Fresca

Fresca is a grapefruit-flavored citrus soft drink created by The Coca-Cola Company. Borrowing the word fresca (meaning "fresh") from Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese, it was introduced in the United States in 1966. Originally a bottled sugar-free diet soda, sugar sweetened versions were introduced in some markets.

Fresca is now sold in multiple flavors: grapefruit citrus (the original flavor), black cherry citrus, peach citrus, and blackberry citrus.[1]

Fresca also entered the cocktail space in 2022 with a line of ready-to-drink canned cocktails (5% ABV), produced in partnership with Constellation Brands.[2] Fresca Mixed is a vodka spritz with 100 calories per can and no added sugar.

History

Trademarks

According to the United States Patent and Trademark Office, "Fresca" was first trademarked by The Coca-Cola Company in July 1962 as a trade name for "frozen concentrated orange juice" and "frozen concentrated tangerine juice".

Initial marketing campaign

"Blizzard of Flavor"

F. William Free, creative director of the Marschalk Company advertising agency, created the initial marketing campaign for Fresca, branding the soda "the 'Blizzard of Flavor'. Free had earlier orchestrated the introduction of Sprite and Tab for Coca-Cola.[18]

The agency's unifying theme for the brand's marketing centered around Fresca having a "blizzard" of "frosty taste". The soda was said to be "cool, crisp, frosty and refreshing".[4] A 1966 newspaper ad headline read "Here. The frosty taste of Fresca. It's a blizzard". The ad copy used 25 adjectives to describe Fresca's "blizzard taste".[19]

National newspaper introduction advertising

The "Blizzard" campaign included a major market, full color pre-print newspaper advertising program reported to have cost "over a million dollars" which launched in the spring of 1967.[20] The campaign consisted of three successive themes. The first was "Blizzard Kickoff", aimed at supporting the local introduction of Fresca by regional bottlers, the second was "Fresca and Sherbet" which explained how to use Fresca and other food ingredients for snacks and drinks. The third was named "Blizzard Girls" which featured "The Fresca Girls", models dressed in fur-trimmed parkas with hoods, photographed drinking Fresca in falling snow while riding a zebra, a miniature car, a Vespa scooter and walking a Saint Bernard. The campaign achieved some of the highest levels of consumer awareness for any consumer product at that time.[21][22]

Musical theme song

The marketing campaign included a theme song "The Blizzard Song", written by Gary McFarland which was recorded by Mitch Miller and Trini Lopez. Both versions were used in TV ads for Fresca and were also issued as a four-song 45 rpm record.

The Miller record "Mitch Miller – Singin' Up A Blizzard", featured a sleeve printed with the slogan "Hey gang, sing up a blizzard with us! Mitch". The reverse of the sleeve featured a headline "Have a Singing, Swing Blizzard of a Party With Fresca"[23] and included recipes of food and mixed drinks that used Fresca as an ingredient. The Miller record was used in a promotion campaign which encouraged consumers to save Fresca bottle caps and redeem them for a copy of the record.

The Lopez record "Trini Lopez – Sings His Greatest Hits" featured three songs from Lopez' repertoire as well as his version of McFarland's "The Blizzard Song". This record was issued with a printed sleeve with an ad on the back that said "The frosty taste of Fresca. It's a blizzard!" The sleeve had a flap with a die-cut hole and was hung from a bottle in six and eight-pack bottle cartons of Fresca. The record was included at no charge.

New York City marketing launch and blizzard

F. William Free orchestrated an elaborate formal marketing debut on February 7, 1967, held at the Four Seasons Restaurant in New York city's Seagram's building. The fountain in the middle of the restaurant was frozen, and six "Fresca bottles", women who wore replicas of the top half of Fresca bottles covering their head to their waists skated and danced through the night while the Mitch Miller Orchestra entertained guests with the Fresca "Blizzard Theme" and other hits.[4]

The "Blizzard" campaign capitalised on an unexpected marketing opportunity when New York City received a foot of snow the day after the Four Seasons premiere. Free used the snowstorm to promote the new brand, appearing in photographs holding a bottle of Fresca. The images were featured in full-page newspaper advertisements in New York with the headline "New York – We're Sorry".[18]

History

Trademarks

Fresca as a soft drink

Test marketing

Introduction

Original bottle design

Initial marketing campaign

"Blizzard of Flavor"

National newspaper introduction advertising

Musical theme song

New York City marketing launch and blizzard

Notable Fresca fans

Formula changes

Packaging changes

Ingredients

Fresca Grapefruit Citrus

See also

External links

References

type	Soft drink
manufacturer	The Coca-Cola Company
origin	United States
introduced	1966
flavor	Grapefruit Citrus, Black Cherry Citrus, Peach Citrus, and Blackberry Citrus
variants	Fresca 1