Snapple is a brand of iced tea and fruit drinks owned by Dr Pepper Snapple Group and based in Rye Brook, New York. The drinks are sold in glass bottles, soda-style cans, and plastic bottles. Snapple was founded by Hyman Golden, Arnold Greenberg and Leonard Marsh in Valley Stream, New York on Long Island in 1972. The word "Snapple" was introduced in the early 1980s and is derived from a carbonated apple juice.[1] Currently, there are four different types of Snapple: Tea (Diet and Regular), Juice drinks, Lemonade as well as their own brand of bottled water.
Snapple's brand slogan is "Made from the best stuff on Earth."
Snapple was known for a popular series of TV advertisements in the early 1990s featuring Wendy Kaufman (the "Snapple lady") answering letters from Snapple fans.
In the mid-to-late 1990s, Snapple also produced a clear root beer.
Elements
In 1999, Snapple released a set of drinks under the "Elements" brand. These drinks have names based on nature, and are marketed as all natural energy drinks. The original bottles were made from clear glass, but they now come in aluminum bottles. They also have amounts of Vitamin B, Caffeine, Ginseng, and Taurine.
"The Elements line has been discontinued due to low consumer demand." This was stated in an e-mail from Snapple. September 29, 2008.[citation needed]
In October 2003, Snapple began its sponsorship of the New York City school system. Snapple vending machines were placed ubiquitously -- and exclusively -- throughout schools in the City. Snapple was able to acquire the contract in part because New York City officials did not want to encourage the consumption of sodas, which have been linked to childhood obesity and are generally considered unhealthy. The Snapple juices are marketed under the 100% Juiced label. The flavors available under this brand include Green Apple, Fruit Punch, Melon Berry, Grape, Orange Mango, and Strawberry Lime. The juice drinks are fortified with vitamins and minerals. However, they still contain more sugar (41 grams) than a 12-ounce container of Coca Cola (39 grams).[8]
The deal also gave Snapple exclusive rights to sell its drinks in vending machines on all New York City properties starting in January 2004. Snapple paid the City $106 million for the rights and agreed to spend $60 million more to marketing and promotion over the length of the five-year contract[citation needed].
Snapple is also known for putting alleged facts on the inside of the bottle caps. Each "Real Fact" (as they are called) is available on their website.[9]
It is easy to recognize the different types because each type of drink has a different colored cap:
Teas: Blue caps
Diets: White caps
Juice drinks: Green caps
Lemonades: Yellow caps
Special Contests: Red caps, Silver caps
White Teas: Silver caps
Red/Green Teas: Brushed metal colored caps
Incorrect facts
Several of the facts on Snapple caps have been found to be incorrect or out of date, including:
#5 "Camels have three eyelids". In fact they have six (three per eye).
#31 “The average human will eat an average of eight spiders while sleeping.” This statistic was made up in 1993 as an example of the absurd things people will believe simply because they come across them on the internet, as uncovered by Snopes[10].
#36 "A duck's quack doesn't echo" Tested by Snopes and Mythbusters. Both tests concluded that a duck's quack does echo but is hard to distinguish. [11]
#40 "It is possible to lead a cow up stairs but not down" This is not true. Cows can walk up and down stairs. [12]
#69 "Caller ID is illegal in California." There is no law against Caller ID in the state, though there were lengthy debates about legalizing it in the early 90's.[13]
#77 "No piece of paper can be folded in half more than 7 times." This myth was put to the test by the Discovery Channel show MythBusters, which folded a piece of paper 11 times. The piece of paper used in MythBusters was an oversized piece of paper and thinner than a standard 8.5"x11" inch piece of paper.[14]
#114 "The oldest known animal was a tortoise, which lived to be 152 years old" Currently the oldest living animal, a tortoise named Tu'i Malila, lived to be 188 years old.[15]
#122 "A duck can't walk without bobbing its head." According to several videos (see reference) that show ducks out on strolls, it is clear that a duck does not need to bob its head while it walks. [16].
#145 "Lake Superior is the world's largest lake." The Caspian Sea is considered the largest lake; Lake Superior is the largest freshwater lake by surface area. The largest freshwater lake by volume is Lake Baikal in Siberia.[17]
#146 "Falls Church, Virginia, is the smallest functional county at 2.0 square miles, although it is termed an "independent city." (Kalawao County, Hawaii is also smaller but is technically part of Oceania, and not either of the American continents[18])
#162 "The temperature of the sun can reach up to 15 million degrees Fahrenheit." In fact, the core of the sun reaches 15 million degrees Celsius, about 27 million degrees Fahrenheit.[19]
#163 "The first penny had the motto 'Mind your own business.'" is actually false. The first penny has the motto "Mind your business".
#180 "The first VCR was made in 1956 and was the size of a piano." The first VTR (Video Tape Recorder) was made in 1956. VCRs (video cassette recorders) came along in the 1970s.
#266 "Manhattan is the only borough in New York City that doesn't have a Main Street." This is actually false, Roosevelt Island is part of the borough of Manhattan and its only significant street is Main Street.
#334 "Thomas Edison coined the word "hello" and introduced it as a way to answer the phone." The word "hello" was used in print in Roughing It by Mark Twain in 1872, while the telephone was invented in 1876.[20]
#383 "Mount Katahdin in Maine is the first place in the U.S. to get sunlight each morning." According to the National Park Service, Cadillac Mountain is the first place in Maine to see the sunrise during the winter, while Mars Hill, Maine is the first in the summer. The difference between sunrises on Cadillac, Mars Hill, and in Lubec, Maine - the easternmost town in the United States - is generally less than one-half second.
Rumours and Myths
Like many popular brands, Snapple has had urban myths and false rumors occasionally plague its brand. In 1992, rumors began to spread that Snapple was a supporter of the [[ ]] and Operation Rescue. The reasoning for this was the portrayal of a ship from the Boston Tea Party, which was mistakenly believed to actually be a slave ship.
Snapple also fell victim to the old rumor that the small "K" was either a representation of the Klan, or of an imagined "Jewish Tax" (augmented by the fact that all three founders were Jewish). The "K" on the products actually meant that they were certified kosher.[21]
Snapple initially tried to quell these rumors quietly, but ultimately had to launch a media campaign to squash them, pointing out it would be bad for business to support controversial issues in such a way as the rumors implied. Through a media campaign with the NAACP, Snapple successfully fought back these rumors, although occasionally they are still brought up as fact.[22]
The NBC comedy show 30 Rock features intentionally flagrant promotion of Snapple in the episode Jack-tor as a parody of "product integration". Careful viewing of the credits shows that Snapple does, in fact, give promotional consideration to the show.
Rapper The Game references Belvedere Vodka and the Snapple flavor Go Bananas as his drink of choice in the title track of his second album, Doctor's Advocate, calling the drink a black gorilla.
Comedian Mike Birbiglia references Snapple in one of his acts, saying that if the drug dealers outside of his house sold Snapple, they would get a lot of business from him.
In an episode of HBO's The Sopranos, the character Bobby Baccala tells his overweight son to "lay off the Snapple." The Soprano family are also often seen drinking Snapple.
The Snapple name is used by uT.| Snapple, Owner and Co-Leader of the Utopia Clan. http://www.utopia-clan.com
In an episode of NBC's Seinfeld, entitled The Visa, Elaine offers Babu's brother a Snapple to which he replies, "No. Too fruity." During the fourth season, in which this episode appears, various other characters are offered Snapple, the repetition of the word becoming a small running joke.
In the tv series Roswell (Roswell High), one of the four alien main characters, Michael Guerin, is fired from his job as a security guard for stealing bottles of Peach Snapple.
Rapper Ras Kass references the brand on "Anything Goes," off of his debut album, Soul on Ice.
Snapple is one of the constant pop-culture references in the first part of the novel Glamorama by Bret Easton Ellis.
In her video "I'm ing Matt Damon", comedienne Sarah Silverman sings the line "I'm ing Matt Damon / While you're drinking Diet Snapple" and inserts a bottle of the drink into her vagina.
The band Chiodos has a song titled "There's No Penguins in Alaska" which was originally a Snapple fact.
The DMX song "I Wish" features the line "I wish the KKK didn't own Snapple".
In the first series of the UK black comedy The League of Gentlemen, Pop's son had to explain how several boys asked for a Snapple as a ruse for them to steal chocolate bars when his back was turned. Pop then beat him with a belt.
In the film Clueless, Alicia Silverstone's character claims that her lemon Snapple was replaced with her father's "icky Italian Roast".
The Web-comic xkcd used this name in a comic, as an apple infused with tin. Sn is the symbol for tin.
Snapple Theater Center
In 2006, Snapple opened the Snapple Theater Center on 50th street and Broadway in the heart of New York City's theater district. It has two theaters, one of which is a traditional theater, the other a thrust stage which can house plays. The center also includes a 40x50ft rehearsal space which is available for rent. The theaters are considered Off-Broadway because of their low seating capacities.
References
^O'Connor, Anahad. "Hyman Golden, Co-Founder of Snapple, Dies at 85", The New York Times, September 20, 2008. Accessed September 20, 2008. "In 1980, the company introduced a line of all-natural juices with the Snapple name, which came from one of its first products, a carbonated apple juice that had a “snappy apple taste.”"
