Sunset Sarsaparilla Company

The Sunset Sarsaparilla Company was a pre-War soft drink manufacturer, well known around Las Vegas for its eponymous Sunset Sarsaparilla drink.
==Background==
===Pre-War===
The Sunset Sarsaparilla Company was founded in 1918,:File:Sunset Sarsaparilla Logo.png making it 126 years older than the Nuka-Cola Corporation. According to Festus, a small town saloon owner decided one day to brew a new type of soft drink. He asked his usual patrons what flavor they would want it to be, but they were of no help. However, a stranger at the end of the bar suggested he make a sarsaparilla flavored drink, and would give his family's recipe to the saloon owner if he got to sample a bottle whenever he wanted to make sure the recipe was being followed to the letter. The saloon owner agreed, thinking it would make him rich. The stranger then left to meet him the next day at sundown. The next day, the saloon owner was told by the sheriff that the stranger was killed by bandits on the side of the town road. Cursing his luck, the saloon owner closed his store early that day, just as the sun began to set. But after he locked the doors, he found a bottle with a note under it sealed with blue wax in the shape of a star. Opening it, he found the recipe of a sarsaparilla-flavored drink. After sampling the contents of the bottle, and finding it singularly delicious, he began selling Sunset Sarsaparilla and even paid for the stranger's funeral, believing that it was the least he could do for his mysterious benefactor. To this day, some bottles of Sunset Sarsaparilla have a bottle cap marked with a blue star that some say the saloon owner mandated, while some say it is the stranger continuing to sample the bottles like he was promised.The Courier: "<Deposit your Sunset Sarsaparilla Stars in the slot.>"Festus: "Wahoo, you did it pardner! Bully for you! Ol' Festus knew you could do it. I suppose you'll be wanting that prize now. Well then, hold onto your hat, because it's a doozy. Not many people have heard the true story behind Sunset Sarsaparilla. It's a right honor. And now, without further ado, your prize - The Legend of the Star... Looooong ago, people didn't have a heap of choices when it came to soft drinks. It was either water, or Nuka-cola. Now, the threat of legal action forces me to say that Nuka-cola is a swell beverage, but sometimes people just wanted something different, you know? So one day a man, a saloon owner in a small town, decided to make a new type of soft drink, and asked his patrons what flavor they'd like it to be. After getting no help from them, a stranger at the end of the bar suggested the man make a sarsaparilla flavored drink. The stranger said he would happily share his family's recipe for the drink, on one condition. The condition being that the stranger would be allowed to sample a bottle whenever he liked, to ensure the recipe was being followed to the letter. The man happily agreed, thinking the drink would make him rich, and the stranger promised to meet him by sundown the next day. The next morning, the sheriff stopped by and reported that the stranger's body was found on the side of the town road. He'd been killed by bandits. The man, cursing his luck, closed the saloon early that day, just as the sun began to set. But after he had locked the doors, he turned around to find an unfamiliar bottle on the bar, with a note beneath it. The note was sealed with blue wax in the shape of a star. Opening it, the man found it contained a recipe for a sarsaparilla-flavored drink. Sampling the bottle's contents and finding it singularly delicious, the man gave silent thanks to his mysterious benefactor, wherever he was. Being an honorable man, the saloon owner paid for the stranger's funeral, thinking it was the least he could do to repay him. The saloon owner went on to become rich selling the new drink, and to this day some bottles of Sunset Sarsaparilla have a blue star under their caps. Some say the saloon owner ordered it done, in honor of the stranger. Others say it's the stranger, sampling the bottles like he promised. And that's the Legend of the Star. Hope you enjoyed it, and hope you continue enjoying Sunset Sarsaparilla!"(Festus' dialogue)
After years of selling their beverage and becoming known and loved across the West Coast, the company soon decided to invest in automation and robotics, specifically with the help of RobCo Industries.Sunset Sarsaparilla headquarters terminal entries; How's your new toy? While the custodial staff reaped the benefits of automation,Sunset Sarsaparilla headquarters terminal entries; Great Job the regional distribution network unfortunately suffered replacement at the hands of an experimental robot.Sunset Sarsaparilla headquarters terminal entries; Check messageSunset Sarsaparilla headquarters terminal entries; Check draft 
At some point before the Great War, a TV network broadcast an advisory about the health risks of their soda, with studies claiming a wide range of harmful side effects came from having too much of it. Sunset Sarsaparilla disputed the claims as unverified and based off larger quantities of Sarsaparilla than anyone could possibly drink. Nevertheless, the company took steps to improve its PR after the story aired.The Courier: "Pleased to meetcha."Festus: "New in town, pardner? Well, let ol' Festus give you the lay of the land. If you're here to redeem your Sunset Sarsaparilla Stars, dump 'em into the slot in the barrel below and I'll count 'em up. If you don't know what Sunset Sarsaparilla Stars are and think ol' Festus is just shooting his mouth off, say "Star Info". If you're here to challenge ol' Festus to a game of Lucky Horseshoes, say "I feel lucky". Lastly, if you're here about the health advisory that aired on channel 6 recently, say "Silly Ol' Advisory.""The Courier: "Silly Ol' Advisory."Festus: "I'm sorry, I didn't quite understand that. Could you repeat it?"The Courier: "Silly Ol' Advisory."Festus: "I'm sorry, I didn't quite understand that. Could you repeat it?"The Courier: "Silly Ol' Advisory."Festus: "While Sunset Sarsaparilla is perfectly safe, a recent independent study - whose validity is currently being challenged - revealed the following: Excessive ingestion of sarsaparilla can lead to deleterious effects including, but not limited to: kidney damage, nausea, digital numbness, anxiety, loss of visual acuity, dizziness, occasional nosebleeds, joint inflammation, tooth decay, sore throat, bronchitis, organ rupture, and halitosis. Note that you'd have to drink a heap of Sunset Sarsaparilla to match the quantities used in the study. How much, you ask? A lot. A whole helluva lot. In fact, you'd have to get full as a tick on Sunset Sarsaparilla to even come close. Anyway, thanks for stopping by, partner! And keep drinking Sunset Sarsaparilla!"(Festus' dialogue)
By 2077, the company had continued to boom, although they struggled with sales in the Northeastern region, they sold more in the Northern and Midwestern United States, continuing to sell extremely well in the American Southwest.Sunset Sarsaparilla headquarters terminal entries; Terminal 3 However, by sheer luck, a rumor of a contest surfaced, telling of the company having a contest to redeem starred bottle caps for prizes. Despite the complaints of staff,Sunset Sarsaparilla headquarters terminal entries; What contest? the company decided to promote the contest rather than denounce the rumor, due to 300% increases in sales.Sunset Sarsaparilla headquarters terminal entries; RE: What contest? The company also went as far as to install an automaton in the lobby of their headquarters, as well as creating an advertisement campaign heavily based on cowboys.Sunset Sarsaparilla headquarters terminal entries; While the iron is hot 
Before the Great War, a competitor attempted to negotiate a deal to buy out the Sunset Sarsaparilla Company, but the offer was declined. On the other end of the deal was none other than John-Caleb Bradberton, founder, CEO, and president of the rival Nuka-Cola Corporation. In response to this failed deal, he commissioned the development and release of a root-beer flavored variant of his signature drink. An exclusive for the Nuka-World theme park and other promotional deals like the Whitespring Resort, the result was Nuka-Cola Wild, an attempt by Bradberton to capitalize on the success of the Sunset Sarsaparilla brand.Fallout 4 loading screens: "Although the Nuka-Cola Corporation would never admit it, Nuka-Cola Wild was released to directly compete with Sunset Sarsaparilla after attempts to acquire that company met with failure."
===Post-War===
The star cap story began as a simple promotional story before the Great War, yet Festus kept the story alive by motivating survivors to collect Sunset Sarsaparilla bottle caps, and as the years went by, a new legend began to circulate around the bottling headquarters in Las Vegas, which in turn led to the announcement of the running "Legend of the Star" collection campaign. Stories of the contest became very distorted following the Great War, and the actual simple prize (which consisted of a retelling of the fictitious story by the company spokesbot and a small metal Sunset Sarsaparilla deputy badge) became a bloated tale of pre-War technology, weapons caches, and all sorts of other amazing loot.The Courier: "What's so special about these caps?"Malcolm Holmes: "There's an old wasteland legend that says somewhere out there is a fabulous treasure from before the war. Those caps with the blue star on them, the tale goes, are the key to that treasure. They're called Sunset Sarsaparilla Stars."The Courier: "What kind of treasure are we talking about?"Malcolm Holmes: "No one knows. Money? Weapons? Water? It is, or maybe was, something of value, and that's enough to get people motivated."(Malcolm Holmes' dialogue)
==Known employees==
* Kenneth Aguilar, president
* Clark Weathers, vice president of operations
* Marcus Brody, vice president of technology
* Nathan Stanley, director of PR
* Paige, secretary
==Known facilities==
* Sunset Sarsaparilla headquarters - In the western outskirts of New Vegas.
==Known products==
* Sunset Sarsaparilla - with a special variant capped with a "Special Blue Starred Cap".
;Promotional items
* Bottle-shaped desktop lampsAs seen in a number of cabinets and on top of desks in Sunset Sarsaparilla headquarters, Sunset Sarsaparilla Company manufactured a number of lamps, made with emptied Sunset Sarsaparilla bottles.
* DoormatCliff Briscoe's house, and other houses around the Mojave Wasteland.
==Mascots==
* Festus
==Notes==
* Canadians purchased Sunset Sarsaparilla almost as frequently as Americans, according to the sales chart.
* When drinking a Sunset Sarsaparilla, a bottle cap is given. The bottle caps, upon looking at the icon on the Pip-Boy or removing them from the inventory, are Nuka-Cola caps.
* After completing the quest The Legend of the Star, any Sunset Sarsaparilla star bottle caps that are picked up or obtained from drinking a bottle will be added to the inventory as normal bottle caps, and will not show up as a star bottle cap.
* Festus mentions that before Sunset Sarsaparilla was invented, the main choices people had for soft drinks were water or Nuka-Cola. However, the Sunset Sarsaparilla Company was founded in 1918, 126 years before the foundation of the Nuka-Cola Corporation in 2044.
* The logo of the Sunset Sarsaparilla Company appears on a ruined car in the episode "The Head" of the .
==Appearances==
The Sunset Sarsaparilla Company appears in Fallout: New Vegas and is mentioned in the Fallout 4 add-on Nuka-WorldFor Deke and ."The Head" (19:01)
==Behind the scenes==
* Although Sunset Sarsaparilla is fictional, generic sarsaparilla is a real world soft drink, popular in the United States beginning in the 19th century. It was originally made with safrole, an oil used as the flavor additive. In the United States, the FDA banned the use of safrole in 1958 as it had been shown to induce liver tumors in rats.Sassafras at ScienceDirect
* Joshua Sawyer came up with Sunset Sarsaparilla being a competitor to Nuka-Cola.Josh Sawyer Fallout 4 Project Mojave Mod Stream 13.11.2021 (reference starts at 36:23)Joshua Sawyer: "'Who came up with Sunset Sarsaparilla being a competitor to Nuka-Cola?' That was... that was me."
==Gallery==
FNV prelease screenshot Sarsaparilla.jpg|Sunset Sarsaparilla billboard
Sunset_Sarsaparilla_HQ.jpg|The headquarters for the Sunset Sarsaparilla Company
FNV Sunset chart.jpg|Sales chart
FNV sunsas truck.jpg|A few trucks sitting outside the HQ
FNV loading billboard03.jpg|Billboard on a loading screen
FNV Sunsass hq 6.jpg
MOW Sunset Sarsaparilla sign.jpg|Signs in Michael Angelo's workshop
Sunset Sarsaparilla deputy badge.png|Sunset Sarsaparilla deputy badges
Sunsetsarsaparillabottlecaplarge.gif|Sunset Sarsaparilla bottle cap
Sunsetsarsaparilladoormat.gif|Sunset Sarsaparilla doormat
SunsetSarsaparilla_vending_machine.png
Sunset_Sarsaparilla_crate.png|Sunset Sarsaparilla crate
Ssbillboard.png|Texture file
SSsaleschart2.jpg
FNV Wallpaper 17 1900x1200.jpg|Fallout: New Vegas promo
FNV Wallpaper 18 1900x1200.jpg|Fallout: New Vegas promo
FNV Wallpaper 19 1900x1200.jpg|Fallout: New Vegas promo
Creation Club
FO4 Creation Club - Graphic T-shirt.png| Middle t-shirt as seen in the Creation Club
Sunset_Sarsaparilla_t-shirt_male.jpg| Male variant
Sunset_Sarsaparilla_t-shirt_female.jpg| Female variant
==References==
Non-game
Category:Sunset Sarsaparilla Company
es:Sunset Sarsaparilla Company
fr:Sunset Sarsaparilla Company
pt:Sunset Sarsaparilla Company
ru:Компания «Сансет саспарилла»
uk:Корпорація «Сансет Сарсапарілла»
zh:日落沙士公司