Talk:Irn-Bru

message: I have removed the fact that they are refundable, due to the fact that the 20p bottles are vanishing as and when shops take in new stock now (you may still find some around). If someone can clarify whether or not you can still receive a refund from the new bottles (unmarked as refundable, instead just "hand it back") then it can be reinstated. Nessymonster (talk) 12:05, 11 April 2008 (UTC)
replies: text: Looks like they just removed the "price" from the bottles during the change to 30p Nessymonster (talk) 23:29, 30 August 2008 (UTC)

text: You can fit 17 Ginger/Ginjie Boattles into a large trombone case. I know this is original research, but I was pally with my old school technicians and used to blag their old bottles. BTW, no mention of the big Ba Bru sign over Glasgow Central?82.0.25.104 (talk) 22:42, 24 February 2011 (UTC)
thread_title: Glass bottles - refundable

message: The formula for Irn-Bru is a closely guarded secret, known only by two of Barr's board members.- cheese lolz
This sounds like myth to me, as it almost exactly mirrors the age-old legend about Coca-Cola's formula. The only online sources I could find were other encyclopedia entries which themselves appear to be cribbed directly from Wikipedia. What's known of the Coca-Cola legend also suggests that hearing this statement directly from Barr wouldn't change its credibility; the most the article could state would be that Barr claims that the formula is secret.
:Depends on what is meant by "formula" really. If it's a silly substitute for the word recipe, then your source can be found on the bottles.Nessymonster (talk) 23:31, 30 August 2008 (UTC)
thread_title:  Urban legend? 

message: According to the Irn Bru site  the "Legend" is true. Here's a screenshot from the site:Image:irnbruxx.GIF
More proof:  131.111.195.11 (talk) 01:57, 26 May 2009 (UTC)
thread_title:  Legend is true 

message: "...or that it is more popular than Coca-Cola in Russia. This is untrue, it's far more prosperous in Asabajan."
That last bit is nonsense, but I can't work out what it should say. Someone with knowledge, please sort it out! 86.132.142.201 04:53, 1 October 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: It should say nothing about it, because there's nothing to back the statement up?  I will remove the reference to Azerbaijan - if it's true, someone who can cite evidence should add it again. James Montgomerie 06:56, 26 November 2006 (UTC)

text: I can confirm that Irn-Bru is available in Ireland.  I recently bought a bottle in downtown Dublin.  It was at a little convenience store near the bus station on Lower Abbey Street.  Though I agree with the "sporadically" part -- I travelled all throughout Ireland for almost a week, and that was the only place I found that sold Irn-Bru.  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 98.204.78.188 (talk) 15:19, 20 July 2008 (UTC)

text: I have only seen two locations in Ireland that sell Irn-Bru. One of them seems to sell a lot of import goods though. So I'd say "imported by certain retailers in Ireland" rather than "available sporadically" 86.45.128.46 (talk) 23:11, 16 December 2008 (UTC)

text: Does anybody have any evidence, even anecdotally, that it's available in Ireland other than in Centra shops in Dublin?  I've certainly never seen it anywhere else.--Handelaar (talk) 01:07, 16 January 2009 (UTC)
thread_title:  Huh? 

message: This article states that "It has long been the most popular soft drink in Scotland, outselling even Coca-Cola, but recent fierce competition between the two brands has brought their sales to roughly equal levels (perhaps leaning to Coca-Cola) [1]. This success in defending its home market (a feat claimed only by Irn-Bru, South Australia's Farmers Union Iced Coffee, Peru's Inca Kola and Sweden's Julmust)"  However, the milk article says "South Australia has the highest consumption of flavoured milk per person, where Farmers Union Iced Coffee outsells Coca-Cola, a success shared only by Inca Kola in Peru and Irn-Bru in Scotland.".  Which is correct regarding Julmust? silsor 03:30, 19 October 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: Julmust is seasonal; When it's available, it outsells Coca-Cola, but year-round, Coke outsells Julmust. 174.101.174.57 (talk) 15:25, 23 June 2013 (UTC)
thread_title: Factual accuracy

message: The section on the term "ginger" doesn't appear to be correct. I've never heard anyone refer to ginger specifically as being Irn-Bru. I'm removing this claim. Chris Cunningham 12:40, 4 December 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: I lived in Glasgow for 10 months last year, working in cafes, and I did hear some people call Irn Bru "ginger". "Aye! Gimme a wee bod'l ah ginger will yah pal?!". Am I the only one? Mikeeg555 06:49, 15 December 2006 (UTC)

text: It's actually more of a West Coast, specifically Glaswegian, term. I'm East Coast (Perth) and no one here uses the term ginger.Grievous Angel (talk) 16:37, 11 April 2008 (UTC)
replies: text: Hmm... sort of like how in the Southern US, any carbonated beverage is a "Coke," even if it's a Pepsi? Schoop (talk) 13:30, 17 July 2008 (UTC)
thread_title:  Ginger 

message: The article currently claims the post-war legislation insisting on 0.125g of iron per fluid ounce to keep the name "iron brew" - this seems like an alarmingly large percentage - about 0.44%. Can someone have a look at this please, especially as the drink apparently contains 0.002% of ammonium ferric citrate? Ringbark 00:11, 5 December 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: Does it not seem unlikely that a legilative requirement would insist on grammes per fluid ounce?  Mixed units.86.26.241.109 (talk) 21:27, 3 February 2008 (UTC)
thread_title:  Iron content 

message: Do these actually still exist? Every online vintage sweet shop I have vistited is out of stock, and most of these pages point to WHAM brew bars. If they are not longer produced, I feel change to the section regarding them should be changed to reflect this. If they are still available somewhere, contact me asap! Elkrobber 19:48, 22 January 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: I think they are still about, could have sworn I saw some the other day. I'll have another look about in a few days and reply if I see any or not. Tartan 16:46, 24 February 2007 (UTC)

text: Yeah, they are still available, we have them in our local shopNessymonster (talk) 12:02, 11 April 2008 (UTC)

text: In fact if you do that, you run the risk of tearing a hole in the spacetime continuum...82.0.25.104 (talk) 22:39, 24 February 2011 (UTC)

text: I think it was Marty Pellow's girlfriend Eilleen Catterall. She blamed Irn Bru bars for her dental decay. Apparently she didn't know that inhaling large quantities of sticky, sugar laden sweets will rot the teeth out of your skull...82.0.25.104 (talk) 22:39, 24 February 2011 (UTC)
thread_title:  Irn Bru Bars 

message: The pronunciation given on the article, with the stress on "Irn" instead of "Bru" is a distinctly English pronunciation. Scottish people stress "Bru"; in fact I find it very difficult to pronounce it with stress on "Irn". I don't think this is accurate for a drink that originated and is drunk in Scotland and this is why I am changing it now.
Finlay (talk) 22:24, 11 June 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  pronunciation? 

message: I live furth of Scotland now, and don't recall seeing any of the clever advertisements described on the main page. However, I was subjected to the Sandy and Ba Bru commercials often enough to still remember the words of the jingle: 
"I am very thirsty" - alto rendition by Scottish boy (Sandy) in full highland dress
"Ah'm thirsty too" - basso profundo by stereotypical African boy (Ba Bru)
"Here's the drink that's made for you" - adult voices?
"Barr's Irn Bru." - everyone.
The racial portrayals must have offended some people and led to the demise of the series. I never saw how they would make anyone buy Irn Bru, unless the sheer frequency of repetition was meant to make sight of a ginger bottle trigger a replay of the jingle. NRPanikker 23:45, 14 October 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Marketing 

message: Does anyone have any information on this product?. . Irn Bru xs, an isotonic sports drink that was avaliable a few years ago. 
This was an orange flavoured sports drink that was released in 1995.  It was sold in 330ml cans which were packaged mainly blue with a bit of orange (reverse of the original), the can also incorporated an orange fruit into the logo.  They managed to land a sponsorship deal with the Scotland national football team however this was to be the drinks main downfall.  The team were supplied with the drink and after a lot of poor performance and vomiting during training the team were advised not to take it before training due to the strong sweet flavours.  The team put out a statement that the drink was being withdrawn as one of their sponsors and then the there was a further announcement that the team trainers and doctors recommended that nobody involved in physical activity should drink this product prior to a workout.  Shortly after this Irn Bru XS started to disapear from the shelves.  I do not know when it was officially stopped.  
On a personal note I tried it a couple of times, it was like drinking undiluted orange concentrate with fizz added, it was not one of my favourite drinks.
Kmacphail (talk) 13:16, 30 August 2010 (UTC)
thread_title:  Irn-bru Xs 

message: Here in Russia Irn Bru is also available in 600ml plastic bottle (instead of 500ml), but I'm not sure whether I have to edit the page or something... 77.51.0.24 (talk) 14:40, 22 November 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Package 

message: 16.9USFlOZ is 500ml. Since the 500ml bottle is already listed, and the list rightfully contains no other imperial values, I see no need for this being on the list twice.  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.111.162.127 (talk) 14:25, 21 February 2008 (UTC)
thread_title:  16.9 ounce plastic bottle 

message: Is there some sort of competition with the two companies (Barr and Coca-Cola)? LOTRrules (talk) 18:26, 23 February 2008 (UTC)
thread_title: Irn-Bru vs Coca Cola

message: Seems to not work for me as the Herald website has taken down the linked page about Irn-Bru 32.Dead link. 87.80.198.189 (talk) 20:06, 10 May 2008 (UTC)
thread_title: Link 16 (Herald) 

message: If one of the ingredients of Irn Bru is E124 (the red food colouring) how is Irn Bru available for sale in the United States and Norway?  E124 is banned in both of these countries.  —Preceding unsigned comment added by Rykaro (talk • contribs) 08:39, 2 September 2008 (UTC)
thread_title:  How? 

message: "Irn-Bru was first produced in 1901, in the town of Falkirk, under the name Strachan's brew."
Not true. No one knows where this idea came from, but it's not the case. Its earliest name was IRON BREW, before becoming IRN-BRU in the 1940s. Here's the company website, history pages. MFC23 (talk) 11:06, 2 January 2020 (UTC)
thread_title:  Strachan's Brew? 

message: No reference to the "Big Match Can" premotion that's recently been released to coincide with the World cup. I don't know the specifics, but there what King Noodles are to Pot Noodles. =P  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 109.153.202.96 (talk) 22:33, 17 June 2010 (UTC)
thread_title:  Big Match Can 

message: I don't understand which particular beverage the third paragraph under "Canada" is talking about: 
I can't speak to the Montreal stuff.. but the product below (Cape Breton's Irn Bru) was discontinued around 2006, it was a dark brown, almost cola-like in a appearance, beverage which has been discontinued for about 20 years now. I'm not sure when the Scottish Irn-Bru began competing in the Canadian market, but that timeline might line up with it disappearing. The family story about this Cape Breton Irn Bru was that there was a deal in place for William McKinlay of Glace Bay, Nova Scotia to purchase and import concentrate from Scotland to make his own drink (McKinlay was himself a Scot from outside Glasgow). McKinlay's was in operation from about 1901-1988 and after that the local Pepsi Co facility sold Cape Breton Irn Bru from about 1990-2006. After which the local manufacturer had to discontinue production as they couldn't import the concentrate from Scotland any longer. Hypothesizing, but it could make sense Irn-Bru cut them off if they intended to expand into Canada at that time with their original beverage.  — Preceding unsigned comment added by 198.90.81.143 (talk) 13:32, 6 July 2022 (UTC)
thread_title:  'Canada' section is confusing 

message: Was this article written by the Company or someone who works for the company? It sure reads like it.--99.177.248.92 (talk) 22:16, 15 December 2010 (UTC)
thread_title:  Was this article written by the Company or someone who works for the company? 

message: The strong man emblem which is on Irn Bru cans and bottles was orignally based on the famous Scottish strongman and athlete, Donald Dinnie, who advertised the drink http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_dinnie#cite_note-BBC-1 (79.190.69.142 (talk) 11:35, 4 June 2011 (UTC)
thread_title: Strong man Emblem

message: From the opening section
"When workers from the William Beardmore and Company Steel Works in Glasgow were dying from the large amounts of beer drunk to quench their thirst from the heat of the steel works, an alternative was sought."
This is an extroadinary claim, that beer was killing steelworkers. Where's the citation? Also, we're still waiting for a cite for the "alternative" being sought, and by whom. This sentence screams of urban legend. Almagpie (talk) 08:25, 27 September 2011 (UTC)
replies: text: It is plausible that they weren't actually dying from beer consumption, just rendering themselves incapable. This might still have induced the Steel Works managers to agree a deal for supply of a soft drink. Maproom (talk) 21:03, 25 June 2012 (UTC)
thread_title:  Origins - Steelworks Story  - People dying? Really? 

message: Irn-Bru sold in Canada now contains caffeine; Health Canada extended the use of caffeine to non-cola soft drinks. It says it is the original formula on the bottle. 204.235.221.199 (talk) 20:05, 3 October 2011 (UTC)
thread_title:  Canada caffeine  

message: Would it be possible for a section to be added on Irn-Bru's specific place in Scottish culture? What I mean is with regards to it being our "second national drink"; its fabled properties as a hangover remedy; the fact that in certain areas "ginger" has become a genericised name for all carbonated drinks; the fact that people can exchange glass Irn-Bru bottles (or 'gingies' or 'hectors' or one of many other names) for what should be cash but is usually just store credit; that this practice of keeping glass bottles and exchanging them is very common and likely more so than in other places with refundable bottles; that young kids often find and collect these bottles for money for sweets; that while there is little to no stigma attached to exchanging your own old bottles, no one wants to be branded a 'gingie collector' or 'hector collector' or 'bottle mink' for going round looking for them. Also, if sources exist, it could be put forward that many Scots feel a brand loyalty to Irn-Bru not just based on the product, but also national pride, seeing it in the same way the English might see fish and chips or the Irish see Guinness.
Our relationship to Irn-Bru (and the gingie bottles it comes in) can be seen in any of the many Scottish comedy shows broadcast over the years including Chewin' The Fat, Still Game, Rab C Nesbitt, Burnistoun and the work of the comedy group Dance Monkey Boy Dance on Youtube. Neldo (talk) 02:00, 9 January 2012 (UTC)
thread_title:  Scottish Culture 

message: I must admit to having a wee chuckle at the ip editor who wrote "it's not a Scottish drink", while requesting a citation for one of the most weel kent advertising slogans in Scottish commercial history. Some folks really do have no shame. Despite the patent silliness of the request, I have duly provided refs. However, I couldn't resist pointing out this wonderful piece of Barr's artwork:
* "If It's Not Scottish... It's Crrrap!!! - Not a source of iron. Scottish soft drink."
Stick that in your ip pipe and smoke it.
It escapes me why folk don't just log in to their accounts to make edits. Is it because they have enough self-awareness that they don't want to be caught making daft edits? --Mais oui! (talk) 16:29, 5 February 2012 (UTC)
thread_title:  Classic edit summary; classic advertising 

message: Latest news is that Barrs has been bought out/merged with Britvic.  The news report said that Barrs Iron Brew was first produced in the 1870s
87.114.59.193 (talk) 21:38, 9 September 2012 (UTC)
replies: text: As you haven't provided your source it's difficult to pass comment but I imagine it actually says Barrs was founded in 1875, not Irn Bru. Mutt Lunker (talk) 22:46, 9 September 2012 (UTC)
thread_title:  Merger 

message: Netto does indeed carry them from time to time. I have a bill of sale from today with them listed that I would have no issues uploading if that counts as a creditable source. ~~TNFSDK~~
:I too can confirm that Netto sells Irn-Bru. - clb92  — Preceding unsigned comment added by 94.145.105.47 (talk) 17:14, 19 September 2013 (UTC)
thread_title: Denmark - confirmation of sales

message: You can probably remove the sentence about this being stopped at the border.  As this article from a Canadian news outlet explains (http://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/marmite-and-irn-bru-are-not-banned-in-canada-agency-says-1.1656150) it was all a media over reaction and the shipment was actually stopped by the CFIA due to meat products that were in the same shipment not having the proper documentation. 80.254.148.187 (talk) 14:10, 10 February 2014 (UTC)
thread_title:  Irn Bru - Canada 

message: Never heard of Irn Bru. Came here to find out what the stuff is. However, in amidst the dross of its popularity in scotland and its sales history everywhere else, the wikipedia completely fails to answer one simple question: What the f**k is Irn Bru? Yeah, I get that it's a carbonated soft drink that's popular in scotland. Big deal! What is it? Is it a type of cola? Is it flavoured? If I drank it, what should I be expecting? Your article on the american Doctor Pepper drink struggles to define the flavour but at least it provides a decent hint, not like this piece of uninformative dross.  — Preceding unsigned comment added by 175.38.231.169 (talk) 07:35, 7 August 2014 (UTC)
replies: text: Some describe it as a fruit flavoured drink, but TBH is hard to describe. It is simply a sweet, clear fizzy drink with a distinct orange colour. It looks a bit like Tizer, which is red in colour, and tastes a little similar, in that both are sweet. Funnily enough, Firey Irn Bru didn't taste out of place. 2.101.150.210 (talk) 16:57, 4 April 2016 (UTC)
replies: text:  It tastes as if Bender has pissed in a can. With a bad case of robot diabetes. Andy Dingley (talk) 17:15, 4 April 2016 (UTC)
replies: text: Is it a kind of orange soda? Ghostofnemo (talk) 08:35, 10 May 2018 (UTC)

text: I am having one now, first time, and I can't place the flavor. Anyone?--Kintetsubuffalo (talk) 06:04, 27 January 2019 (UTC)
thread_title:  Never heard of it. What is it? 

message: No hints at all given about what it tastes like. It is a cola? Root beer? Ginger ale? What?  — Preceding unsigned comment added by 184.147.123.145 (talk) 23:15, 12 January 2015 (UTC)
replies: text: No. Mutt Lunker (talk) 23:57, 12 January 2015 (UTC)
thread_title:  Taste? 

message: Can't see his mentioned anywhere. It's a popular mixer in Scotland. During the alcopop boom of the '90s, small pre-mixed bottles of it were also sold directly. Andy Dingley (talk) 08:01, 28 May 2015 (UTC)
replies: text: It's mentioned slightly in the Portfolio section, but there's little information about the other varieties that have come and gone. I used to love XS and Fiery (Stockpiled the latter after they withdrew it, but eventually ran out.) Stuart.Jamieson (talk) 10:04, 29 May 2015 (UTC)
thread_title:  Irn-Bru and Bells whisky 

message: Hello fellow Wikipedians,
I have just added archive links to  on Irn-Bru. Please take a moment to review my edit. If necessary, add  after the link to keep me from modifying it. Alternatively, you can add  to keep me off the page altogether. I made the following changes:
*Added archive https://web.archive.org/20130430142525/http://www.ofcom.org.uk/tv/obb/adv_comp/a14/a14.pdf to http://www.ofcom.org.uk/tv/obb/adv_comp/a14/a14.pdf
*Added archive https://web.archive.org/20081206002607/http://www.asa.org.uk/NR/rdonlyres/B0A907A0-5D13-4EB5-9A40-CC5DA5584183/0/ASA_Statistics_1998.pdf to http://www.asa.org.uk/NR/rdonlyres/B0A907A0-5D13-4EB5-9A40-CC5DA5584183/0/ASA_Statistics_1998.pdf
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thread_title:  External links modified 

message: Hey, I was reading over the Canada section, and as a Cape Bretoner, I noticed a few things:
1- Nobody ever spelled McKinlay as McKinley. It was always McKinlay.
2- There never was an Iron Brew successor. The part about the Pepsi reboot is all fake. There was no "Cape Breton's Irn Bru". When McKinlay's shut down, Iron brew shut down with it.  — Preceding unsigned comment added by 156.57.18.99 (talk) 21:09, 20 July 2016 (UTC)
thread_title:  Canada section incorrect 

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*Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20121101081648/http://www.agbarr.co.uk/agbarr/newsite/ces_general.nsf/wpg/history%21OpenDocument to http://www.agbarr.co.uk/agbarr/newsite/ces_general.nsf/wpg/history%21OpenDocument
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thread_title:  External links modified 

message: the first Iron Brew drink was launched in 1889. The drink was first sold under the name IRONBREW and described as ‘The Ideal American drink’ by New York-based manufacturers and chemicals firm Maas & Waldstein. Barr’s own IRN-BRU was on sale as early as 1898, three years earlier than the official launch date.
http://metro.co.uk/2017/06/23/sorry-to-break-it-to-you-but-irn-bru-probably-isnt-scottish-6728934/
Ochib (talk) 12:29, 23 June 2017 (UTC)
replies: text: Clearly a siimilar name, possibly inspiring Irn Bru's name, but evidently a different recipe, colour and flavour. The articles talk in terms of "may" and "might". Probably worth a mention in the article in addition to the existing material but not as a replacement for the material addressing specifically this product. Mutt Lunker (talk) 14:50, 23 June 2017 (UTC)
thread_title:  New research on the history of Iron Bru

message: The claim that "The alcopop WKD was launched as an alcoholic equivalent of Irn-Bru." seems dubious, so I've removed it. There's an ambiguous and unsourced line in the WKD article about being "first marketed in Scotland under the name 'Wicked'", but I can't find anything beyond that, or any clarification of whether the initial launch included the orange drink.
"There is an official Irn-Bru WKD flavour." certainly seems incorrect, though, as the WKD bottles are branded "Iron Brew" and do not feature the Barr's logo or design. --Lord Belbury (talk) 12:16, 11 May 2018 (UTC)
thread_title:  WKD 

message: Is it possible to add a brief descriptor of the flavor beyond "unique"? 178.232.45.3 (talk) 21:40, 17 January 2023 (UTC)
thread_title:  Flavor 

message: Possible source
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/the-question-why-is-irn-bru-taking-over-the-middle-east-87w3qfkgsph (paywall) //HL (talk) 12:00, 6 March 2023 (UTC)
thread_title:  Populariity in Middle East 

message: I tried to add a Wikipedia page for Rivets, the Irn Bru clone that existed in Scotland in the 90s. I was told it failed the notability criteria and the editor suggest I merge in the content into this article (see Draft:Rivets (Iron Brew)). I have done this and added one more branded competitor that existed and listed three own-brand versions sold by supermarkets (talk) 18:00, 22 March 2023 (UTC)
thread_title: Competitor and generic brands

message: I noted that reference 3 mentions tartan, but redirects to an article that only briefly mentions tartan. A better link to include would be the Scottish Register of Tartans' Irn-Bru entry https://www.tartanregister.gov.uk/tartanDetails?ref=1856 65.128.181.121 (talk) 23:15, 7 November 2023 (UTC)
replies: text: Done! Barry Wom (talk) 12:04, 8 November 2023 (UTC)
thread_title:  Tartan 

message: I can't find anywhere in the article where it says what it tastes like. Thanuhrei (talk) 17:46, 28 April 2024 (UTC)
thread_title:  Flavor? 

message: Barr released a new type of irn-bru with a few different flavours in august last year (https://pwr-bru.co.uk/). Add a new section about it or add it to the variants section? JohnTSwag (talk) 13:25, 9 May 2024 (UTC)
thread_title:  PWR-BRU