Henrik Kristoffersen finished in third place and earned a position on the podium in his debut World Cup race with the new Van Deer-Red Bull skis, which had their logo hidden This is why
Not just at the podium, but also throughout the entirety of the competition, the branding that was supposed to be on Kristoffersen’s Van Deer-Red Bull skis appeared to be neatly covered by something that looked like black tape. Henrik Kristoffersen had a reason to be happy after the opening race of the World Cup, as he finally made it onto the podium in Solden with his third-place finish on Sunday.
Why? The Van Deer-Red Bull logo has apparently not been given FIS approval just yet, as reported by Austrian media. The present set of FIS criteria cannot be followed because the ski company’s emblem has a red bull similar to the one used by Red Bull.
Comments from Toni Giger of Van Deer-Red Bull
There are worthwhile, fruitful debates. In an interview with the Austrian station ORF, Toni Giger, General Manager of Van Deer-Red Bull Sports, stated, “I am fairly sure that this will be clarified in the next several weeks.
“The brand is now known as Van Deer-Red Bull, hence the logo has been pasted over. I am not a politician, but there are discussions; it’s politics,” Kristoffersen stated to ORF.
The Van Deer-Red Bull Sports logo combines the Red Bull emblem from the Red Bull logo with the silhouette of a deer from the Van Deer design. When the two sports businesses further cemented their partnership in July, ski great Marcel Hirscher’s company Van Deer became the Van Deer-Red Bull Sports Equipment GmbH, the red bull was added to the Van Deer emblem.
Hirscher, an Austrian who has won 67 World Cup matches, eight consecutive overall FIS Alpine World Cup titles, and other championship medals, debuted his own ski company, Van Deer, in September 2021. During his ski-racing career, Hirscher was renowned for his meticulous attention to detail and flawless focus on his equipment. He employed a number of elite ski experts last spring in order to bring the high-quality focus into his ski company, as previously reported by Ski Racing.
FIS reacts
FIS cites Section 1.2 of the Specification for Alpine Competition Equipment and the following language on “Manufacturer’s Identification” in an email answer they sent to Ski Racing on October 24, 2022 regarding the present logo issue.
“Manufacturer’s Identification” refers to the trade name, brand, logo, or other indication of the Effective Manufacturer used to produce and commercially supply a certain piece of competition equipment. The Manufacturer’s Identification must be a brand name for sporting goods, which means that it is primarily used for competition equipment and is I not primarily used for non-sports equipment and/or cannot be confused with a similar or identical article used in another industry unrelated to competition equipment.
Additionally, Charlotte Chable, Alpine Men’s FIS Media Coordinator, writes to Ski Racing
“Breaches should be handled by the council, as stated in the regulations. Therefore, any potential breaches of this will not be handled by the jury, and it is only a marketing issue that is not influencing anything on the field of play.”
Two additional Red Bull-Van Deer athletes covered the logos
The three Alpine World Cup racers who signed ski contracts with Van Deer-Red Bull Sports before the 2022–2023 season are Charlie Raposo of Great Britain, Timon Haugan of Norway, and Kristoffersen of Norway. For the time being, all three must keep their ski logos taped up; this does not have an impact on the skis’ functionality; it only serves the purpose of marketing. (The masked logos have also brought the company name into the media’s focus.)
In contrast to Kristoffersen, who had his finest Sölden performance to date on the new ski brand, Raposo and Haugan did not fare as well this time. Raposo began the first run of the Sölden GS with bib number 52 but was disqualified from the second run. Timon Haugan was also present at Sölden, but he was not selected for the strong eight-person Norwegian starting team (six Norwegians finished in the top 20, including three in the top five, in the Sölden race this season).
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