Virgin Cola
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Virgin Cola is a carbonated cola soft drink produced by Princes limited. It was launched in 1994.
[edit] History
Virgin Cola was set up during the early 1990s in conjunction with Cott, a Canadian company that specialises in bottling own-label drinks. Cott were looking for a major international brand that could have global appeal.
Virgin Cola was first released in 1994, to compete with Coca-Cola and Pepsi. Shortly thereafter, Pepsi changed the colour of its cans to blue. When Virgin learned about this they famously took out a full page advert in many newspapers on April Fools Day claiming that they developed a new can that turns blue when the cola inside is flat.
Virgin Cola's "Cur-V" bottle is reputedly modelled after the body of then Baywatch star Pamela Anderson.[1] [2].
Within a few months of its release, Virgin Cola had a 50% market share in the outlets that sold it. It went on to be launched in France, Belgium, and South Africa. In its first year more than 500 million units were sold worldwide. However, its popularity soon waned. It is also served on Virgin Atlantic flights and sold in the on-board shops on Virgin Trains. The Gulliver's Kingdom chain of theme parks in the UK also sell post mix Virgin cola.
[edit] Trivia
- It is endorsed by Nicole Richie, Nicky Hilton, and Ashlee Simpson.
