When he found Smith was taken as a brand name, he went with his second choice, Jones. Hip yet square. A Vancouver photographer named Victor John Penner, who designed the soda s product packaging, suggested using some of his own photos on the label. It was van Stolk s idea to invite consumers to send in their own pictures the more bizarre, the better. It was the emotional connection, he explains.
People get excited about seeing their photos on the bottles.
So much so that they ve become collector s items. We had to figure how we could do it. Finding the technology to produce a thousand different labels proved easier than getting the taste of the first six flavours right. He hired away the head of quality control for Clearly Canadian, a Vancouver company which pioneered the clear new-age beverages, and they used the services of the world s major flavour company, Tastemaker, in Cincinnati, Ohio. That was a horrible year.