Back From The Dead? 5 Brands That Made A Comeback
Sunny Delight
Those of us around in the early 2000s will always remember the iconic bottle of Sunny Delight. Perhaps more memorably, we all remember the hordes of hyperactive children – a result of the ‘fruit drink’ containing just 5% fruit. In 1999 however arose an arguably comical side-effect – it was discovered that the colouring betacarotene used in the drink was actually turning children orange – not quite the best consumer sales characteristic. The drink was pulled from our shelves and reformulated as Sunny D to contain a healthier 70% fruit juice, although it has yet to catch on in the same way with shoppers.
Cadbury’s Wispa
In 2003, Britain’s favourite chocolate bar brand caused nationwide shock when they pulled their bubbly chocolate bar, ‘Wispa’, from our shelves as part of a brand relaunch. As the bar was reformulated as ‘Dairy Milk Bubbly’, Cadbury failed to anticipate the public reaction. By 2007, a highly publicised campaign had prompted the relaunch of Wispa for a ‘limited time’, however by October 2008 it was again a permanent fixture in the corner shop.
Monster Munch
Although somewhat different from the previous two in that it never ‘went away’ or was discontinued as such, the savoury snack experienced a somewhat gradual relaunch which was in actual fact reversed. Following its takeover by Walkers from Smiths in 1995, the brand saw new flavours, a new product size, and – most contentiously – a new packaging size. Much like many reformulations of old classics, the relaunch failed to give Walkers’ the desired effect. By popular demand, 2008 saw the brand revert to the old product and packaging sizes – albeit keeping the new flavours.
Yorkie
Another chocolate bar to make the relaunch list, Yorkie perhaps gave us the most controversial relaunch of them all. Originally marketed at men in the 1970s and 1980s with their ‘infamous’ trucker add, the 2002 relaunch created yet more controversy. Actively ‘banning’ women from eating the chocolate bar, the campaign was launched on April 1. Anyone believing it to be an April Fool would be forgiven – after all, why would Yorkie alienate over half of the chocolate bar market? The sexist slogan was finally dropped in 2011, following a failed ‘female launch’, featuring a pink wrapper.
Stella Artois
Although perhaps one of the lesser known relaunches, that of Stella Artois lager was in direct contrast to that of Yorkie. The practice adopted by many supermarkets come summertime of selling discounted crates led to the less-than-flattering nickname emerging, ‘wife-beater’. Keen to rid itself of the ‘lager lout’ association, the Belgian Beer brand launched two beers with lower percentages: ‘Peeterman Artois’, and ‘Artois Bock’.
These however failed to impress beer connoisseurs as was hoped, and were thus discontinued in 2008 and replaced with a lower percentage Stella Artois. If you want to avoid your products needing relaunches, are looking for help with launching your range, or are simply looking for more information, then call us on 01803 203387 or email at hamish@hra-global.com.
