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| Type | Cola |
|---|---|
| Manufacturer | Cott Beverages/ Dr Pepper Snapple Group |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Introduced | 1905 |
| Related products | Coca-Cola, Pepsi |
RC Cola (or Royal Crown Cola) is a soft drink developed in 1905 by Claude A. Hatcher, a pharmacist in Columbus, Georgia.
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History
The first product in the Royal Crown line was "Chero-Cola" in 1904, followed by Royal Crown Ginger Ale, Royal Crown Strawberry and Royal Crown Root Beer. The company was renamed Chero-Cola, 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.[1]
In 1958, the company introduced the first diet cola, Diet Rite, and in 1980, a caffeine-free cola, "RC 100.". (RC 100 was not, as some believe, the first caffeine-free cola; that distinction belongs to Canada Dry's unsuccessful Sport Cola of 1968.) 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. The company has also released Cherry RC—a cherry flavored version of the RC soft drink—to compete with Coca-Cola Cherry and Wild Cherry Pepsi.
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 business were sold to Cott Beverages of Mississauga, Ontario and is operated as Royal Crown Cola International. Operations in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Puerto Rico and other U.S. territories are now handled by Dr Pepper Snapple Group.
Brand portfolio
- Royal Crown Cola (RC Cola)
- Diet RC
- Diet Rite
- Royal Crown Draft Cola (Limited in U.S.)
- Cherry R.C. (available in limited markets)
- RC Edge (available in limited markets)
- RC 100 (discontinued)
- Caffeine Free RC (available in limited markets)
- RC Free (available in Israel)
Advertising campaigns
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- 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 the 1960s, Royal Crown Cola did an ad campaign featuring two birds, made by Jim Henson
- Nancy Sinatra was featured in two Royal Crown Cola commercials in her one hour special called "Movin' with Nancy" featuring various singers in November 1967. She sang "it's a mad, mad, mad Cola... RC the one with the mad, mad taste!...RC! "
- Royal Crown was the official sponsor of New York Mets 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 about RC Cola... "the mad, mad, mad, mad Cola! RC, the one with the mad, mad taste! RC, RC, RC, RC...." (Commercial fades out).
- In the mid 1970s, Royal Crown ran an advertising campaign called "Me & My RC", the most famous of which featured actress Sharon Stone delivering pizza on a skateboard. Others featured people in a variety of scenic outdoor locations. The jingle, sung by Louise Mandrell, went "Me and my RC! Me and my RC!..What's good enough for anyone else, ain't good enough for me."
- RC was introduced to Israel in 1995 with the slogan "RC: Just like in America!"
- Bell Buckle, Tennessee hosts the annual RC Cola and Moon Pie Festival.
See also
References
- ^ Jan Duke. "The Souths Fascination with RC Colas and Moonpies". About. http://nashville.about.com/cs/historynsites/a/rcnmoonpie.htm. Retrieved 2008-01-12.
External links
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