Um Bongo

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article needs additional citations for verification.
Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (June 2007)

Um Bongo is a mixed tropical fruit juice drink in the United Kingdom, manufactured by Gerber Foods Soft Drinks Limited under the name Libby's in Milnthorpe, Cumbria.

It is particularly famous for its long running (sung) slogan of "They Drink It In The Congo", used with the accompanying animated television advert since the 1980s. However, Um Bongo is not marketed in either the Republic of the Congo or the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

For a short period of time in the 1990s, Um Bongo gained a sister drink called Um Ognob but this has since been withdrawn.

The song was sung by Tony Jackson, a member of the band 'Rage', best known for their 1992 number 4 chart hit, "Run to You". The music and lyrics were composed by Andy Blackford, now creative partner in the advertising agency KB49.^[1] The jingle was produced by Andre Jacquemin, musical composer, arranger and producer to Monty Python.

[edit] Lyrics

The Um Bongo jingle lyrics became a somewhat cult phenomena in the 1990's. There were as follows:

Way down deep in the middle of the Congo,
A hippo took an apricot, a guava and a mango.
He stuck it with the others, and he danced a dainty tango.
The rhino said, "I know, we'll call it Um Bongo"
Um Bongo, Um Bongo, They drink it in the Congo.
The python picked the passion fruit, the marmoset the mandarin.
The parrot painted packets, that the whole caboodle landed in.
So when it comes to sun and fun and goodness in the jungle,
They all prefer the sunny funny one they call um bongo!