We’re betting that Ken Basin will never forget what that fourth button was for on LBJ’s desk. Who Wants to Be a Millionaire fans know what we’re talking about; the rest of you can watch this clip:
Since the interest in this refreshing beverage has now reached fever pitch (or mild sore throat and sniffles pitch, anyway), here are some fun Fresca facts to feed your frenzy.
• The Coca-Cola Company first put Fresca on our grocer’s shelves in 1963. It was one of the few diet soft drinks available at that time, along with Tab and Diet Rite. Of course, during that era the word “diet” wasn’t considered an effective marketing tool; such sodas were referred to as “sugar-free” or “low calorie” instead. Fresca had a tangy citrus-y, grapefruit-y flavor similar to Squirt, which had been on the market in limited distribution areas since 1938.
• Note the unique design of the original Fresca bottle. That grooved “channel” just under the label was in place to catch the condensation that was sure to drip down the side. Because Fresca was so cool it was cold, man.
• Fresca’s advertising “hook” was that it was chillingly refreshing on a hot summer’s day. Variations of “Come out of the heat and into the cold” was the theme for much of their advertising in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Here’s an example:
• Singer Trini Lopez did hit the top five on Billboard’s pop chart once with “If I Had a Hammer,” but as far as overall coolness goes, his tunes were more likely to be heard in your dentist’s office than in the local discotheques. Nevertheless, Coca-Cola found him sufficiently groovy enough to record “The Blizzard Song,” which was given away as a freebie with specially marked cases of Fresca in 1967.
• One reason Fresca was so popular in its day was that it not only had no sugar and only two calories per 10 ounce serving, but it was a dietetic product that didn’t taste like a mildewed sweat sock. The secret behind its sugar-free yet sweet flavor was an artificial sweetener called Cyclamate.
One lesson we all learn as kids is that any time something really good comes along, there’s always someone in the wings waiting to take it away from you. In this case the spoilsport was FDA research scientist Dr. Jacqueline Verrett, who appeared on some TV news programs with baby chicks who’d been injected with massive doses of Cyclamate as embryos. Fifteen percent of the birds had developed Thalidomide-like deformities, and widespread panic ensued. October 18, 1969, the government banned the use of Cyclamate and a senior vice president of Coca-Cola recalled that his staff “woke up a lot of printers in the middle of the night” in order to change the text on their bottles. While the company’s chemists started work on a new formula using saccharine, the new catch-phrase was printed on each container of Fresca in order to reassure concerned consumers: NO CYCLAMATE.
Comments (20)
Comment
- subscribe /
- give a gift /
- terms of service /
- about /
- contact us /
- write for us /
- ad info /
- subscriber services /
- press /
- privacy policy /
- rss /
© 2012 Mental Floss Inc. All Rights Reserved. Mental Floss is a registered trademark owned by Felix Dennis. mentalfloss.com is a trademark owned by Felix Dennis.
Disclaimer: All submissions made to mental_floss become the property of Mental Floss Inc and may be used without further permission by the submitter and without compensation to the submitter. If you do not agree to these terms, please do not submit anything to mental_floss.
Mmm… Fresca…
Fresca/Vodka is my favorite summer drink.
posted by Lindsey on 8-25-2009 at 3:29 pm
ME, TOO!! Try adding just a sliver of orange peel…twist it and some of the orange peel oil floats on top…yummy!!!
posted by elizabeth on 8-25-2009 at 3:46 pm
Fresh tastes like soapy water, no thank you.
posted by David on 8-25-2009 at 4:06 pm
Am I the only one that was kind of glad that guy lost?
posted by SteveO on 8-25-2009 at 4:13 pm
i was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes in 1989. fresca was pretty much the best thing ever. i actually loved that it didn’t say ‘diet” on it. made me feel like a “normal kid.” plus it was awesome to have something OTHER than diet coke and something… like you said… that didn’t taste awful.
posted by C on 8-25-2009 at 4:21 pm
How bout a Fresca, Hum, Hum?
Name that movie quote.
posted by Bill on 8-25-2009 at 4:24 pm
Caddyshack.
That’s what I first thought when I read the article.
posted by Jerry on 8-25-2009 at 4:41 pm
My parents actually went on a Fresca diet in the 70s. Nothing but Fresca for breakfast and lunch.
posted by kim on 8-25-2009 at 5:00 pm
I third the Fresca/Vodka beverage support… it’s fantastic. I’m sure this isn’t original, but I call it a “Fredka”.
posted by Ophelia on 8-25-2009 at 5:47 pm
Dumb kid.
posted by Jake on 8-25-2009 at 5:59 pm
@Ophelia, I’m totally stealing “Fredka!”
posted by Lindsey on 8-25-2009 at 7:19 pm
My advertising professor DeForest (?) at the University of Tennessee claimed to be the Coca-Cola executive who named Fresca! I looked closely for his name in this article but didn’t see it…hmm.
posted by Eric on 8-25-2009 at 8:48 pm
Fresca commercials often portrayed a snowstorm occurring when a bottle was opened. When I was a kid, the joke on the playground was, “Did you hear about the guy who drank too much Fresca? He fell asleep and snowed in his pants!” (Rimshot)
posted by Tex on 8-25-2009 at 11:21 pm
Because Fresca has real fruit juice in it, I found it good for my voice when I was an early-morning DJ. Also because it has fruit juice, it needs a chemical to suspend the juice in the carbonated water. That would be my favorite ingredient of all time: Glycerol Ester of Wood Rosin. Mmm…wood rosin!
posted by Terry on 8-26-2009 at 1:20 am
I think I prefer the sound of “frodka”. It just has that easy-to-order feel to it: “Yes, can I have a frodka on the rocks with a twist of orange, please?” Beautiful.
reCaptcha: Bumbling 69. Result of too many frodkas…..
posted by Kelly on 8-26-2009 at 10:02 am
Ooh, I used to love Fresca! I haven’t had it in quite awhile…maybe I’ll look for it the next time I go to the store!
posted by Krie on 8-26-2009 at 10:11 am
OMG! I totally thought I “invented” vodka and fresca (frodka). I even turned my elderly aunt and uncle on to it. Of course they are already raging alcohilcs so there you go.
posted by Lynnie on 8-26-2009 at 12:44 pm
Be sure to not mess with a man and his Fresca. We had a friend who was woken up in the middle of the night from our laughter in Mexico. Feeling thirsty he grabs a nice refreshing Fresca. Just as he opens it his wife “antiques” him. The laughter he had heard was we were “antiqueing” other people who were asleep – there is no sleeping on a trip to Mexico. He was LIVID, his exact words were (and the reason he was so upset) “I just opened my Fresca” and now it is ruined. So beware of the consequences of messing with a man and his Fresca.
posted by Lisa on 8-26-2009 at 3:59 pm
LBJ would never strike me as “a chocolate milk kind of guy”.
posted by nh344 on 9-1-2009 at 1:52 am
\How bout a Fresca, Hum, Hum?\
Caddyshack…..
posted by opus_p on 9-12-2009 at 11:28 am