Red Bull employees leaked an offensive slide from a company meeting. It showed a repurposed map meme that described India as 'call centers,' China as 'they make our stuff,' and Africa as 'zoo animals come from here'
Red Bull global CEO Dietrich Mateschitz attends Formula One racing tests in Barcelona, Spain in 2017.This story is available exclusively on Business Insider Prime.Red Bull employees leaked an image of a slide from a February marketing meeting that some employees called offensive and racist and illustrates tensions at the company on matters of race and inclusion.
The leak comes as Red Bull faces criticism from employees for its "public silence" on the Black Lives Matter movement.Red Bull employees leaked a slide from a company presentation that some employees called "racist" and reflective of race- and inclusion-related tensions there. In the Red Bull version of the slide, India is described as "call centers," the Middle East as "evil-doers" with an arrow indicating "bombs go here," and Africa as "zoo animals come from here." "Red Bull rejects racism in any form and we do not condone language or behavior that indicates otherwise," a company spokeswoman emailed when asked for comment.
The February event was to review the company's past-year performance. It was headed by a team from the company's Austrian headquarters and led by Florian Klaass, global head of music, entertainment, and culture marketing. US VP of culture marketing Erin Woody was also involved in organizing the event, current and former employees said.
Two employees said a colleague complained about the slide to HR but that no action was taken and the slide was not mentioned again by leadership. These employees said HR often dismissed people who make such complaints as "overly emotional" and pointed to executives' European backgrounds when they were accused of being insensitive about cultural issues.
Some said Mateschitz and other senior leaders have characterized Black Lives Matter as a "local" or "US-only" issue when arguing that the brand should not weigh in.
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