Are 500 million red bulls killed each year to make "Red Bull", the popular energy drink? Of course not: that would mean about a third of all the world's cattle (1,5 billion according to some estimates) was used just to create a fizzy drink. The entire thing was just made up by a satirical website.
The story originated from an article published on March 27, 2018 by the Waterford Whispers News titled "500 Million Red Bulls Slaughtered Annually To Make Popular Energy Drink" (archived here) which opened:
ANIMAL rights activists have called on the world's largest energy drink manufacturers to stop the annual slaughter of 500 million red bulls, urging them to substitute the animals liquidised genitalia for another ingredient instead.
"It takes 12 pairs of fully grown red bull testicles to make 100 cans of the energy drink," a spokesperson for PETA explained, "this is such a waste of life considering the rest of the animal is thrown away, and the impact from breeding so many animals for this purpose is having a huge effect on carbon emissions and a knock-on effect on the environment.
"Plus, it's just wrong to be drinking sugary blended bovine bollocks like that - it can't be good for consumer health and well being".
Users on social media who only saw the title, description and thumbnail might have confused the article for real news:
500 Million Red Bulls Slaughtered Annually To Make Popular Energy Drink
ANIMAL rights activists have called on the world's largest energy drink manufacturers to stop the annual slaughter of 500 million red bulls, urging them to substitute the animals liquidised genitalia for another ingredient instead. "It takes 12 pairs ...
The part about using bovine genitalia as an ingredient is also not true. That rumor is so widespread that Red Bull explicitly denies it on their website:
Does Red Bull contain semen or sperm from bull's testicles? :: Energy Drink :: Red Bull USA
No. The taurine in Red Bull is produced synthetically to the highest quality standards and it is not derived from animals.
We wrote about waterfordwhispersnews.com and some of their satirical articles before, check out some of their previous "hits":
- Fake News: Man Left With No Internet Did NOT Discover Son He Never Knew He Had
- Fake News: RTÃ Did NOT Launch "Ireland's Next Top Garda"
- Fake News: Trump Did NOT Order Navy Fleet To Spell Out 'Donald's The Best' With Warships
- Fake News: Oval Office NOT Fumigated After Complaints Of Overwhelming Smell Of Bullshit
- Woman DID NOT Spend $90,000 to Look Like Snapchat Filter
The site Whaterford Whispers News has a disclaimer page which reads:
Disclaimer
Waterford Whispers News is a fabricated satirical newspaper and comedy website published by Waterford Whispers News.Waterford Whispers News uses invented names in all its stories, except in cases when public figures are being satirized. Any other use of real names is accidental and coincidental.
For that reason alone you should probably never believe anything they publish.
