The Montreal Impact had been in MLS about a year when Ultras Montreal, a supporters’ group, unveiled one of the most withering tifos in the league’s brief history. It was a relatively simple production, designed to greet the New York Red Bulls on their second visit to Montreal’s grand and decrepit Olympic Stadium on March 23, 2013. Three two-poles carried the crests of three clubs: SV Austria Salzburg, SSV Markranstadt, and the New York/New Jersey MetroStars.



All three were clubs whose identities had been supplanted by teams bearing the Red Bull mark: Red Bull Austria, RB Leipzig, and the New York Red Bulls. Below them ran a simple message: “Let’s not forget, Red Bull kills.”



[Photo: Ultras Montréal]



The unifying theme, of course, was that each of those clubs had been consumed and rebranded by the Red Bull energy drink empire. In each case, the strategy was as brazen as it was successful.



Red Bull Salzburg...