Tizer
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| Tizer | |
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| Type | carbonated soft drink |
| Manufacturer | A.G. Barr plc |
| Country of origin |  United Kingdom |
| Introduced | 1924 |
| Related products | Vimto Tango Fanta |
Tizer is a red soft drink from the United Kingdom with a very sweet and slightly fruity taste. The name originally comes from the phrase 'Tizer the Appetizer'. It was launched in 1924 by Fred Pickup of Manchester when it was known as 'Pickup's Appetizer'. After the death of Pickup it was owned by the Armour Trust before being sold to A.G. Barr plc (the makers of Irn-Bru) for £2.5 million in 1972.
Tizer famously produced a product called 'Tizer Ice' in the late 1990s. The concept of Tizer Ice was that the drink would taste ice cold even at room temperature. This was done by adding menthol to the product to create a cold sensation in the mouth whilst drinking. Tizer Ice didn't sell well and was swiftly removed from sale, despite being rebranded "Ice by Tizer" towards the end.
Tizer and Scottish soft drink Irn-Bru are both manufactured by A.G Barr. Tizer sponsored a roller coaster in Southport called the 'Traumatizer'. The TraumaTizer was closed with the park in 2006 and relocated to Blackpool, where it became known as Infusion
The drink was promoted in the early '90s through a memorably surreal, minimalist series of TV and cinema adverts. A character filmed in black and white would wander onto a background of bubbly red liquid and mutter a few words. The ad would conclude with half-words such as 'appe', 'chas' and 'adver' voiced, often in an electronically-distorted manner. It was left up to the viewer to realise that the word 'tizer' had to be added to these half words to make the whole word, which then made sense of the character's pronouncements.
The exact recipe has not been made public (as with Barr's other famous drink Irn-Bru), although a list of ingredients and nutritional data is available on the product itself.
As of 2007 Tizer has been rebranded with the slogan 'Original Great Taste' and a classic Tizer recipe with fewer additives and no E numbers. It has also been given classic style packaging without the 'Ed The Head' character. This can all be seen on the new look Tizer website.
As with any new variation of a soft drink, the change has not met with universal approval of the consumers.
