Strongbow is a brand of dry cider[1] manufactured in England by H.P. Bulmer. Popular since it was launched in 1962,[2] it is the best selling cider in the world, and its sales account for more than 20% of all the cider sold in the UK.[3] It is also in a strong commercial position in Ireland, where the name has historical relevance.
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Strongbow is named after the Cambro-Norman knight Richard de Clare, later Earl of Pembroke, nicknamed "Strongbow" for relying heavily on Welsh archers during campaigns in Ireland, where at the time the Irish had few bows and relied on javelins. The cider is produced in Hereford by the English cider company Bulmers, part of Scottish and Newcastle, which in turn is owned by the Dutch brewer Heineken. Bulmers were granted the Royal Warrant in 1911.[4] In January 2011, Heineken announced their intention to take the Strongbow brand global.[5]
Strongbow is a blend of bitter-sweet cider and culinary apples, with 50 different varieties of apple used.[6] It is mass-produced using modern methods, and contains apple concentrate and sugar. It is fermented with a controlled yeast strain, and at least some varieties are flavoured with artificial sweeteners.
The alcoholic strength of Strongbow Cider in the UK and Canada is 5.3% ABV (10.6 proof US) in cans and bottles, but 4.5% ABV (9 proof US) draught in pubs.
In the UK, Strongbow is available in four different forms. In draught form it is 4.5% ABV and it is 5.3% ABV in cans and bottles. Original, Extra Cold (draught only, chilled to a few degrees lower than normal draught Strongbow) and the newer Strongbow Sirrus (5% ABV), which was launched in summer 2005 to compete with C&C's Magners Original Irish Cider. Sirrus was formulated as a 'smooth' cider designed to be poured over ice, and is only available in bottles, whereas the normal variety is available in cans, bottles and on draught. Strongbow Black (previously Strongbow Super) at 7.5% ABV, was recently delisted by Heineken on social responsibility grounds.[7]
In South Africa, the USA and Australia, Strongbow is also available but is brewed to a strength of only 5% ABV.[8] In Canada and Sweden, Strongbow is available at the typical 5.3% ABV. Strongbow is available in four varieties in Australia: Dry, Sweet, Original (formerly sold as "Draught"), and Clear (a low carbohydrate variety). Previously Strongbow White was available in Australia, which had a much higher alcohol content (8.5%). It ceased production sometime after 2000. In the USA and Canada, only Strongbow Original is commonly available.
Scottish & Newcastle have also extended the Strongbow range with Jacques from Strongbow, a 5.5% ABV cider with cherry, raspberry and blackcurrant flavours, made in Belgium by S&N's Stassen cider mill.[9]
In 2007, the company began trials of Strongbow Iced, a competitor to other ciders that are served over ice. This uses a specially designed pump that creates a "head" of ice made from cider on the top of the pint.[10]
The "thudding arrows" have been a signature of the brand's television advertising since the 1960s. Towards the end of the advertisement, two arrows thud into a bar counter near a glass of Strongbow, or its bar pump. The original Norman Archer logo was designed by Colin Fulcher, better known as artist Barney Bubbles.
Commercials around 1998 featured Johnny Vaughan and the "live to loaf" line. The idea was to associate the naturally refreshing nature of Strongbow with a laid back attitude to life. During Spring 2007, the television advertising campaign was based around "total first pint refreshment (a-a-a-h)", and starred Tim Key.[11]
Strongbow were official shirt sponsors of Edinburgh football club Heart of Midlothian from 1992-2002. During this time, Hearts would be welcomed onto the pitch at the start of every game with the same words: "Hearts are sponsored by Strongbow; the UK's number one cider."
Strongbow also sponsored Leeds United Football Club from 2000-2003.[12]
In Canada, the brand has been marketed since 2007 using the tag line "Shatter Expectations" through an advertising campaign developed by Round Table Advertising.[13]
As of August 2010, TV adverts in the UK are based on the "medal ceremony" scene at the end of the 1977 Star Wars movie: three men walk down an isle flanked by large numbers of men; step up a raised podium at the far end; and receive a reward - a pint of Strongbow - for their "heroic deeds" ( i.e.: performing their ordinary jobs ). The scene in Star Wars, however, was in turn inspired by a scene from the Nazi propaganda film Triumph of the Will (1935).
In 2011, a new campaign entitled 'Hard Earned' was launched to promote the product. The commercial featured two men delivering a sofa to en elderly lady on the top floor of a tall tower, where they discover that the lift is out of order, and they must travel up 25 floors to deliver it, guided in a 'mission' style way by a third man. Upon delivering the sofa, the boys take a sip of Strongbow in a bar just across the street, where they then receive an incoming call from the elderly lady claiming she has received the wrong sofa...this she does by using the words now famously recognised as the punch line, "This is Stripy, I wanted Plain."
An advert in the 1990s, which featured a black snake slither in a golden desert - which then fades into a similar image of bubbles in a glass of Strongbow - was very famous for being aired various times - each with a different version of the Deep Purple song "Smoke on the Water". The first version was 10 seconds long and aired in 1990, a 40-second version aired in 1995. A 30-second version aired in 1997.
From March–October 2006, one of Guinness' more successful campaigns aired, which contained six advertisements with the slogan "Taste that hits a little deeper". They feature "annoying things" such as a mobile phone or a limousine, which get "thudded" by the arrows, cutting over to a bottle of Strongbow (or Sirrius) in which the slogan is said.