Snapple

File:Snapple Logo.svg

Snapple is a multi-million dollar beverage company based in Rye Brook, New York that produces a variety of teas and fruit drinks 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 (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".

File:Snapple Bottles.jpg

Some of the flavors of Snapple.

History

Leonard Marsh, Hyman Golden, and Arnold Greenberg created the Snapple brand in 1972. Initially an apple soda was the single product offered, leading to the name Snapple. Some of Snapple's earliest expansions were to introduce new soda flavors in 16 ounce glass bottles. These flavors included French Cherry, Tru Rootbeer, Vanilla Creme, and Summer Peach. 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. 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 and the company went public.In 1994, the Snapple Corporation was sold to Quaker Oats, which dropped both Howard Stern and Wendy the Snapple Lady as spokespersons. Quaker later sold Snapple to Triarc in 1997 for $300 million, who reintroduced Stern and Wendy. The company was acquired by Cadbury Schweppes in 2000 and folded into Cadbury Schweppes Americas Beverages in early 2006. In 2006, a limited edition of Snapple named "Snapple Pie" hit stores. Also in 2006, Snapple introduced "Snapple Asian Tea", "Snapple Green Tea", and "Snapple Red Tea", while 2007 brought about "Snapple Black Tea" and Snapple "100% Natural" flavors such as kiwi-pear and orange-mangosteen.

Advertising/Spokespersons

In the early 1990s, radio commentator Rush Limbaugh was used as a celebrity endorser, as was Howard Stern.

In 1993 Wendy Kaufman, an employee for the Snapple corporation, was recruited to be the commercial spokesperson for the drink...partly because she liked to answer letters about products written to the company. Kaufman's advertisements centered around her reading letters out loud and delivering comedic responses. Kaufman was dubbed "The Snapple Lady." The 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 Kaufman as the Snapple Lady in 1997.

Flavors

Teas

• Lemon Tea
• Caffeine Free Lemon Tea
• Just Plain Tea Unsweetened
• Out of the Blue-Berry
• Raspberry Tea
• Peach Tea
• GuavAmazing Tea
• White Tea-Green Apple (soon to be replaced by Cherry)
• White Tea-Nectarine
• White Tea-Raspberry
• Green Tea
• Green Tea-Mango
• Green Tea-Asian Pear
• Green Tea- Limon (replacing Lime Green Tea)
• Wild 'Bout Berries
• Red Tea-Acai Mixed Berry
• Red Tea- Mandarin Tangerine
• Red Tea-Peach Pomegranate
• Black Tea-Earl Grey
• Black Tea-Orange Pekoe
• Black Tea-English Breakfast
• Chai Tea- Apple Serenade (coming 2008)
• Chai Tea- Kiwi Relaxation (coming 2008)
• Chai Tea- Orange Revitalization (coming 2008)

Lemonade

• Lemonade Iced Tea
• Lemonade
• Pink Lemonade

Diet

• Diet Lemon Tea
• Diet Lime Green Tea
• Diet Peach Tea
• Diet Green Apple Tea
• Diet Raspberry Tea
• Diet Out of the Blue-Berry Tea
• Diet Plum-A-Granate Tea
• Diet Lemonade Iced Tea
• Diet Green Tea
• Diet Green Tea Lemonade
• Diet Green Tea-Mango
• Diet Green Tea-Asian Pear
• Diet Green Tea- Limon (replacing Lime Green Tea)
• Diet Cranberry Raspberry
• Diet Kiwi Strawberry
• Diet Snapple Apple (soon to be replaced with Diet Pineapple-Passion Fruit Power)
• Diet GuavAmazing Tea
• Diet Orange Carrot
• Diet Pink Lemonade

Juice Drinks

• Snapricot Orange
• Snapple Apple (being replaced with Pineapple-Passion Fruit Power in late 2008)
• Cranberry Raspberry
• Fruit Punch
• Green Apple
• Blueberry
• Grapeade
• Kiwi Strawberry
• Mango Madness
• Orangeade
• Pineapple-Passion Fruit Power
• Summer Peach (seasonal)
• Acai Blackberry
• Pomegranate-Raspberry

Kosher

• Caffeine Free Tea
• Cranberry Raspberry
• Cranberry Twist
• Diet Cranberry Raspberry
• Diet Kiwi Strawberry
• Diet Lime Green Tea
• Diet Orange Carrot
• Diet Peach Tea
• Diet Pink Lemonade
• Diet Raspberry Tea
• Diet Ruby Red
• Just Plain Tea-Unsweetened
• Kiwi Strawberry
• Lemon Tea
• Lemonade
• Lemonade Iced Tea
• Lime Green Tea
• Mango Madness
• Mint Tea
• Orangeade
• Peach Tea
• Pink Lemonade
• Raspberry Tea
• Ruby Red
• Diet Lemon Tea
• Snapple Apple
• Snapricot Orange
• Very Cherry Tea
• Very Very Very Berry

Elements

In 1999, Snapple released a set of drinks under the "Elements" brand. These new 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.

Current Flavors Metal - Blood Orange Venom - Citrus Fire - Dragonfruit Rain - Agave Cactus Subzero - Siberian Cherry Meteor - Tangelo Altitude- Persimmon Spark - Mandarin Carrot Sun - Juiced Berry Banana Turbulence - Shredded Lemon Atomic - Jacked Apple Velocity- Grapefruit Cranberry Diet Air - Prickly Peach Diet Ice - Ruby Tangelo

Discontinued Flavors Volcano- Indigo Grape Gravity- Carrot Infusion Earth - Grape Cranberry Lightning - Ginseng Black Tea Moon - Green Tea Sky - Passion Fruit Voltage - Citron Sun - Starfruit Orange Infusion - Mango Tangerine

Discontinued Flavors

According to Snapple's website, there are 69 discontinued Snapple flavors, many of which were part of unsuccessful franchises such as: Snapple Sodas, Refreshers, and Seltzers. These discontinued flavors include Cactus Tea, Sun Tea, Mint Tea, Sweet Tea, Strawberry Tea, Pink Grapefruit (part of a line of 100% juice drinks), Grape Watermelon, Blueberry Tea, Ralph's Cantaloupe Cocktail, Bali Blast, Samoan Splash (all four were regular juice drinks) and diet Mango Madness. Snapple sodas were popular in the northeast US from 1983 until they were discontinued in the late-1990s because they were believed to give headaches. The sodas came in a glass bottle with a metal (later a plastic) cap and included such flavors as Clear Cola (similar to Crystal Pepsi but marketed years before), Diet Lemon Lime, Ginger Ale, Jamaican Ginger Beer, Kiwi Peach, Passion Supreme, Peach Melba, Raspberry Royale, Strawberry, Cherry Lime Rickey, Kiwi Strawberry, French Cherry, Creme d'Vanilla, Creme d'Chocolate, and Tru Root Beer (the latter three were clear). The last six are not mentioned on Snapple's list of 68 discontinued flavors, which means there are actually at least 74 discontinued flavors. The only soda to survive as a regular drink is Kiwi Strawberry, which is currently sold in a non-carbonated form.

In 2000, Snapple Jelly Beans were produced for a few years, until discontinuation.

Health concerns

Most of the Snapple products contain high fructose corn syrup. For example, one bottle of the Snapple juice drink "Cranberry Raspberry" contains 2 servings of 27 grams of sugar (54 grams) -- because the nutrition facts are based on 8 oz (50% bottle) instead of 16 oz. All of the glass bottles of Snapple present the nutrition information this way. The amount of sugar is nearly the same (and sometimes, greater) than that of soda.

Additionally, Diet Snapple products contain aspartame, an artificial sweetener that has raised concerns.

Snapple and education

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).

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.

Snapple Caps

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.

It is easy to recognize the different varieties because each type of drink has a differently 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:

• #1 A goldfish's attention span is three seconds. This theory was tested by Discovery's MythBusters. The experiment consisted of training several goldfish to complete a maze. They concluded that a goldfish's attention span and memory retention lasts well over 3 seconds.
• #36 "A duck's quack doesn't echo" Tested by Snopes and Mythbusters. Both tests concluded that a duck's quack does echo.

• #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.
• #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, who 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.
• #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.
• #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.
• #146 "The smallest county in America is New York County, better known as Manhattan." Falls Church, Virginia, is the smallest functional county at 2.0 square miles. (Kalawao County, Hawaii is also smaller but is technically part of Oceania, and not either of the American continents)
• #162 "The temp. of the sun can reach 15 million degrees F." The core reaches temperatures of 25 million degrees F and the surface reaches only 10,000 degrees F, either way it's wrong. The Raspberry Iced Tea bottle itself also provides inaccurate information regarding the sun's temperature. An arrow on the bottle's sticker points to a picture of the sun with a following statement reading, "if you were 100 billion degrees, you'd be thirsty too!" The sun does not reach the temperature of 100 billion degrees.
• #163 "The first penny had the motto 'Mind your own business.'" is actually false. The first penny has the motto "Mind your business".
• #171 "The most sensitive parts of the body are the mouth and fingertips". The eyeballs have more nerve endings than all of these.
• #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. VCR's (video cassette recorders) came along in the 1970's.
• #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.
• #362 "'Arachibutlphobia' is the fear of peanut butter sticking to the roof of your mouth." The correct spelling is 'arachibutyrophobia'.
• #383 "Mount Katahdin in Maine is the first place in the U.S. to get sunlight each morning." The town of Lubec, Maine (the easternmost town in the U.S.) is the first place in the U.S. to get sunlight each morning, although some believe Cadillac Mountain on Mount Desert Island (near Bar Harbor, Maine) sees the first sunlight.
  1. 18 "Jellyfish are 95% water.". They are 99% water.

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 Ku Klux Klan 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.

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.

In popular culture

• 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.

• Alternative hip-hop group Digable Planets references Snapple numerous times on their 1993 album, Reachin' (A New Refutation of Time and Space).

• 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 the animated show, The Boondocks, Huey calls Snapple "The white Man's Poison".

• In an episode of HBO's The Sopranos, the character Bobby Baccala tells his overweight son to "lay off the Snapple"

• 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.

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.

External links

• Official website
• Snapple timeline and history
• Discontinued Flavors at Snapple.com
• The Snapple Dragoon at Snopes.com
• Snapple Real Facts Buster

References

• Snapple FAQ page