Virgin Cola facts for kids
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| Type | Cola |
|---|---|
| Manufacturer | Virgin Drinks Silver Spring |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Introduced | 1994 |
| Discontinued | 2009 |
| Variants | Diet Cola, Vanilla, Lime, Orange, Cloudy Lemon, Blue Lemon |
| Related products | Coca-Cola Pepsi Cott RC Cola |
Virgin Cola was a fizzy drink, like other colas, that came out in 1994. It was made by the Virgin Group, known for its music and airlines. This drink became quite popular in the United Kingdom during the late 1990s. For a while, it even sold more than Coca-Cola in some places.
However, Coca-Cola then made special deals with shops to encourage them to stop selling Virgin Cola. This caused Virgin Cola's popularity to drop. By the late 2000s, it was hard to find. It was eventually only sold in Asda supermarkets as a large two-litre bottle. Virgin Cola stopped being sold in the UK in early 2009. It was still available for a short time in other countries, like Bangladesh and the Philippines, before it disappeared completely.
Contents
The Story of Virgin Cola
How Virgin Cola Started
Virgin Cola began in the early 1990s. It was a partnership with Cott, a company from America and Canada. Cott specializes in bottling drinks for other brands. At the same time, Richard Branson, who started the Virgin Group, wanted to make the Virgin name even bigger. He also wanted to compete with huge brands like Coca-Cola and Pepsi.
Virgin Cola Goes International
Virgin Cola quickly started selling in other countries within its first year. In the UK, you could first find it on Virgin Atlantic flights. It was also sold in shops on Virgin Trains and at Virgin Cinemas. Even some theme parks, like Gulliver's Kingdom, sold Virgin Cola. This led to a big deal with the British supermarket Tesco in 1994.
From 1996, the 500 ml bottles were called "The Pammy." This was because their curvy shape was designed to look like Pamela Anderson. She was very famous in the UK at that time. Virgin Cola then launched in France, Belgium, and South Africa.
Virgin Cola in America
In 1998, Richard Branson helped launch Virgin Cola in the United States. He famously drove a real tank into New York City's Times Square for the event. After this, Virgin Cola made deals to be sold in US shops like Target. However, the company handling Virgin Cola in the US closed in April 2001. It had only managed to get a very small share of the market.
Virgin Cola in TV Shows
Virgin Cola even made appearances in popular TV shows. In 1999, a bottle of Virgin Cola could be seen in Monica and Rachel's apartment on the TV show Friends. Richard Branson himself had appeared in an episode of Friends before. A can of Virgin Cola also showed up in the character's refrigerator in an episode of Ally McBeal. In Buffy the Vampire Slayer, the character Willow was seen drinking a can of Virgin Cola.
New Flavors and Focus
In 2002, a new flavor called Virgin Vanilla was launched in the UK. This happened before Coca-Cola launched its own vanilla cola. By 2004, Virgin Vanilla was stopped. The company decided to focus more on the main Virgin Cola drink for teenagers.
Why Virgin Cola Declined
The Competition with Coca-Cola
The Coca-Cola Company started a big campaign against Virgin Cola. At first, Coca-Cola didn't see Virgin Cola as a serious threat. But when Virgin Cola started selling more than Coke in the UK and entered the American market, Coca-Cola realized it needed to act.
Coca-Cola sent teams to the UK to make special agreements with shops. These agreements encouraged shops to remove Virgin Cola from their shelves. Shops were told that if they didn't remove Virgin Cola, Coca-Cola might remove its own fridges from their stores. Richard Branson later said that Virgin didn't know this was happening. This strong competition eventually led to a big drop in Virgin Cola's sales. It soon stopped being sold outside of Virgin's own businesses.
The End of Production
In 2007, a company called Silver Spring took over the right to produce Virgin Cola in the UK. However, Silver Spring stopped making Virgin Cola by early 2009. They kept the license until their own company faced financial difficulties in 2012. No other company took over the license for Virgin Cola in the UK after that. It's not completely clear when the drink stopped being made everywhere. It seemed to be available in some other countries for a short time after it stopped in the UK.
Legacy of Virgin Cola
The story of Virgin Cola, how it grew and then declined, has been talked about a lot. It's often used as an example in discussions about marketing, business, and the wider story of Richard Branson and the Virgin Group.
