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Cactus Iced Tea Snapple label, a flavor of Snapple that has been retired
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Cactus Iced Tea Snapple label, a flavor of Snapple that has been retired

Snapple is a company based in Rye Brook, New York that produces a variety of beverages which 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" is derived from a carbonated apple soda. Currently, there are four different types of Snapple: Tea, Juice Drinks, Lemonade, and Diet.

Snapple's slogan on its label, "Made from the best stuff on earth", is a reference to its all-natural ingredient usage.

Snapple's original label, with an old picture of the Boston Tea Party as background, was completely redesigned after false rumors arose claiming the picture showed a slave ship.

Contents

History

The Snapple Corporation was founded by three individuals, Leonard Marsh, Hyman Golden, and Arnold Greenberg in 1972. Initially apple soda was the single product offered, leading to the name Snapple. Soon, fruit drinks were introduced to health clubs and the company created the name The Unadulterated Food Corporation, later changing it to The Snapple Beverage Corporation. In 1987, the iced tea flavor was introduced and a year later the company expanded distribution into New England and California with the help of appearances on The Howard Stern Show. Wendy the Snapple Lady was also introduced to the advertising team as a straight-talking, average, American spokesperson. After sales reached into the tens of millions and started quadrupling every year, the original founders sold the company to a Boston investment firm at which point it was taken public. In 1994, the Snapple Corporation was sold to Quaker Oats, who let go both Howard Stern and Wendy the Snapple Lady, which led to public disapproval and a dramatic decrease in sales. Due to this, Quaker Oatmeal sold Snapple to Triarc in 1997, who reintroduced Stern and Wendy. The company was acquired by Cadbury Schweppes in 2000. In 2006, a limited editon of Snapple named "Snapple Pie" hit stores. Also in 2006, Snapple introduced "Snapple White Tea."

Flavors

Teas

Juice Drinks

Diet

Lemonades

Elements

In 1999, Snapple released a set of drinks under the "Elements" brand. These new drinks had names based on nature, and were 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.

Current Flavors

Discontinued Flavors

Discontinued flavors

There are 68 discontinued Snapple flavors, many of which were part of unsuccessful franchises, such as Snapple Sodas, Refreshers, and Seltzers. These discontinued flavors include Cactus Tea (see photo above), Pink Grapefruit, Grape Watermelon, Canteloupe, Strawberry Tea and diet Mango Madness. Snapple sodas were popular in the northeast US from 1983 until they were discontinued in the late-1990s. Sodas came in a glass bottle with a metal (later a plastic) cap and included such flavors as Cherry Lime Rickey, Creme D'Vanilla, Diet Lemon Lime, French Cherry, Ginger Ale, Jamaican Ginger Beer, Kiwi Peach, Kiwi Strawberry, Passion Supreme, Peach Melba, Raspberry Royal, Strawberry, and Tru Root Beer.

Snapple and education

In October 2003, Snapple began its sponsorship of the New York City school system, which had financial troubles. Snapple vending machines were placed ubiquitously -- and exclusively -- throughout schools in the City. Snapple was able to acquire the deal 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 considered unhealthy.

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 market and promote the City over the length of the five-year contract.

Snapple Caps

Snapple is also known for putting facts about the world on the underside of the bottle caps. A full listing of these "Real Facts" (as they are called) is available on their website. (See link below).
It is easy to recognize the different varieties because each type of drink has a differently colored cap:
There are several people who collect Snapple caps around the USA. Caps are organized several different ways, depending on the collector themself. Some organize by color of cap/flavor of drink, which are basically the same, including a "Doubles" category where repeat caps are stored. While this is the most common way to organize, caps can also be organized by date, establishment-where-purchased, and "Real Fact" Number. During special Snapple contests, "Real Facts" are still under the caps, but collectors consider them in their own category, despite the drink they may have come off of.

Advertising/Spokespersons

In the early 1990's, Rush Limbaugh was used as a celebrity endorser.

In 1993 Wendy Kaufman, an employee for the Snapple corporation, was recruited to be the commercial spokesperson for the drink due to her having taken it upon herself to answer letters that were coming into the company with questions about the product. Kaufman's advertisements centered around her reading letters out loud and delivering comedic responses. Kaufman was dubbed "The Snapple Lady." These commercials ran until 1994 when she was unceremoniously fired from the company, upon the company's sale to Quaker Oats for $1.7 Billion. Quaker Oats then sold Snapple for $300 million to Triarc, which reinstated Wendy as the Snapple Lady in 1997.

False Rumors 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 Ku Klux Klan and Operation Rescue. The reasoning for this was the portrayal of a ship from the Boston Tea Party, which was claimed to actually be a slave ship.

Snapple also fell victim to the old rumor that the small "K" (which means the product is certified kosher) was either a representation of the Klan, or of an imagined "Jewish Tax" (augmented by the fact that all three founders were Jewish).

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.

External links

 

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