RC Cola

Royal Crown Cola (sold as RC Cola) is an American carbonated cola beverage owned by Keurig Dr Pepper and internationally by RC Global Beverages, Inc.[1]

History

The Cole-Hampton-Hatcher Grocery Store was established in Columbus, Georgia in 1901. The Hatcher family took sole ownership and the name was changed to the Hatcher Grocery Store in 1903. The grocery store was located at what was 22 West 10th Street. Today's address (after house number changes) is 15 West 10th Street.[2] At the same time, the popularity of bottled soft drinks rose rapidly, and grocery store owners wished to maximize their profit.[3] As a grocery wholesaler, Claud A. Hatcher purchased a large volume of Coca-Cola syrup from the local company salesman, Columbus Roberts. Hatcher felt that the company deserved a special reduced price for the syrup since it purchased such large volumes. Roberts would not budge on the cost, and a bitter conflict between the two erupted. Hatcher told Roberts he would win the battle by never purchasing any more Coca-Cola, and was determined to develop his own soft drink formula. He started developing products in the basement of the store with a recipe for ginger ale.[4]

Hatcher launched the Union Bottling Works in his family's grocery store.[5] The first product in the Royal Crown line was Royal Crown Ginger Ale in 1905,[6] followed by Royal Crown Strawberry, and Royal Crown Root Beer. Cherry-flavored Chero-Cola was introduced in 1907.[7] The company was later renamed Chero-Cola in 1910. Its new fruit-flavored beverage, Nehi was introduced in 1924, and the company renamed to Nehi, Inc. in 1925. Founder Claud A. Hatcher died in 1933 and Chero-Cola was reformulated in 1934 by chemist Rufus Kamm. The company reintroduced the "Royal Crown" to launch Royal Crown Cola, and went on to change its name from Nehi, Inc. to Royal Crown Cola Company in 1951.

Royal Crown Cola and Moon Pies were a popular "working man's lunch" in the American South in the 1950s.[8] Royal Crown was the first company to sell soft drinks in a tin can in 1954, and later the first company to sell soft drinks in an aluminum can.[9] The company introduced the Diet Rite brand of dietetic beverages in 1954, with the cola variety being its flagship.

Royal Crown Cola Company developed their international presence during the 1970s, including countries in Asia and Europe. The Raffel family sold Arby's to the Royal Crown Cola Company for $18 million in 1976.[10]

Caffeine- and sugar-free cola RC 100 was launched in April 1980. RC Cola accounted for approximately 4–5% of soft drink sales in the United States, behind Coke, Pepsi, Dr. Pepper, and 7 Up in 1984.[11] Cherry RC would be introduced in July 1985, with Diet RC and its caffeine-free counterpart being announced that December, to debut in January 1986.[12]

Royal Crown Draft Cola was released as the first premium draft cola in 1995. It was made with pure cane sugar as a sweetener (instead of high fructose corn syrup), the finest kola nuts, all-natural flavors and pure filtered water. Offered only in 12-ounce bottles, it was discontinued, due largely to the inability of the RC bottling network to get distribution for the product in single-drink channels, and it was discontinued with the exceptions of Australia, New Zealand, and France. It was later available only in New Zealand, parts of Australia, Thailand, and Tajikistan.[13] The company also released Cherry RC, a cherry-flavored version of the RC soft drink to compete with Cherry Coke and Wild Cherry Pepsi.

Ownership changes

Royal Crown Cola Company was purchased by Triarc Companies, Inc.[14] adding approximately $25 million a year to the marketing budget in 1993.[15] The company was acquired by Cadbury Schweppes (which owned Dr Pepper) through its acquisition of Triarc's beverages business (which also included Snapple) in 2000.[16][17] Cadbury Schweppes' US-based beverage business (including RC) was spun off as "Dr Pepper Snapple Group (DPSG)" in 2008. DPSG merged with Keurig Green Mountain in 2018 as Keurig Dr Pepper, the current owners of the RC Cola brand.

All non-US businesses were sold to Cott Beverages of Canada in 2001 and operated as Royal Crown Cola International. Cott sold Royal Crown Cola International to Refresco for US$50 million in 2021. Simultaneously, Refresco sold to Royal Crown Cola International to RC Global Beverages Inc.[18]

In the Philippines, RC Cola was formerly manufactured and distributed by Cosmos Bottling Corporation under a licensing agreement until 2001 when RFM Corporation sold Cosmos to Coca-Cola Bottlers Philippines Corp. and San Miguel Corporation ending the license agreement. During its production under Cosmos, RC Cola was only sold in some Visayan markets.[19]

Philippine-based Macay Holdings announced in 2022 it would acquire all of RC Global Beverages Inc., subject to the finalization of a share purchase agreement and other closing conditions.[20] The transaction was completed in January 17, 2023 for approximately $47 million, comprising a $21.4 million cash payment for equity and the assumption of approximately $26 million of obligations.[21]

Brand portfolio

Advertising campaigns

The RC Cola brand has been marketed through many campaigns. In the 1930s, Alex Osborn, with BBDO, made an ad campaign, including the slogan "The season's best."

In 1940, a publicity campaign was run, which saw Hollywood celebrities, next to the slogan "Best By Taste Test". Actress Lizabeth Scott as the face, next to the slogan "RC tastes best, says Lizabeth Scott".

In 1966, Royal Crown Cola collaborated with Jim Henson on an ad campaign for Royal Crown Cola which featured two birds called Sour Bird (performed by Jim Henson) and Nutty Bird (performed by Henson and assisted by Frank Oz) to promote the drinks. Nutty Bird would promote Royal Crown Cola by touting its benefits.[27] The puppet for Nutty Bird was designed by Jim Henson and built by Don Sahlin. Sour Bird appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show with the Rock and Roll Monster.

Nancy Sinatra was featured in two Royal Crown Cola commercials in her one-hour TV special, Movin' With Nancy, which featured various singers and David Winters choreography[28] in December 1967. She sang, "It's a mad, mad, mad Cola...RC the one with the mad, mad taste!...RC!"[29] The company was the official sponsor of New York Mets on and off at times from the team's inception in 1962 until the early 1990s. 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 the tune from the Sinatra campaign.

RC sponsored two Porsche 917/10 Can-Am race cars during the 1972–73 season. In the mid-1970s, Royal Crown ran the "Me & My RC" advertisements.[30] Others featured people in scenic outdoor locations. Louise Mandrell sang the jingle "Me and my RC / Me and my RC /'Cause what's good enough / For other folks / Ain't good enough for Me and My RC..."

RC was introduced to Israel in 1995 with the slogan "RC: Just like in America!" During the Cola Wars of the 1980s, RC used the 'Decide for yourself' campaign and would remind people 'There's more to your life than Coke and Pepsi."

In the Philippines, RC Cola released advertisements with artists popular in the country. In 2009, these had Maja Salvador and Kim Bum as celebrity endorsers.[31] The Philippine marketing of the brand also painted the front of sari-sari stores with slogans like "RC ng (insert municipality/city)" (RC of my [town/city]). In 2019, the advertisements tapped Joshua Garcia to be the year's celebrity endorser and launched the "RC ng Bayan" campaign. In 2020, RC Cola had a campaign Basta, which featured a boy confronting his mother if he is adopted due to glasses embedded on his back. This campaign led to numerous awards such as a bronze award for Film at the Cannes Lion 2021, a bronze award at the 2021 Asia Pacific Effie Awards for the Youth Marketing category, a silver award at the 2022 Asia Pacific Effie Awards for the Beverages, Non-Alcohol category and the Short Video Marketing category, and a bronze award for Film at the 2022 Clio Awards.[32][33][34]

Andretti Autosport driver Marco Andretti had RC Cola as his primary sponsor during the 2012 and 2013 IndyCar Series.

In 2022, RC Cola launched its WHY NOT? campaign, featuring three adults who upon taking a sip of RC Cola, would be transported to a world filled with endless imagination.

External links

• Official RC Cola International site
• Keurig Dr. Pepper website