‘You’ve been Tangoed’ – Britvic celebrates 80 years with ad show reel

12-Sep-2018 - Last updated on 28-Sep-2021 at 07:36 GMT

From humble beginnings in an Essex chemist in 1938, Britvic has expanded during the past eight decades to become one of the largest soft drinks suppliers in the world, pumping out 2.3bn litres of drinks a year.

To celebrate, the soft drinks company, which manufactures R White’s, Purdey’s and Tango, has put together a show reel featuring some of its most iconic drinks adverts from the 1940s up to 2017.

Clips include the famous You’ve Been Tangoed ad from the 1990s, as well as less garish ones from the days of black and white television.

Vitamin waters

Britvic started as a small enterprise in a chemist shop in Chelmsford, selling vitamin waters before expanding through own-brand juices in 1949 and mixers in 1972.

It introduced Fruit Shoot in 2000, Drench in 2006 and acquired brands including R White’s and Tango in 1986. Only in 1995 did it acquire Robinsons cordials after becoming the Great British and ROI exclusive bottler and distributor for PepsiCo soft drinks in 1987.

Managing director Paul Graham said: “Every Britvic brand has its own unique story, often going back centuries – long before Britvic existed.”

Innovation meets trends

Graham added: “As passionate custodians of these brands, our end-to-end team of talented people has driven innovation in line with consumer trends to build each brand into lasting household names that have stayed relevant across the decades and brought happiness to generations of consumers.

“R.White’s is a great example. In 1845, 21-year-old Robert White and his wife Mary started making their own lemonade in Camberwell, south London. They originally sold it by the glass from a wooden cart.”

In recent years, Britvic has extended its range of Purdey’s as well as developing new packaging formats for its Robinsons products, including Squash’d extra concentrated cordial.