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| Type | soft drink |
|---|---|
| Manufacturer | Wet Planet Beverages |
| Country of origin | USA |
| Introduced | 1985 |
| Website | JoltEnergy.com |
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This article is missing citations or needs footnotes. Please help add inline citations to guard against copyright violations and factual inaccuracies. (September 2009) |
Jolt Cola is a carbonated soft drink produced by Wet Planet Beverages. It was created in 1985 by C. J. Rapp as a highly caffeinated cola.[citation needed] It is targeted towards students and young professionals, stressing its use as a stimulant in a similar manner as energy drinks. In late September 2009, Jolt Co Inc (Wet Planet Beverages) filed[1] for Chapter 11 bankruptcy after failing to meet the demands from Rexam to fulfill an agreement over buying bottles.
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Jolt Cola in North America
Jolt Cola was originally made by The Jolt Cola Company of Rochester, New York, which has since changed its name to Wet Planet Beverages. From the outset, Jolt's marketing strategy centered on the caffeine content, billing the drink as a means to promote wakefulness. The initial slogan was "All the sugar and twice the caffeine." This slogan was changed to "All the Flavor and Twice the Caffeine" when cane sugar in the drink was replaced with the less expensive sweetener high fructose corn syrup.[citation needed]
Jolt Cola later diversified into additional flavors named Cherry Bomb, Citrus Climax, Orange Blast, White Lightning (grape), Red Eye, and Electric Blue.
In 2003, the name was licensed to a Hackensack, N.J. company named Gumrunners, Inc., which manufactures a line of caffeinated gum and mints bearing the Jolt label and the slogan "Chew More, Do More."[citation needed] The gum comes in two flavors: spearmint and icy mint.
In 2005, Jolt Cola revamped its product line. Jolt Cola has a new logo, and is now packaged in "Battery" bottles, which are known for when being opened, make a loud popping sound, (23.5 oz / 695 ml resealable aluminum bottles; the body of the bottle is similar to that of a standard aluminum can, but the top has a twist-off aluminum cap with a plastic gasket liner), and in smaller "Quick Fix" cans (8.4 oz / 250 ml single-use pull-tab aluminum cans, similar to those used for Red Bull) and "Battery" cans (16 oz / 473 ml resealable aluminum cans with the same twist-off top as the Battery bottles). The Jolt Cola website claims that the "Quick Fix" sizes are available at establishments that serve "adult beverages," for use as a mixer. The flavors of Jolt offered have also changed. Available flavors are Cola, Blue Raspberry, Cherry Bomb (cherry cola), Silver (lemon-lime), Wild Grape, Orange Blast, Passionfruit (featuring a yellow can) and Ultra (a diet drink with Splenda as its artificial sweetener alongside guarana, ginseng, taurine, and vitamin B complex). Jolt Cola is also packaged in glass bottles under license by the 7 Up bottling company of California. These are sold on the West Coast, where laws are stricter to encourage use of refillable bottles.
On September 28, 2009, The Jolt Company, Inc. filed Chapter 11 proceedings in the United States Bankruptcy Court in Rochester, New York and simultaneously filed a motion to permit sale of the company's assets through a court-approved sale.
Jolt Cola was featured in Steven Spielberg's film Jurassic Park in a scene which shows computer programmer Dennis Nedry's work station covered with Jolt Cola cans & bottles. It was also shown in several scenes in the film Hackers; in one scene, the characters Razor and Blade refer to it as, "Jolt Cola: The soft drink of the elite hacker." There is product placement of Jolt Cola in the movies Deep Impact, Gremlins 2: The New Batch, Men At Work, Basket Case 2, 11:14, and Looney Tunes: Back in Action. It is also mentioned in Wayne's World 2 , when Garth attributes a hallucination to his excessive intake of the drink. Although the name was changed to "Volt Cola," Beavis and Butt-head clearly parodied the drink in the episode "Vaya con Cornholio". Vending machines in the video game Monster Madness dispense Jolt Cola to restore your character's health. In addition, David Foster Wallace references the Jolt Cola ad campaign in the short story "Mister Squishy," originally published in McSweeney's and collected in Oblivion: Stories.
Jolt Cola worldwide
Jolt Cola is also manufactured under license in Chantilly, Pittsburgh, Australia, Sweden and formerly (and briefly) in the United Kingdom, where it was a budget cola.[citation needed] The German and Swedish supplier uses the old logos, branding and formulation, and only sells the original flavor. Jolt Cola is also available in the Netherlands and Finland. However, Jolt Cola Netherlands is a subsidiary of Jolt Cola Germany. Jolt Cola is sold in 500 ml bottles in most Eurospar's and Dunne's Stores.
In Sweden, a lot of Jolt is consumed during the Dreamhack event.
In Australia, ("bottled under the authority of the Jolt Company Inc. by Jolt Corporation Australia Pty Ltd, 1 Barrpowell Rd Welland" South Australia) Jolt is sold in the traditional cola flavor, as well as black cherry, root beer, cream soda, and orange flavors. It generally comes in 615 mL bottles, with 196 mg of caffeine. In 2006 bottle capacities were reduced to 600 mL (in some cases, without vendors being aware of the change). With a caffeine concentration of 32 mg per 100 mL, these bottles contain a claimed 192 mg.
Jolt Cola was also available in Japan[2] in the late 1980s and early 90's, through the local distributorship of UCC Ueshima Coffee Co.
In the Mid 1990s, it also made headway into Pakistan, but could not survive the competition.[citation needed]
See also
References
- ^ "Jolt Cola maker files for bankruptcy protection". http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20090929/jolt-cola-maker-files-bankruptcy-protection.htm. Retrieved 2009-10-13.
- ^ "Coffee Met Cola in Japan". http://www.colawp.com/topics/2001/0600_coffe_cola-en.html. Retrieved 2008-05-19.
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Jolt Cola |
- Jolt Cola website
- Wet Planet Beverages website
- Jolt Cola Australia
- Jolt Cola Netherlands
- Jolt Cola Germany
- The Jolt Awards copied the old Jolt Cola logo and have served Jolt Cola at the event.
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