Sprite

**Sprite** was first introduced by The Coca-Cola Company in 1961 as a response to the popularity of 7 Up, a lemon-lime soda that had been on the market since the late 1920s. Coca-Cola saw an opportunity to enter the lemon-lime soda market and compete with 7 Up by creating their own lemon-lime flavored soda. The company's research and development team worked on creating a formula that would appeal to consumers, and in 1961, Sprite was released.

## **Description**

Sprite is a lemon-lime flavored soda which is clear in color, which is similar to 7 Up and Starry.

## **History**

Sprite is a soft drink that has a lemon-lime flavor, a crisp clean taste, and is clear and caffeine free. It was invented and is produced by the Coca-Cola Company. It has been said that Sprite began its life in 1959 as a type of Fanta drink, and that was first developed in West Germany in 1959 as Fanta Klare Zitrone (“Clear Lemon Fanta”). It should be noted that Fanta is a drink invented during World War 2 due to shortages of supplies in Germany at the time, leaving the company unable to produce Coca-Cola in that region. Other reports state that Sprite was originally thought of in the year 1956 when the Coca-Cola Company developed a tart, clear-colored carbonated soda that was first marketed as both a carbonated beverage and a drink mixer. It also seems that Sprite may have been tested throughout the United States before its official release. Sprite was introduced into the United States of America in the year 1961 and was intended to be a competitor to the similar soft drink, 7 Up, the only major lemon-lime soda on the market at the time. In 2022, The Coca-Cola Company announced that Sprite is going to be in clear bottles on August 1st. Now you won’t be able to find green bottled Sprite in stores.

Before Sprite was released to the public, extreme amounts of attention were paid to aspects such as the color of the product’s branding, and the design of the look for the product. Designers and engineers for Coca-Cola Company poured through massive amounts of research, dozens of designs were considered for the Sprite bottle, and great care was taken when considering the logo and labeling of Sprite. Green was chosen as the primary color for the brand, and it heavily marketed and connected to Sprite as a product. Green was chosen to represent Sprite due to its refreshing and noticeable color, and that not only does it stand out as an easy to see cool color, but it is also fairly non-aggressive due to it being the most common natural color in nature. Sprite did well with its branding, and the product has achieved a strong connection to the idea of being refreshing, as well as being remembered for the standout green color of its branding.

When Sprite was released to the public in 1961, it was met with very positive reception. At first, Sprite seemed to be marketed more to adults, but over time the soda became more popular teens, and the marketing changed to reflect that around the 1980's. The popularity of Sprite continued to soar as time went on, and the Coca-Cola company was very heavy with advertisements for Sprites brand. In 1967, Sprite was available to about 85 percent of the U.S. population and was sold in at least 39 countries. The Coca-Cola Company, who that owned Sprite, used its large bottler connections to help push its products, helping Sprite advance on its competition 7-up. In large part due to the strength of the Coca-Cola system of bottlers, Sprite eventually became the market leader in the lemon soda category by 1978. As of 2019, Sprite is the third most consumed soda in the world and is sold in more than 190 countries. That is nearly every country in the world, with only a few holds outs.

Sprite has made a variety of spin-off products and flavors in addition to the original version. Examples of this include cranberry flavored Sprite, Sprite 6 Mix, and Sprite Super Chilled, that featured special packaging that produced ice in the bottle. Sprite has gone through some formula changes over the years. In 2013, Sprite in the UK had its sugar content changed and began to use stevia as a sweetener, lowering its calorie content by about one-third of its former amount. In 2018 Sprite ceased using stevia as an ingredient and again changed its sugar balance to 3.3 grams per 100ml of Sprite, in addition to adding other ingredients such as aspartame. This changed was said to further reduce the total calories of Sprite, and was likely a response to an ever more calorie-conscious consumer. It should be noted that a Sugar-Free Spite has been out for decades, first being released in the year 1974. It appears that the formula changes that took place from 2013 to 2018 were limited to Europe, and was not reflected in Sprite sold in the United States.

## Trivia

There has since been some rumors about Sprite being discontinued, but this is untrue and is mainly confusion due to a formula change and a possible shortage.

Sprite used to be sold in green bottles, but is now sold in only clear bottles due to recycling issues, but this confusing to some people because Mountain Dew and 7up still have green bottles