Red Bull gives you migraines

For what it's worth, I don't think I've ever liked a Red Bull ad, not least because roughly 95% of them suggest that Red Bull will either make you into a genius or a sexual superhero. But this one might take the cake for sheer idiocy.

Parrot #2: "It's not like the good old days."
Parrot #4: "It's not like the good old days!"
Parrot #1: "It's not like the good old days."
Parrots: [in unison] "It's not like the good old days!"
Parrot #6: "Stop parroting everything!"

It's funny, you see, because they're parrots.

Parrot #6: "Instead, drink a Red Bull, and think for yourselves!"

Red Bull - a global brand that sold more than 11.5 billion cans last year alone - has the single biggest share of the energy drink market and is apparently the third-most valuable soft drink brand behind only Coke and Pepsi. There is nothing more grating than massive multinational corporations running ads claiming that true individuals use their products, just like hundreds of millions of other people.

[The parrots drink out of cans of Red Bull]
Parrot #4: "Since when do you dictate what we do?"
Parrot #2: "Exactly! You're not the boss of us!"
Parrot #1: "Power to the people!"
[Parrots #1-5 fly away]

Wow, that Red Bull sure inspired those parrots to stop saying the most generic conformist things and to start saying... the most generic nonconformist things. Thank goodness you were here, skinny cans of battery acid!

Parrot #6: "Ah, well... individuality often complicates things."

...what exactly is the message of this ad? Is Red Bull supposed to be a positive thing in this scenario? I've talked before about ads in which the people using the product are seen within the world of the ad to be unpleasant, and I've also talked before about ads which show the use of the product to be unpleasant, but somehow this one manages to do both. The parrots are annoying before they drink Red Bull, and they're annoying after they drink Red Bull. They also don't particularly seem to enjoy it or have any interest in thanking Parrot #6 for bringing it to them or helping to "vitalize their body and mind" (fuck off, by the way). I guess being forced to drink Red Bull is the only way you can truly have your eyes opened to the fact that you have no interest in drinking Red Bull. (The alternate explanation is simply that the Red Bull did not work, which in some ways would be a welcome turn from the brand's usual gross overstatement but is also a pretty weird choice for an ad for Red Bull.)

But then, ads have always been like this, right? Who can forget that famous Coke ad:

Kid: "Mr. Greene? You need any help?"
Mean Joe Greene: "Uh-uh."
Kid: "Want my Coke?"
Mean Joe Greene: "No, no."
Kid: "Really, you can have it."
[Mean Joe drinks Coke]
Kid: "Well, see you around."
Mean Joe Greene: "Hey kid..."
[Kid turns around]
Mean Joe Green: "That fucking sucked. I'm gonna be dehydrated! Who the fuck do you think you are anyway? This is the players' tunnel, you little shithead. How did you even get back here? Go back to your shitty parents before I have security drag you out of here."
[Kid bursts into tears]
[Mean Joe gives the camera a grin and a thumbs-up; freeze frame]
Peppy singers: "Have a Coke and a smiiiiiile!"