RC Cola

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RC Cola
Rccolauslogo.jpg
Type Cola
Manufacturer Cott Beverages/
Dr Pepper Snapple Group
Country of origin United States
Introduced 1905
Related products Coca-Cola, Pepsi
RC Cola logo used by Cott Beverages in its international territories

RC Cola (or Royal Crown Cola) is a cola-flavored soft drink developed in 1905 by Claud A. Hatcher, a pharmacist in Columbus, Georgia, United States.[1]

Contents

History [edit]

The first product in the Royal Crown line was Royal Crown Ginger Ale in 1905,[2] followed by Royal Crown Strawberry, and Royal Crown Root Beer. The company was renamed Chero-Cola in 1910, and in 1925, called Nehi Corporation after its colored and flavored drinks. In 1934, Chero-Cola was reformulated by Rufus Kamm, a chemist, and re-released as Royal Crown Cola.

In the 1950s, the combination of Royal Crown Cola and Moonpies became popular as the "working man's lunch" in the American South.[3] In 1954, Royal Crown was the first to sell a soft drink in a can, and later the first company to sell a soft drink in an aluminum can.[4]

In 1958, the company introduced the first diet cola, Diet Rite, and in 1980, a caffeine-free cola, RC 100. In the mid-1990s, RC released Royal Crown Draft Cola, billed as a "premium" cola and using pure cane sugar as a sweetener, rather than the high fructose corn syrup more commonly used in the United States. Offered only in 12-ounce bottles, the cola's sales were disappointing due largely to the inability of the RC bottling network to get distribution for the product in single-drink channels and it was quickly discontinued with the exceptions of Australia, New Zealand and France. It is now only available in New Zealand, parts of Australia and Thailand and also Tajikistan in Central Asia.[5] The company has also released Cherry RC — a cherry flavored version of the RC soft drink — to compete with Coca-Cola Cherry and Pepsi Wild Cherry.

In October 2000, Royal Crown was acquired by Cadbury Schweppes plc through its acquisition of Snapple. Royal Crown operations were folded into Dr Pepper/Seven Up, Inc., a former subsidiary of Cadbury Schweppes. In 2001, all international RC-branded businesses were sold to Cott Beverages of Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, and are operated as Royal Crown Cola International, which handles RC Cola products outside the United States. In the US, distribution is still handled by Dr Pepper Snapple Group.[6]

RC Cola was introduced to the United Kingdom in May 2011, and is currently sold at Asda supermarkets and other retailers.[7] It is bottled in the country by Cott Beverages.

Brand portfolio [edit]

Name Launched Notes Picture
RC Cola 1905 The original RC Cola.
Diet Rite Cola 1958 The first diet cola
RC Cola Lemon 1974 The lemon RC Cola.
RC 100 1980 The first caffeine free cola.
Cherry RC 1985[8] The cherry RC Cola.
RC Draft Cola 1995 A "premium" cola made with cane sugar Rc cola draft.jpg
RC Cola Edge 1999 A Cola with extra caffeine. Rc edge.jpg
RC Cola Zero 2009 A no calorie no sugar RC Cola.
RC Kick 2010 RC Cola with guarana.
RC Dra-Cola[9] 2012 A sugar-free, red coloured Cola introduced to the British market as a special edition for Halloween 2012. Features a glow-in-the-dark label.

Advertising campaigns [edit]

 This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (April 2008)

The RC Cola brand has been marketed through many campaigns. In the 1930s, Alex Osborn, with BBDO, made them an ad campaign, in which was included the following slogan: "The season's best."

The 1940s featured a magazine advertising campaign with actress Lizabeth Scott as the face, next to the slogan "RC tastes best, says Lizabeth Scott".

In 1966, Royal Crown Cola collaborated with Jim Henson where they did an ad campaign for Royal Crown Cola which featured two birds called Sour Bird (performed by Jim Henson) and Nutty Bird (performed by Jim Henson and assisted by Frank Oz) who were used to promote the drinks. Nutty Bird would promote Royal Crown Cola by touting the benefits.[10] The puppet for Nutty Bird was designed by Jim Henson and built by Don Sahlin. Sour Bird went on to appear in The Ed Sullivan Show with the Rock and Roll Monster.

Nancy Sinatra was featured in two Royal Crown Cola commercials in her one hour special called "Movin' With Nancy" featuring various singers, David Winters and his Emmy Award winning choreography[11] in December 1967. She sang, "It's a mad, mad, mad Cola... RC the one with the mad, mad taste!...RC!"[12] The company was the official sponsor of New York Mets off and on at times during the 1960s, 70s and 80s. A television commercial in the New York area featured Tom Seaver, New York Mets pitcher, and his wife, Nancy, dancing on top of a dugout at Shea Stadium and singing the same tune from the Sinatra campaign. In the mid 1970s, Royal Crown ran the "Me & My RC" advertisements.[13] Others featured people in a variety of scenic outdoor locations. The jingle, sung by Louise Mandrell, which went, "Me and my RC / Me and my RC /'Cause what's good enough / For other folks / Ain't good enough for me." RC was introduced to Israel in 1995 with the slogan "RC: Just like in America!"

See also [edit]

References [edit]

  1. ^ RC Cola Retrieved September 15, 2012
  2. ^ Royal Crown Company History
  3. ^ Jan Duke. "The Souths Fascination with RC Colas and Moonpies". About. Retrieved 2008-01-12. 
  4. ^ "New Georgia Encyclopedia: Royal Crown Cola Company". Georgiaencyclopedia.org. 2006-09-15. Retrieved 2012-10-21. 
  5. ^ "RC Cola Thailand". 
  6. ^ http://www.rccolainternational.com/contact.aspx
  7. ^ "Food & Drink Innovation Network » ROYAL CROWN COLA LAUNCHES IN THE UK". Fdin.org.uk. 2011-05-26. Retrieved 2012-10-21. 
  8. ^ "Coke, Dr Pepper Enter the Pit as Cherry Coke Rolls Out". Adweek. August 5, 1985. "Royal Crown Cola recently entered the fray, introducing Cherry RC in the Southwest with plans to roll it out nationally, backed with co-op advertising dollars" 
  9. ^ "RC Cola UK". Rccola.co.uk. 2012-09-07. Retrieved 2012-10-21. 
  10. ^ Jim Henson RC Commercial Retrieved September 15, 2012.
  11. ^ http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0935916/awards
  12. ^ Nancy Sinatra RC Cola Ad Retrieved September 15, 2012.
  13. ^ Me and My RC Commercial Retrieved September 15, 2012.

External links [edit]
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