Tango (drink)

Tango is a soft drink primarily sold in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Sweden, Norway and Hungary, first launched by Corona in 1950. Corona were bought by the Beecham Group in 1958, and Corona Soft Drinks were bought by Britvic in 1987.^[1] In Scandinavia the drink is distributed by SMX Drinks AB.

Originally, Tango was the name of the orange flavour in a range of different flavoured drinks that each had their own name. In the 1990s, long after the other products in the range had been discontinued, the Tango brand was expanded into other flavours, including apple, lemon, cherry, blackcurrant, and later "Fruit Fling". As of August 2011, the flavours available in the United Kingdom are orange, apple, cherry and citrus.

Advertisements

Tango - apple and orange flavours

Advertisements for Tango attracted attention in the 1990s when they became well known for their distinctively bizarre and post-modern tone. The advertisements arguably became more talked-about than the product itself, and manufacturer Britvic considers the drink to be "probably most famous for its successful and innovative marketing campaigns".^[1]

The drink's first ironic campaign introduced the catchphrase "You know when you've been Tango'd", produced by advertising agency HHCL. The campaign began in 1991 with an ad, Orange Man featuring a man drinking Tango and immediately being slapped around the face by a portly man painted orange (Peter Geeves). The advert received widespread condemnation after a craze for "Tangoing" people swept the nation's playgrounds, and there were reports of children receiving serious injuries or even being deafened by being slapped on the ears.^{[citation needed]} Tango voluntarily replaced the "slapping" advert with an almost-identical new version where the orange-clad person kisses the man instead of hitting him. The original version was named the 3rd best television commercial of all time in a 2000 poll conducted by The Sunday Times and Channel 4.

Most subsequent Tango advertisements have avoided showing violence, except for the 2004 "Pipes" advert which showed a man rolling down a hill with concrete pipes, causing it to be banned, and the 1997 "Vote Orange Now" advert, where the orange clad man made another appearance, slapping the advert's protagonist several times. This latter advert was featured in the first advert-break on Channel 5.^[2] In 1998, a Tango advert that featured James Corden being bullied for not drinking Tango was banned because it was seen as encouraging the bullying of overweight children.^[3][4][5] The replacement was a non-offensive advert, Drink Tango: It's Nice.

A 2009 UK billboard campaign extolled the "weird and wonderful" side effects of drinking too much "Tango with added Tango Orange" (such as "Too much Tango made me suck a bull's udder").^[6] The British press pointed out that the initials of "Tango With Added Tango" spelled the insult "twat" when read vertically, and this was later revealed to be intentional.^[7]

Tango sponsored the television show The Word in 1994 and the Underage Festival in 2010.^{[citation needed]}

Historically, slogans have included "You Taste the Tang in Tango Every Sparkling Sip You Take" in the 1960s and "The Whole Fruit" in the late 1980s.

Blackcurrant Tango

Blackcurrant Tango is a carbonated soft drink launched in the UK by Britvic Soft Drinks Ltd in 1996. The drink is notable for the multi award winning 1997 TV commercial,^[8] St George, which was used to promote it. The drink has since been discontinued. A previous ad for the drink aired in 1996. Blackcurrant Tango was relaunched in 2011 as an exclusive flavour to Asda in the UK and as of late 2012 is sold by other retailers too.

For the launch of Blackcurrant Tango in 1996 HHCL produced the "St. George" television and cinema advertisement. In the advertisement a member of Tango's customer service staff, Ray Gardner, provides a response to a letter of complaint about the flavour of Blackcurrant Tango he has received from Sebastian Loyes, a French exchange student. The letter prompts an increasingly jingoistic tirade during which Ray Gardner removes his suit to reveal bright purple boxing shorts. In one continuous take he walks from his office, marches out of Tango's building and is joined by a flag waving crowd as he enters a boxing ring. As the camera pulls back it is revealed that the ring is perched on the edge of the White Cliffs of Dover. As the camera circles, Gardner can be heard shouting, Come on France, Europe, the world. I'll take you all on! I'm Ray Gardner. I drink Blackcurrant Tango. Come and get me! whilst three Harrier Jump Jets with purple landing lights hover in the background.

The advertisement was notable for the use of digital editing to seamlessly merge a number of tracking shots including the final transition from a sky camera to a helicopter shot. Ray Gardner later won the "ITV Best Actor In A Commercial" Award for his performance. The commercial was voted the best long commercial (1956–2001) by the UK's Film4 TV channel in June 2007. The song that appeared in the advertisement, "Don't You Want Me" by Felix, was rereleased with Tango branding.

Logos and packaging

The first packaging that Britvic introduced, upon buying the brand in 1987, featured the word 'Tango' on a circle with an orange background. In 1989, the cast, material and graphic design of the can changed considerably. No longer molded in the shape of a baked bean can in a non-reusable steel material, Tango was now available in a recyclable aluminium composition, with an innovative new ring-pull system. On the can itself, the word 'Tango' was featured inside an oval on a backdrop of half sliced oranges. The design was often seen on display in the form of laminated stickers in the shop windows of confectionery stores and news-agents, most noticeably 'Ma's Ba' on Radcliffe Road in Nottingham. 1992 saw the packaging change again, with the 'Tango' logo depicted on the fruit the drink was flavoured with against a black background, with the flavour specified at the bottom.

In early 1996, Tango packaging changed again, with the words 'Tango' and the respective flavour written on something representing the drink (for example, an orange explosion for Tango Orange). Slight changes were made in 1997 adding more detail. In 2002 another revamp occurred, with a more three-dimensional logo. The design was dropped in 2007, although is still used by Tango Ice Blast. The Diet Tango Orange products from this era featured a grey background instead of a black one.

The summer of 2007 saw a much simpler logo and design, featuring the 'Tango' logo on top of a carved version of the fruit, with the flavour written in lower case at the bottom. Intended to help restore sales of Tango, it actually led to a further decline.^{[citation needed]} May 2009 saw new packaging created by Blue Marlin Brand Design. It featured mashed-up images of fruit and graffiti-style type, and contributed to a rise in sales.^{[citation needed]}

For limited edition variations of Tango, special packaging has sometimes been produced for them. Notably, the 'Tango Talk' rebrand of Tango Orange and Tango Apple featured a mobile phone in place of the flavour representation featured on regular versions of the flavours at the time. The 2009 larger can packaging of Tango Orange known as "Tango with Added Tango Orange" featured more oranges in the background. The same can be said for the 2010 "King Tango" Tango Orange bottles. More apples were used on the label for King Tango Apple and more cherries for King Tango Cherry. No changes to flavour was made only the size of the can or bottle.^{[citation needed]}

The labelling of the short lived Tango Strange Soda featured a "strange" fruit with facial features, patterned after the name and flavour of the drink. "Tango Orange Sound System: Official Can", a 2010 repackaging of the notably large "Tango with Added Tango Orange" featured speakers on the can, in place of the mashed-up fruit. Both these large cans were advertised as "the first time Tango cans are larger". This is not true, as from 1991 until roughly 2000, all Tango flavours could be purchased in similar size larger cans. The large cans, at the initial 1991 launch, were called "King-Size".

Short lived 250ml bottles of Tango were introduced in 2000 as part of a £42m campaign by Britvic to market their drinks as being suitable for children's lunch boxes. The campaign also introduced the popular Robinson's line of juice drinks Fruit Shoot.^[9]

Tango Cherry and Tango Lemon were first to feature the 2002 revamp,^[10] getting the treatment in September 2001.

List of flavours and variants

Tango have had numerous flavous, some are still sold but most have been discontinued. The orange flavour was the only original flavour, and for this reason is the flagship flavour of the brand. As well as drinks, the brand have also sold two different chocolate bars, and chewy ball sweets.

There have been two product recalls of the drink throughout its long history. In June 1994, the brand recalled more than a million bottles of Still Tango after complaints that the drink was fermenting on the shelves.^[11] The drink was not relaunched until September 1995. Then, on 25 August 2005, over 100,000 cans of Tango Cherry and Tango Fruit Fling were recalled over fears they could explode due to an ingredient in the drink.^[12]

• Tango Orange (1950–present, branded simply as 'Tango' until 1993)
• Tango Apple (1988–present)
• Tango Lemon (1950s–2001)
• Tango Blackcurrant (1995–1999, 2011–present)
• Tango Cherry (1998, 2000–present)
• Tango Citrus (2007–present)
• Tango Fruit Fling (2003–2006)
• Mango Tango (2005, limited edition)
• Tango Tropical (1999–2001)
• Tango Orange and Pineapple (1970s–1990s)
• Tango Grapefruit (1978–unknown date)
• Tango Pineapple and Grapefruit (1987–1998)
• Diet Tango Orange (1990–2007 (was renamed Tango orange No Added Sugar) branded simply as 'Diet Tango' until early 1980s)
• Diet Tango Apple (1990–1997)
• Diet Tango Blackcurrant (1995–1997)
• Diet Tango Lemon (1990–1998)
• Diet Tango Tropical (1999–2002)
• Tango Orange No Added Sugar (2007–present)
• Tango Citrus No Added Sugar (2007–present)
• Still Tango Orange (1994, 1995–1998)
• Tango Sparkling Caribbean Lime Drink (1960s)
• Still Tango Blackcurrant (1996)^[13]
• Still Tango Lemon (1996)
• Still Tango Apple (1996)

Ranges

Tango Clear (2005–2007)

• Tango Clear Apple and Watermelon (2005–2007)
• Tango Clear Lemon and Kiwi (2005–2007)
• Tango Clear Orange (2006–2007)
• Tango Clear Raspberry and White Cranberry (2006–2007)

Tango Ice Blast (2004–present)

• Tango Ice Blast Cherry (2004–present)
• Tango Ice Blast Raspberry (2004–present)
• Tango Ice Blast Bubblegum (2004–present)
• Tango Ice Blast Lemon (2004–present)
• Tango Ice Blast Orange (2013 Limited Edition)

Tango Strange Soda (2002–2004)

• Tango Strange Soda Strange Strawberry (2002–2004)
• Tango Strange Soda Odd Orange (2002–2004)

Tango Strange Soda was called 'Freekee Soda' until 2003.

Chilled Tango (2010)

• Chilled Tango Orange
• Chilled Tango Apple
• Chilled Tango Cherry
• Chilled Tango Pineapple
• Chilled Tango Kiwi

Special Tango variants

• Tangoooh! Orange (2009)
• Tangoooh! Apple (2009)
• Tango with Added Tango Orange (2009)
• Tango Orange Sound System: Official Can (2010)
• King Tango Orange (2010–present)
• King Tango Apple (2010–present)
• King Tango Cherry (2010–present)
• Turbo Tango Orange (2011–present)
• The 'King Tango' drinks are simply bigger bottles of Tango. The 'Tangoooh!' and 'Tango with Added Tango' drinks have slight taste differences. "Tango with Added Tango" and "Tango Orange Sound System: Official Can" are sold in larger cans.

In 2001, special versions of Tango Orange and Tango Apple were released as 'Tango Talk Orange' and 'Tango Talk Apple'. However, these were the same drinks and the rebrand was purely due to a competition offered on those bottles. 2010 saw Tango Orange, Apple and Cherry rebranded as 'Chilled Tango' versions, with messages hidden under heat-sensitive ink which were only visible when the drinks were chilled to the correct temperature.^[14] The drinks were also advertised as tasting "cold" even when served at room temperature.

Turbo Tango was described as the 'first aerosol drink'.

Other

• Crunchie Tango (2000) (Chocolate bar ^[15])
• Tango Orange Chew Stick (2011–present)
• Tango Apple Chew Stick (2011–present)
• Tango Cherry Chew Stick (2011–present)
• Tango Chewy Bonbons Orange (2011–present)
• Tango Chewy Bonbons Apple (2011–present)

• Tango Chewy Bonbons Cherry (2011–present)

• Tango Chewy Bonbons Blue Raspberry (2012–present)

• Tango Chocolate Demolition Bars (2012–present)^[16]
• Tango Chocolate Demolition Balls (2012–present)^[17]
• Tango Shower Gel Orange (2013–present)
• Tango Shower Gel Cherry (2013–present)
• Tango Shower Gel Lemon (2013–present)
• Tango Shower Gel Apple (2013–present)

See also

• Tango Ice Blast: The Ride

References

External links

• Official Tango site
• The Official Britvic Tango Page
• Save Tango Film Site
• The Ray Gardner Official Website
• Swansea residents complain