of stuff is really better left to guys like…

Red Bull has signed Kris Bryant to an endorsement deal, only 2nd MLB player w/brand (other is Evan Longoria) pic.twitter.com/uKuKdA3ey2

— Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) April 18, 2015

At the risk of being lumped in with ESPN’s sports marketing honcho, I’ll simply say that I think it’s pretty cool that Bryant has the kind of image and cachet to be included among a cadre of promoters largely centered on racing and other more extreme sports.

What’s even cooler is the slick promo video Red Bull put out featuring a host of Chicagoans discussing the new kid and his future with the Cubs. From Billy Corgan to Joakim Noah, to the great Coach Ditka himself, the mini doc is a perfect balance of veracity and whimsy.

Now, Kris, if you wouldn’t mind doing something about that goat.