McDonald’s is taking its drinks menu to new heights. Ahead of the nationwide launch of its new Red Bull Dragonberry Energizer, McDonald’s and Red Bull invited us out for a private experience in Chicago centered around the new drink and one seriously historic aircraft.
The experience kicked off with a taste of the Red Bull Dragonberry Energizer, a new addition to McDonald’s menu that combines Red Bull’s signature flavor with blue raspberry syrup and freeze-dried dragonfruit pieces. The result is a vibrant, sweet twist on the classic energy drink, with the dragonfruit adding extra texture to the beverage. For those looking for less sugar, it can also be ordered with Red Bull Zero as the base.
Then came the main event: a 45-minute flight around Chicago aboard The Flying Bulls’ 1958 Douglas DC-6B.
The aircraft itself is a piece of aviation history. Originally built in Santa Monica, the four-engine piston-powered airliner was commissioned as a luxury aircraft for Josip Broz Tito, the former president of Yugoslavia, and was later used by Zambia’s president Kenneth Kaunda. After eventually being abandoned in Africa, the plane was acquired by The Flying Bulls in 2000 and underwent an extensive restoration involving thousands of hours of work.
The result is one of the rarest vintage aircraft you can experience today. The Flying Bulls’ DC-6 is the only airworthy DC-6 still certified to carry passengers, making the chance to fly around Chicago aboard one a pretty surreal experience on its own. The iconic aircraft’s return to American skies this year marked the first time it had been in the United States since leaving the Douglas factory in 1958.
Inside the cabin, a DJ kept the energy high throughout the flight as the DC-6 cruised over Chicago, making the event feel more like a party and less like a taste test. Mid-flight, the pilots also invited us into the cockpit to get a closer look at the aircraft’s controls and instrumentation. Seeing the original cockpit while the plane was actually in the air made for one of the more memorable parts of the experience.
With “Red Bull Gives You Wiiings” being the energy drink’s iconic slogan, the event offered a fitting introduction to McDonald’s latest expansion of its drinks lineup—quite literally taking the menu to new heights.
And Dragonberry isn’t the only new option arriving. McDonald’s is also introducing Vanilla Swirl, which combines vanilla flavor with Coca-Cola, Diet Coke, or Coke Zero Sugar and is finished with creamy cold foam. The menu expansion also includes reduced-sugar Crafted Sodas featuring Diet Dr Pepper, Dr Pepper Zero Sugar, and Sprite Zero Sugar at participating locations.
The Red Bull Dragonberry Energizer officially launches at participating McDonald’s restaurants nationwide on August 17th. McDonald’s will also offer 8.4-ounce cans of Red Bull at participating locations for anyone who wants the energy drink straight up.
Between the new drink, a DJ set at cruising altitude, and getting an exclusive look inside one of the world’s rarest flying airliners, McDonald’s and Red Bull found a pretty unconventional way to introduce their latest collaboration. Check out our recap video below.