Sprite (drink)

Sprite is a colorless, lemon and lime-flavored soft drink created by The Coca-Cola Company. It was first developed in West Germany in 1959 as Fanta Klare Zitrone ("Clear Lemon Fanta") and was introduced in the United States under the current brand name Sprite in 1961 as a competitor to 7 Up.[1] Sprite comes in multiple flavours, including, but not limited to, cranberry, cherry, grape, orange, and vanilla.

Sprite
Evolution of Sprite bottles
TypeLemon-lime
ManufacturerThe Coca-Cola Company
Country of originGermany
Introduced1961 (1961)
ColorColorless
VariantsSee variations below
Related products7 Up, Bubble Up, Sierra Mist, Mitsuya Cider
Websitewww.sprite.com 

Marketing

Sprite advertising often makes use of the portmanteau word lymon, a combination of the words "lemon" and "lime".[2] Additionally, the bottle of the beverage has several concave spots, an attempt to emulate the bubbles caused by the soda's carbonation.[3]

By the 1980s, Sprite had developed a large following among teenagers.[3] In response, Sprite began to cater to this demographic in their advertisements in 1987. "I Like the Sprite In You" was the brand's first long-running slogan, and many jingles were produced around it before its discontinuation in 1994.

In 1994, Sprite revamped its marketing logo, and slogan, as well. The new, more vibrant logo stood out more on packaging and featured a blue-to-green gradient with silver "splashes" and subtle white "bubbles" in the background. The product name, "Sprite" had a blue backdrop shadow on the logo. The words; "Great Lymon Taste!" which had been present on the previous logo, were removed. This logo was used in the United States until 2006, and similar variants were used in other countries until this year as well.

The brand's slogan was changed to "Obey Your Thirst", and jingles containing it became urban-oriented, featuring a hip-hop theme. One of the first lyrics for the new slogan was, "never forget yourself 'cause first things first, grab a cold, cold can, and obey your thirst.” Under the new slogan, Sprite tapped into hip-hop culture by leveraging up and coming, as well as underground rap artists including; LL Cool J, A Tribe Called Quest, KRS-One, Missy Elliott, Grand Puba, Common, Fat Joe, Nas and others in television commercials. Sprite expanded its urban connections in the late 1990s by featuring both amateur and accomplished basketball players in their advertisements. To this day, NBA players and hip-hop artists such as LeBron James, Vince Staples, and Lil Yachty frequently appear in Sprite adverts.[4]

In 1998, one commercial poked fun at products that featured cartoon mascots in the style of a horror film. In it, the mascot for a fictitious orange juice drink called "Sun Fizz" comes to life, terrifying the kids and mother, and starts to chase them.[5]

In the 1990s, one of Sprite's longest-running ad campaigns was "Grant Hill Drinks Sprite" (overlapping its "Obey Your Thirst" campaign), in which the well-liked basketball player's abilities, and Sprite's importance in giving him his abilities, were humorously exaggerated.[6][7]

In 2000, Sprite commissioned graffiti artist Temper to design limited edition art,[8] which appeared on 100 million cans across Europe.[9]

In 2004, Coke created Miles Thirst, a vinyl doll voiced by Reno Wilson, used in advertising to exploit the hip-hop market for soft drinks.[10]

In 2006, a new Sprite logo, consisting of two yellow and green "halves" forming an "S" lemon/lime design, made its debut on Sprite bottles and cans. The slogan was changed from its long-running "Obey Your Thirst" to just "Obey" in the United States and was outright replaced with "Freedom From Thirst" in many countries. This was the decade's first major shift in advertising themes.

The "Sublymonal" campaign was also used as part of the alternate reality game the Lost Experience.[11] This also resurrected the "lymon" word.

Sprite redesigned its label in 2009, removing the "S" logo.

In France in 2012, the drink was reformulated removing 30% of the sugar and replacing it with the sweetener Stevia.[12] This led to the drink containing fewer calories. This soon spread to Ireland, the UK and the Netherlands in 2013.[13]

A further formula change happened in the UK in 2018. This formula replaces Stevia with Aspartame and Acesulfame K and has less sugar than before.[14] In Ireland in the same year, Sprite was relaunched with Sprite Zero being renamed Sprite. Sprite with sugar is no longer being sold. In addition, a version of the sugar-free drink with cucumber taste was added to the range.[15]

In Australia, Sprite launched with a new recipe containing 40% less sugar (compared with old Sprite) in August 2019. This formula does not use Aspartame but replaces some of the sugar with Acesulfame K and Sucralose.[16]

Variations
NameLaunchedNotes
Sprite 1961 The original variety.
Sprite Zero Sugar 1974 Sprite without the sugar. It was originally produced in the United States as "Sugar Free Sprite" in 1974, then was renamed to "Diet Sprite" in 1983, with some countries having the drink known as "Sprite Light" ("Sprite Lite" in the United Kingdom). In September 2004, it was rebranded as "Diet Sprite Zero" in the US and "Sprite Zero" ("Sprite Z" in the United Kingdom, until rebranding as Sprite Zero) in Argentina, Australia, Bolivia, Brazil, China, Colombia, Europe, India, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay, New Zealand, and the UK. "Diet" was dropped from the product's name, to become simply "Sprite Zero," when new logos debuted in June 2006. The "Zero" designation for low-calorie sodas from the Coca-Cola Company was first used on Diet Sprite Zero before being used on the flagship Zero product, Coca-Cola Zero. Re-branded as "Sprite Zero Sugar" in 2019 to align with the Coca-Cola Company's 2017 re-branding of Coca-Cola Zero as Coca-Cola Zero Sugar.
Sprite Lemon-Lime Herb 1970s Sprite with a herb taste. Only known to be sold in Germany.
Sprite Dry Lemon Early 2000s Sprite with a more dry taste, which was made exclusively for Japan. It was marketed alongside the regular variety (which was known as "Sprite Sparkling Lemon") over there.
Recharge by Sprite Early 2000s A Sprite Energy Drink variant sold in Australia until 2006. The drink was also turquoise in color, different from how Sprite is usually clear.
Sprite Ice 2002 Sprite with a minty aftertaste. Originally released as "Sprite Blue" in Korea in 2002, and has been released under various names, such as "Sprite Ice" in various countries like Canada, '"Sprite Ice Cube" in Belgium, "Sprite Ice Blue" in Italy and Chile, "Sprite Icy Mint" in Mainland China, "Sprite Mynta" in Sweden and "Sprite Mynte" in Norway.
Sprite Remix Tropical 2003 Sprite with Tropical Flavors, and the first in the Sprite Remix series of sodas sold in the United States. It was sold from 2003 to 2004, until being replaced with the "Berryclear" variety.[17]
Sprite Super Lemon 2003 A Slurpee Variant of Sprite, released in Hong Kong in 2003.
Sprite on Fire 2004 Sprite with a ginger flavor, which was marketed as having a burning sensation. It was introduced in Hong Kong in 2003, and later debuted in China in 2004.
Sprite Remix BerryClear 2004 Sprite with Berry flavors, and the second in the Sprite Remix series of sodas sold in the United States. It was sold from 2004 to 2005, until being replaced with the "Aruba Jam" variety.[18]
Sprite Remix Aruba Jam 2005 Sprite with Fruit Flavors, and the last in the Sprite Remix series of sodas sold in the United States. It was sold from 2005 to 2006.[19]
Sprite 3G 2005 A Sprite energy drink variant originally launched in the United Kingdom in 2005. Ingredients include glucose, caffeine from green coffee beans, and guarana. It was also released in various other countries but was discontinued in the UK in 2007 due to poor sales, and that Coca-Cola wanted to focus more on Relentless.[20]
Sprite Duo 2007 A variant with less carbonation and extra lemon juice. Was released exclusively in Spain in Spring 2007.[21]
Chinotto The name Sprite is known as in some South American countries.
Sprite Green 2009 A variant sweetened with Truvia (a natural zero-calorie sweetener made from stevia).[22] It however, wasn't a success and was discontinued not long after being released.
Sprite (Stevia Formula) 2012 In France in 2012, Sprite was reformulated removing 30% of the sugar and replacing it with the sweetener Stevia. This led to the drink containing fewer calories. This reformulation soon spread to Ireland, the United Kingdom, and the Netherlands in 2013.
Sprite Cranberry 2013 A cranberry-flavored Sprite. It was first sold for the holiday season in 2013 alongside its Zero counterpart and has been sold every holiday season since.

[23] The variant competes with PepsiCo's Mist Twst Cranberry, which unlike Sprite Cranberry is sold year-round. Sprite Cranberry Zero was introduced in Norway in August 2018. An advertisement for this beverage featuring LeBron James inspired an Internet meme and later, a horror game.[24]

Sprite 6 Mix 2014 Sprite with additional Cherry and Orange Flavors in addition to the Lemon and Lime. It was released as a collaboration between Sprite and LeBron James in the United States in 2014. It was sold again as "Sprite LeBron's Mix" in 2015.
Sprite Blast 2014 Sprite with sweet and sour Flavors. It was released for the Summer of 2014 in the United States, exclusive to 7-Eleven stores (at time of sale), and was sold only in 7.5 ounce single cans. The variety was also released in New Zealand in summer 2017 and was sold in all sizes.
Sprite Tropical 2015 A Re-Release of Sprite Remix Tropical, it was sold for a limited time in 2015, and again as "Sprite Tropical Mix" in 2016.
Sprite Cucumber 2017 Sprite with a Cucumber flavor. Launched in 2017 in Russia and in June 2018 in Romania. A Zero variety was introduced in the UK and Ireland in 2018.
Sprite Cherry 2017 Sprite with a Cherry flavor. Launched in 2017 in the United States as a permanent variety, alongside its Zero counterpart.
MIX by Sprite: Tropic Berry 2018 Sprite with a tropical berry flavor. Similar to Sprite Tropical Mix, and is sold exclusively at McDonald's.
Sprite Fiber+ 2018 Zero Italic text, zero calorie Sprite with dietary fiber added. 7.5 grams of dietary fiber are included to make up approximately 30% of the daily fiber requirement for adults. According to the bottle, this is the amount of fiber found in two apples. Debuted in the beginning of April, 2018, in Chongqing, China.[25]
Sprite Zero Lemon & Mint 2018 Zero sugar, zero calories with a mint flavour added. Available in Greece, Serbia, Hungary, Germany.[26][27][28][29]
Sprite Lymonade 2019 Sprite mixed with lemonade and 1% lemon juice.[30]
Sprite 40% Less Sugar 2019 Sprite re-launched in Australia with a new recipe containing 40% less sugar (compared with old Sprite) in August 2019. It has no Aspartame but replaces some of the sugar with Ace K and Sucralose.[31]
Sprite Ginger 2020
Sprite Ginger Zero 2020

See also

References
  1. "Sprite". Snack History. Retrieved April 19, 2020.
  2. Bing, Jonathan (June 12, 2006). "Subliminal ads with a twist of lymon". Variety. Retrieved July 15, 2019.
  3. "A Brief History of Sprite". Rock Hill Coca-Cola. August 30, 2019. Retrieved July 20, 2020.
  4. "Lil Yachty Stars in New Sprite Ad With LeBron James - XXL". Retrieved March 2, 2017.
  5. "Sprite Sun Fizz - 90's Commercial". YouTube. July 26, 2010.
  6. metacafe.com. "Video is temporarily not available". Retrieved March 2, 2017.
  7. AdvertisementAve.com - A Better Basketball Player? Archived October 13, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
  8. BBC. "The millionaire graffiti artist". www.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved July 20, 2020.
  9. "Temper". www.turnerfinearts.com. Retrieved July 20, 2020.
  10. Howard, Theresa (April 26, 2004). "Coke creates hip-hop figure to inject Sprite with attitude". USA Today.
  11. Archived March 15, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
  12. "Stevia Sweetener UK: The New Zero-Calorie Sweetener From Natural Origins - Coca-Cola GB". Coca-cola.co.uk. April 13, 2010. Retrieved November 7, 2013.
  13. "Coca-Cola: Sprite eerste drank met stevia (Dutch)". Distrifood.nl. July 2, 2013. Retrieved June 16, 2014.
  14. Arthur, Rachel (March 8, 2018). "Sprite reduces sugar but ditches stevia, citing best taste for lower sugar UK recipe". Beverage Daily. Retrieved July 28, 2018.
  15. "Sprite Goes No Sugar". April 23, 2018.
  16. https://www.coca-colacompany.com/au/brands/sprite
  17. "Sprite Remix vs. Mountain Dew LiveWire". BevNET. April 1, 2003. Retrieved November 7, 2013.
  18. "Coca-Cola To Sell Berry-Flavored Sprite Remix In April". BevNET. February 13, 2004. Retrieved November 7, 2013.
  19. "Coke tinkering with lineup for 2005". Times Argus. December 24, 2004. Retrieved November 7, 2013.
  20. "Coca-Cola scraps Sprite 3G and focuses on Relentless". Marketing Week. August 1, 2007. Retrieved October 21, 2012.
  21. "Coca-Cola - Siente el Sabor". Retrieved March 2, 2017.
  22. "Coca-Cola North America Announces 2008 Launch of Sprite Green - BevNET.com". Retrieved March 2, 2017.
  23. "Sprite Launches New Flavor to "Berry" up the Holidays". The Wall Street Journal. October 10, 2013. Retrieved November 7, 2013.
  24. "Lebron James is the main antagonist of a popular horror game". Epicbuzzer. August 8, 2019. Retrieved June 7, 2020.
  25. "Fiber-filled Sprite debuts in Chongqing". China Daily. April 8, 2018. Archived from the original on April 11, 2018. Retrieved April 11, 2018.
  26. "Főoldal". hu.coca-colahellenic.com (in Hungarian). Retrieved June 7, 2020.
  27. "Coca-Cola Τρία Έψιλον". gr.coca-colahellenic.com (in Greek). Retrieved June 7, 2020.
  28. "Sprite limun nana 0.33l". www.maxi.rs (in Serbian). Retrieved June 7, 2020.
  29. Archived August 27, 2018, at the Wayback Machine
  30. Meyer, Zlati (October 30, 2018). "Coca-Cola: Sprite lemonade, Minute Maid veggie juice debuting next year". USA Today. Retrieved March 11, 2019.
  31. https://www.coca-colacompany.com/au/news/new-sprite-recipe-delivers-great-taste-but-with-40-per-cent-less
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