The Decline of 7Up...What Happened?
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- čas přidán 28. 11. 2023
- 7Up used to rank among the most popular soda brands but has since gotten lost in the crowd. This video talks about the declining popularity of the classic soda.
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My grandpa, who lived to 94, loved 7-UP. It was the soda of his childhood and he enjoyed it all throughout his life, until the very end. There was never not a 2 liter bottle of it in his fridge, and we always enjoyed it together at lunch or dinner. It’ll always remind me of him. Good times.
♥
Probably the lithium
@@imaniman6797 huh?
@@imaniman6797what?
I love 7up
Anyone ever had your parents INSIST that you drink 7up when you were sick to help settle your stomach? I think it's interesting that aspect of soda's medical history stills survives
Yep, my family still says that. 😂
7 up was the go to drink as a child to help settle an upset stomach and to help recover after a stomach bug... also helped with a bad headache. Man that drink really was magic to me back then.
No, at 40 now I never drank 7-Up or anything like it. My parents never bought it either they preferred the store brands like Great Value. My grandma who I was with for my early years, never let me or my sister drink pop because she thought it was filled with bad sugars and didn't let us have it. I never wanted it but my sister did, she spent more time with our parents when she was younger. I don't remember what I was given for an upset stomach as a child, probably warm milk or something.
Coca-Cola does a similar thing to an upset stomach. It is quite effective as an GI tract aid.
It's actually not the worst idea if you've been throwing up all day and your blood sugar is low. Settles the stomach a bit and the sugar is quickly absorbed. Although regular gatorade or pedialyte is probably way better for this.
The whole “Make 7, Up Yours” was an absolute genius marketing move. Loved those commercials.
With Orlando Jones lol
I had the shirt. Haha
I was surprised this campaign wasn't mentioned.
I’m surprised this wasn’t mentioned!!
Yup, You can CZcams "7UP - Orlando Jones Ad Campaign" to see the commercials. These were all around 2000 or so. I remember the "Show Us Your Cans" commercial LOL. Company Man dropped the ball not including even a snippet of these.
My dad was a salesman for 7UP back in the 70s thru to his retirement in the 90s in Beckley, West Virginia. He was proud of the products that put food on his family's table. So much so, that it wasn't until after his passing in 2005, that I would openly finally drink Coke. That's the sense of loyalty that resonated even with his kids.
I fondly remember my dad bringing lime sherbet home and making a treat for the kids. Lime sherbet and 7UP, you really can't beat it!
That sounds good
@@maryroberts2099 I was going to say the same. Have to give that a try.
I'm sorry to hear about your loss.
Beckley is only a short drive from me. Talk about a small world. I know the exact plant too and drove by it countless times. It's a great job, from what I hear.
Makes me feel for my elderly parents. We used to love to shop at Sears, Circuit City and Kmart and drink 7UP. Now all of those are gone or almost all gone. My parents still refer to any lemon-lime soda as “7UP”
that's interesting, because i heard 7up was hugely controversial in the 60s, since everyone thought it was a reference to 7in male anotomy
😅 Circuit City wasn’t open long enough to be that much of a staple in someone’s household like Sears or Kmart. But thumbs up/ heads up 7up was catchy enough for ppl to grab for it opposed to calling Sprite 7up.
Nothing lasts forever.
My parents called it "Bubble Up" for years when I was a kid. Now there's a brand no one knows.
@@opulence_prime The store got a lot of prevalence though. They are more known than you think. Their still around, although most think their dead.
This was trippy to watch as a Canadian. I was like "what do you mean 7UP is struggling? It’s a Pepsi product in every grocery and convenience store. It’s way bigger than Dr. Pepper or Mountain Dew." Strange to see it’s struggling in the States. Clearly the brand did prosper in countries where Pepsi took it over. I vaguely remember seeing Slice around a few decades ago but honestly, it’s pretty much Sprite, 7UP and generic store brand lemon-lime soda here. Fresca is around but that’s grapefruit flavoured.
Sprite beat 7UP in the American market
I agree. It was the same in my country, it was very popular, still is.
In the US, Pepsi created a drink called Sierra Mist to sell to compete with 7Up and Sprite.
Same in Ireland. Much more popular than sprite.
Be glad you don't have Starry 🤮
I remember in the early 2000s, 7up had a popular ad campaign. It was "make 7 up yours." They had t-shirts that said "make 7" on the front, and on the back it said "up yours". I was in college at the time and seen a lot of college kids wearing them. It was supposed to be edgy. It was short-lived though.
When I was a teenager(many decades ago) I worked at an RC Bottling Co plant. 7up was one of the brands we bottled. I also bottled Crush and Dr Pepper. I always liked 7up but I never see it anymore. But I pretty much stopped drinking soda in my old age. All that sugar is not good.
I remember 7up even being "big" in the 2000s. They had brand placements in video games, and they had soda fountains with 7up in many fast-food places instead of Sprite.
I remember they were big in the 90s too. I recently had to tell my dad they hadnt gone out of business.
@@RebeccaJeffersonOAC Lol what a world we live in now, man. Brands we'd never thought would die, either dead, or so obscure now that we have to be reminded they're not dead
Played Cool Spot a lot when I was a kid.
I’d forgotten that 7up even existed but then I don’t drink soda. Just sugar water with artificial flavours that don’t even taste good.
That was my childhood, I remember it being everywhere
Growing up in a Hispanic household we only ever bought 7-Up when someone was sick or feeling like they had gas. 7-Up could help burp out what ailled us and helped us feel better.
Not sure if this was just a placebo effect or if it helps but now as a 36 year old I only buy 7-Up during flu season or on the rare occasion I feel under the weather.
I can relate to this. When I was growing up, if I had an upset stomach or just didn't feel well, I was told to drink 7Up.
Placebo effect. You guys are funny, I worked with a few Mexican guys the SWORE chugging Dr. Pepper would get rid of a sore throat. I was like, "just because it's DOCTOR Pepper" doesn't mean it's a medicine.
Ours was Squirt
I barely had the opportunity to do that. Pfft
I used to drink it when sick too, but now I buy actual gingerale when the tummy isn't feeling good.
You still see a lot of the 60s-70s business signs with the old 7up logo, always cool to see them.
?
The "flavor change" in 98 was definitely the nail in the coffin for 7up. It took away their unique flavor and made them disappear even more in a sea of crappy competition.
I haven't had 7-Up in many years. The last time I drank it, it had no flavor. Plenty of carbonation but, lacked the sweetness and lemon-lime flavor I remember. I didn't know that it was in 1998 when the change took place and it all makes sense now.
Was going to say this. It’s like they started adding a drop of lemon scented dishwashing liquid and extra sugar.
I used to love 7up as a kid because it wasn’t as sweet as Sprite ans they messed it up.
7-UP was one of my favorites before 1998. Now it taste like a cheap knock off of Sprite or Sierra Mist. All of the Lemon Lime drinks meh now.
I mean you said they change the flavor which was the end of 7 up. Even when they kept the flavor the same they were still losing out to Sprite anyway
I honestly have always preferred 7-up over their competitors. It’s my go to when I’m in the mood for something that flavor or when I don’t feel well. Cherry 7-up is pretty good too.
I'm getting the feeling that 7 Up as medicine was a marketing strategy that backfired. Haha!
Pepsi originally had pepsin in it and Coca Cola had small amounts of cocaine in it, they were marketing ploys to get consumers to drink the sodas for their perceived health benefits so it makes sense that 7up would have followed suite.
@@robertmusil1107100% agreed
Cherry 7 up is one of my favorite sodas
@@marcparker6840 good to know.
Company Man really dropped the ball on this one not mentioning the "Make 7 Up yours" ad campaign, it was everywhere in the 90s.
This is the comment I was looking for…I was waiting for the mention of this then the video ended 😂
I was also waiting for this and dnL. Loved that soda! Also no mention of Cool-Spot. I feel like in the late 90s 7up had a bit of a resurgence.
Yep. I posted that too before scrolling. I can’t remember the actor who did them but I loved the “Make 7. Up yours!” commercials.
back in the 70's, we all were going out to the lobby to get some "7 UP"!!!!
Yeah. I was a kid in the 90s but I remember that phrase being everywhere. The 90s was a 7 Up renaissance.
I can't believe you left out the GOAT of all ad campaigns of the 90s. Make 7up yours!
As a mexican this soda was the medicine to cure you whenever you were sick along with VapoRub
I was really looking forward to a section on how the “make 7 up yours” campaign affected the company. It’s probably my favorite marketing campaign ever and something I always think of when I have 7 Up.
I am so old that I remember the Uncola ads.
Omg I had forgotten about those ads. Hilarious🤣🤣🤣
@@hausofflash Which? 70s or 90s?
Was disappointed this wasn't brought up
@@marcpeterson1092I forgot about both of those ad campaigns until you guys brought them up. Now it all comes flooding back.. lol.
Here in the Netherlands 7-Up is quite huge. Most people when they want a lemon flavored soda don't ask for a Sprite, they ask for a 7-Up. It like 7-Up is the Coca Cola here vs Sprite the Pepsi. Also, the 7-Up cartoon mascot Fidel Didel was really big here during the early '90's. He appeared in tons of merchandise from that era.
Yeah Fidel Didel was pretty cool. I would pick 7up over Sprite if it was available.
@@lakrids-pibeis that Fido Dido in Dutch? 😅
I was about to say the same! Both Sprite and 7up seem to be equally popular in Europe, but here in the Netherlands at least 7up seems a little bit more available
Could be, the '90's were a long time ago. @@LathropLdST
Huh, what I remember from the 90s is Cool Spot. There was even a video game.
I remember the guy at 4:16 when I used to watch The 7up ads back in the 1980s. I even remember drinking 7up back in the day!
Make 7
Up yours !
Can't 4get those t-shirts.
There was even a mixed drink, a highball called a “Seven and Seven” which was Seagram's 7-Crown whiskey and 7-up. You can still order one, but it's most likely made with Sprite or Sierra Mist now.
7/7s are so good and super easy to make
yup my favorite on a cold day.
Still my favorite drink
I remember drinking these in the early 1980s, along with Tequila Sunrise and Whiskey sours. Two favorite drinks for us girls back then!!
Why ? 7up is still around
Here in Tanzania, 7-Up is produced under Pepsi and it's doing quite well. I always thought it was under the Pepsi brand (a direct competitor of Coca-Cola's Sprite).
This video surprised me a bit because I had no idea that that's not the case for the US market. You learn something new everyday!
Exactly the same manufacturing arrangement in Australia.
In Montana 7-up is also pepsi produced.
In the US as well
I think most countries except us, 7 up is manufactured by Pepsi
@@crudojoshuaricofort8795really in the us it ain’t Pepsi co weird here in Canada it pepsi
Yay company man is back!! Been watching for maybe 4 years
7up changed their soda to water it down and sell it in a 12oz bottle. . It used to be sold in a smaller green bottle than coke or Pepsi. Remember it had smaller bubbles and more intense Citrus flavor. Used to make Dr. Pepper in a soda machine that allowed you to press a button to select a flavor that mixed with seltser into a paper cup. Hit Orange, Rootbeer, Cola, limon lime and grape buttons as it filled to make it.
I've always perceived 7-Up as being a relativley successful brand. I never had any real concept of where they ranked in sales duirng my lifetime, other than Coke and Pepsi clearly being more popular than most anything else.
But they were always around, being advertised, etc. I think the fact that they even made the Cool Spot video game (I was in my very early teens when that came out - I never really played it, but remember the ads for it on TV and in gaming magazines), helped my perception. They were at least popular enough to make a video game from their mascot.
While being around 9th place is not as good as being in 3rd place as they once were decades ago, being within or even near the top 10 of all soft drinks doesn't seem to be too mad IMO, especially when you consider that in many instances, with some of the drinks that outrank 7-Up, both the regular and diet varities (counted separately) are ahead of them. Considering how many varities and options for soft drinks are available these days, it it not in THAT bad of a position.
That said, it is clear that they've seen better days. Especially with how relatively little space it occupies in stores today. I recently bought some because it was on sale, but that is the first time I've had it in quite a while. I tend to prefer Sprite my comparison. I actually liked Lemon-Lime Slice even more than either of them, and I was disapointed when that was discontinued.
But I don't see 7-Up as some huge failure either.
I don't recall seeing 7up ads when I was a kid, but I was always aware of them because they were almot always an option at the vending machines. Store-brand sodas do not feature in vending machines, at least where I'm from, so that by itself made them "a brand" I suppose.
Its still pretty big in the uk, its actually distributed by Pepsi outside us
Probably, because we'd all rather drink Sprite or Mountain Dew. It is pretty good, but it's not cheap, and the cheaper off store brand taste the same, even more then Coke.
i know it was way less popular than sprite but it was still quite big but they got rarer over the years. we used to have both coke vending machines and Pepsi vending machines with 7 up too but they are rare now .i think the last one i saw was in 2015 but it had a very outdated design from the 90s or even late 80s with those odd big buttons.
Maybe I'm in the minority but I've always preferred 7-Up over Sprite or Stary (Sierra Mist?). Not enough to go out of my way to get some, but if I'm buying a soda and they've got 7-Up at the gas station; that's what I'm getting.
“Make 7Up…YOURS!” One of the best commercial taglines ever😂
Make 7... up yours!
SAME TO YOU
Punk Kids
and up yours!
We played that 7Up game in grade school in the middle sixties where I grew up outside Detroit.
7-Up's fall was so gradual that you didn't even get into Pepsi creating Sierra Mist, seemingly just to be selling their own soda instead of 7Up. I remember being a little bit surprised to see that 7Up was still around after that. It was like being reminded that Kevin Federline still existed after Britney Spears dumped him.
Cool Spot was awesome! The make 7up yours campaign was a classic!
My dad wasn't happy with the recipe alteration in 1998. He figured they were pulling a "Coke Classic", but the return never happened.
Same. I bought some, last year, and hated it. I do remember liking it, at some point, but it is not what it once was.
I agree with your dad. The recipe change in '98 made it disgusting. From what I remember, the only thing i can describe it as was it tasting empty and fake. I stopped drinking it then and haven't since.
I feel the same! I remember 7up being more carbonated and limey. Loved it. Its what you were encouraged to drink for an upset stomach.. Sprite was sweeter and not as carbonated..
I don't think I've ever had "New 7-Up" as it went off my radar by the time of the change. And I've since gone off sodas.
I stopped drinking after the recipe change.
When I turned 18 in the 70’s, it was a “7 and 7”, Seagrams 7 and 7-up that was my go-to drink.
That's an interesting combination!
@@MrEnKaye It's a lazy whiskey sour; nothing more, nothing less.
7 and 7 is !
Oh yeah ❤
Well, the only two sodas I regularly keep in my house are Mug Root Beer (because it's not caffeinated like Barq's and tastes a bit better than A&W, if you ask me) and Cherry 7-Up (since Sierra Mist got discontinued... or at least stopped being available on store shelves during the pandemic). I've always thought 7-up was the leading lemon-lime soda, the one you drink when your stomach is upset (and it does seem to help with that issue).
your opinion is irrelevant, you like Mug Root Beer :D... only kidding, I am more partial to A&W, but only because it is easier to source here (looking at a sadly empty can right now :( )
I remember the "Make 7"... "Up Yours" marketing campaign. That was hilarious 🤣
One of the sad parts for me is I used to be a Product Developer for R&D for Cadbury Schweppes for 15 years. I watched internally the decline of a good company with so many good brands. Poor marketing decisions by people who just wanted to make a name for themselves. The flavor changes which I helped develop was a 2 year project to make 7up taste like Sprite. What people don’t know it’s the same flavor. When John Sunderland stepped down and Todd Stitzer took over we knew the company was doomed. After the break up of confections and beverage I helped organized the move to Texas. More bad marketing moves and threatened lawsuits killed the company.
I worked for consumer products companies in the US and the stupid marketing decisions still astound me. Those companies are gone or shells of their former selves.
Cadbury products taste like sweaty ass now, even the British ones. Used to really love a Fruit & Nur Bar. Used to even really like the Crème Eggs. No longer.
Thank you for sharing. Sounds like folks out of touch.
Yup. They don't realize that most of those types of employees are willing to destroy the company for short-term gains.
I don't have time to read the other 2,000 comments to see if anyone else had this experience, but as a child growing up in the 60s, I always associated 7Up with being sick at my stomach, because my mom always gave it to me when I was sick, because there was something about it that settled my stomach. So I never wanted to drink it normally, I always preferred Sprite. So when I think about 7up, I just think about something you drink when you're sick. That's an unfair association I admit, and some people have told me over the years they have the same experience with Ginger Ale, but I never liked Ginger Ale at all, so for me it was 7up.
I think, for most families it wasn’t 7 up as much as it was white soda. So, you got sprite, 7 up, ginger ale, etc.
Kids get hydrated, but avoided the caffeine which can exacerbate already upset stomachs.
I remember my pediatrician giving my mom a list of things to give me to eat and drink when I was sick. Ginger ale was on that list.
At this day, I have few cans of 7up ready available just in case.
My mom always gave me Vernor’s ginger ale and saltines to calm my stomach
I had the same exact experience with root beer/wintergreen mints/etc because of pepto bismol, could never and still can't shake that association, why tf did they have to flavor it the way they did lol
I still prefer 7up.
And Sprite
Me too bro sprite is a ripoff
I remember the commercial “Make 7 UP Yours!’ Lol IYKYK
I think a lot of 7UP’s success in the 70s and 80s was because of the Seven and Seven mixed drink - 7UP plus Seagram’s 7 whiskey. I think a lot of bars back in the day had 7UP “on the gun” because the drink was so common.
From the 80’s to this day, 7&7 is my go to drink when traveling and ordering a drink at a hotel or restaurant bar. Just tastes right and doesn’t mess the taste buds before a meal.
My Dad drank 7 & 7 in the early 1950's, as well. It was his go-to mixed drink when he was dating my Mom prior to 1954.
Interestingly enough, growing up in Dubai 7Up was and still is a leading soda brand there. Not on the level of Pepsi or Coke but a solid 3rd. It wasn't until I moved back to Canada that I noticed how prevalent Sprite was and the disinterest people had for 7Up. Sprite was always seen as the off brand 7Up in Dubai, and this still rings true to me personally. It's funny how childhood memories can invoke so many different emotions. Anyway, great presentation as always!
I drink UAE-market 7 Up in Australia sometimes, because I like the glass bottles it comes in. It's a nice formula (if a bit sweeter than the Australian formula).
Original recipe 7-up (before they pulled a New Coke & tried to make it taste sweeter & more like Sprite) was pure fizzy ambrosia. Alas, Mexican 7-up with real sugar in a glass bottle is only a bit better than the US version. Cool Spot the Game had a sequel as well - Sega Genesis, IIRC. Well done, & great fun!
1980s kid here. I never realized how down on the totem pole 7up sits. I loved that soda as a kid. It was popular in my mind. I remember drinking plenty of it to get a 7up beach chair, and towel. And yes I played the games I liked the puzzle one on the nes alot
Yup, I agree with everything you said here. Sprite wasn’t that good, compared to 7up
I learned a lot in this video as in Canada I grew up with 7UP as a part of Pepsi Co and for us it's just as common as Sprite. Whenever you go to a restaraunt that carries Pepsi products, it is almost certainly going to be the first non-cola option listed.
Pepsi still distributes 7UP in Canada, which is why we never saw Sierra Mist nor Starry here unlike in the USA.
Yeah always disappointed when i ask for sprite and they only have 7up
Here as long as Pepsi is relevant, 7-UP will have premium floor space, similar to Sprite.
yep I was thinking the same, "7up is just Pepsi's Sprite"
ok pepsi controls 7up in my country too but i noticed pepsi products getting less common
I remember "Vodka 7" to be a regular request at bars in the early 2000s. I didn't know it had this much turmoil history. Which is why this Channel is so great.
The drink '7 and 7' was another classic
@@fiftyfive16still is in Oklahoma! I got this a lot when I was a bartending in the mid-2010’s
CC and 7 is my go-to, for 30 years. Nothing else is comparable. The point being that it's a great mix.
That was a thing in 1967 when I was a freshman in college and we got drunk on that stuff. Really drunk.
7n7
I remember 7up growing up, even playing the old Sega 7up game that had Spot. I was really young back then since the Playstation 1 came out not long after
The Cool Spot game for the Genesis was awesome.
The"make 7, up yours" campaign was genius and hilarious. I loved that line of advertising and was surprised it didn't get mentioned.
I remember that! It was hilarious!
Kids in my high school were forced to turn those shirts inside out haha
Same
@@PumaPantalonesI was too, lol.
Those 7up vending machines that attacked beach goers! Lol. Built by the mythbusters.
I think a big part of why 7Up isn't as ubiquitous is simply because it's not owned by Coke or Pepsi. Whenever you see a soda fountain at a restaurant or one of those beverage fridges in the checkout aisles of grocery stores, it's always carrying solely Coke or solely Pepsi products, which means7Up isn't as likely to be featured in those. Granted, I have occasionally seen 7Up in Pepsi-branded soda fountains or fridges, probably because of the overseas partnerships, but it's not nearly as common, so you usually see either Starry or Sprite.
Granted, I much prefer 7Up to both as the lemon-lime flavor actually stands out more. Sprite tastes very sugary, although I will still drink it. Starry...I'll pass, thanks (although it's at least better than Sierra Mist).
This is the exact reason it is still so popular in Canada. Definitely not as popular as Coke or Pepsi tho. 7UP is owned by Pepsico here, so its always in the soda fountains and the beverage fridges. We don't have Starry or Sierra Mist here, just Sprite and 7Up
pepsi controls 7up in my country but its rare to see a restaurant that made a deal with Pepsi most of them got a deal with coke .when me and my friends went to a place with a Pepsi deal we thought it was really odd
I can see describing Sprite as tasting sugary, but I think that's more the absence of any other flavor. Sprite is a vaguely sweet carbonated beverage that doesn't really taste like anything. 7up for better or worse has a distinct flavor.
Dr. Pepper is tremendously popular though. Although... you do have a point. It's not like there's much of a Dr. Pepper alternative, and there are a ton of lemon-lime sodas. Combine that with the lack of soda machines cuz it's not Coke/Pepsi, and yeah that makes sense.
Dr. Pepper is still carried at many of the places along side Coke or Pepsi. McDonalds is probably the highest sales volume example. 7-Up was just too easy to imitate. You don't hear many people crying out for a Mr. Pibb or Dr. Thunder.
You so unlocked a memory for me. Forgot all about that video game
I still want their upside down coke glasses.
Thanks for the video!
I’m from a Mexican family and when i was little whenever I would get sick my grandmother would crack open a 7up. 7up and vapor rub was the remedy for just about everything lol.
Facts. My Mexican family still does that. 😅😅😅
Except Mexican 7 Up tastes terrible. Way different than the American version. Mexican Sprite is good.
Diet 7up (which i think has recently rebranded to 7up Zero) is one of the best tasting diet sodas and is far and away the best diet lemon lime soda. It's always sold out at stores in my city.
Was just finding this out myself. It's so crisp that you barely notice that weird aspartame aftertaste. Also even normal 7up is noticeably less sticky-sweet than sprite so it's great as a mixer.
I love cherry 7-up zero. So yummy.
When I was growing up, I totally loved the Uncola commercials, especially that "evil" laugh .... 7-Up was the "sick" drink in our house though, if your tummy was upset, Ma would pour us a glass to settle it - it was refreshing. Sometimes, I would fake veing sick just to get some. I still find it better than Sprite - it just feels lighter, less carbonated ....
I myself love 7-Up. It's an old school beverage and I'm a sucker for anything old school
I've never commented on one of these videos but I do have something that I'm curious if anyone else recognizes. I remember growing up in the 90s where 7up was given to kids who had upset stomachs. Ever since then, I always viewed 7up as something you drink when you're feeling queasy. That soured me to drinking it as just a soda of choice. Did anyone else experience that?
Yes. My parents would always give me 7up or Sprite when I was sick. At least for congestion I now go for something more like Mountain Dew or Mello Yello, because I don't have as much assocation with them and being sick.
Yes, 7UP, Sprite and Ginger Ale has been used for upset stomachs and various other ailments kids had. They were typically the first course of treatment before taking medicine.
For my family that was ginger ale.
Even hospitals give lemon lime soda and ginger ale to patients with nausea. My grandpa and mom always used Coca-Cola for nausea or told me to use it if I had a stomach ache. It does seem to work, but could be a placebo.
Yeah. I had that too and it was always specifically 7 Up. I remember thinking it tasted medicinal, but I don't think it really does. I think it's just me associating it with being sick.
7-Up has always been my favorite, and it’s frustrating that Sprite is so ubiquitous because it’s my least favorite. It always seems like the places I want it most - restaurants with a soda fountain, and small convenience stores - are the least likely to have it. Cherry 7-Up is delicious too - at least I can buy that at most grocery stores.
Coke, by far, is the leader in the fountain business. Even Pepsi isn't that close of a second in that arena. As a result, Sprite is more likely going to be what's available at bars and restaurants.
Sprite is brighter and cleaner. 7up is sweeter and more syrupy. I prefer sprite and if you look at trends, Sierra Mist was closer to 7up and was ditched by Pepsi in favor of Starry, a Sprite clone.
I just don't think as many people like the flavor profile of 7up.
Sprite has some weird chemical flavour going on. Doesn't even really taste like lemon lime.
Wow! Very interesting to find out about those mergers! Here in Russia it’s completely different: several years ago the market of soft drinks was very clear: Coke (Cola, Fanta, Sprite), Pepsi (Cola, Mirinda, 7Up), indie americans (pepper, Mountain Dew) and a whole lot of local lemonades with various fruit and grassy tastes
So the point is, that as international 7Up was purchased by the PepsiCo, 7Up was always the part of their brand here, competing on par with Sprite
Never liked it much, interesting story though😅
I grew up in the southern USA in the 50s. My first sodas were Dr Pepper and 7up. I didn't even know that people made ice cream floats with anything other than 7up until my family moved to California when I was around 12 years old.
The soda market is so difficult because the 2 largest, Coke and Pepsi, sign exclusive deals with fast food and large vendors like Disney and pro sports to keep smaller companies out. I only drink RC at home and after seeing your video a while back makes that decision not only a nostalgic one but one I do proudly since Coke did them so dirty.
I ask this question seriously where do you get RC Cola? I don’t remember the last time I saw them in a grocery store
@@genius179 for me it’s easy. It’s sold all in the local stores, Walmart etc, because my local bottler is the last remaining privately owned company that has the right to Royal Crown Cola. I do have problems finding it when traveling like when I was in Florida recently and stopped at Walmart. The employee acted like he’d never heard of it. Sad really.
@@genius179Walmart and Kroger both sell it locally in Texas. I even have a gas station close by with it available from the fountain. It's the only place I've seen RC cola from a fountain in my 40ish years.
Frito/Lay follows the same model to crowd out the competition as well.
One huge exception to that is In-N-Out Burger... they serve Coke as their cola option (as well as Barq's Root Beer, also a Coke product) but serve Dr Pepper and 7-Up rather than Pibb Xtra and Sprite.
I used to know 7-Up was a big deal, but I'm 50 and always preferred it to Sprite, what I had no idea about is how many times the brand got sold off. The other thing about 7-Up that got lost is that it was always preferred in mixed drinks over Sprite and back in the day there were bars that would carry Pepsi products just so they could have it instead of Sprite despite the cache of Coke Products (because no one orders a "Rum & Pepsi")
Crown Royal Apple and 7Up. You’ll thank me later.
Speaking of 50....remember 50/50? that was a decent citrus soda....
@@tonycrabtree3416ftw...wayyyyyy better than the more ubiquitous Seagram's 7 and 7-Up. (7&7).
See I feel sprite has more carbonation for mix drinks, which is why I prefer it, but nothings more smooth and refreshing than a cool can of 7-up
I played Cool Spot once, rented it from Blockbuster. The art style was the most memorable thing about the game. On another note - my grandma always used to talk about Slice, but I don't think I ever saw a can in person.
Was not aware of the dot video game lol 😂 wow they really tried hard on that one! Great video 👏
Well, as any older bartender will tell you about the lasting legacy of 7-Up is: Customers still regularly will order a "7&7". A HUGELY popular drink made simply with a mix of 7-Up and Seagrams 7 whiskey. Of course, the 7-Up can be replaced now with say Sprite but, it does NOT taste the same or as good. There was a special "magic" in that combination of tastes.
Thats interesting! 7up is still everywhere in pubs here in ireland. Finding a place selling sprite as a mixer is like a needle in a haystack
Exactly, it's like drinking a rum and Pepsi, it's just not the same. I prefer 7up in general to any other lemon-lime, but for mixed drinks it is a must.
7 up is more lemony and more carbonated. That's why its better for when you're sick
I still love a 7 and 7. Definitely not the same with any other lemon lime soda
Yup. I Always have 7up on hand as a mixer. I also enjoy it simply, but mostly I only keep it as a mixer. There is no proper substitute to me.
Also, I hate Sprite. Always have. I even have a sweet tooth but that stuff id too much.
Honestly surprised at the perception in this video that 7Up is a smaller brand because in Ireland it feels like one of the biggest. Definitely dwarved by coke but I'm sure it is bigger than Dr.Pepper and similar to Pepsi in Ireland. Stats may prove me wrong though 😂
Companyman might be from Ohio. I think i heard its banned over there. that might be part of the opinion, cuz here its huge too
Seems to be doing pretty well in the UK... maybe that's just my perception because I like it but it seems to be everywhere
I was looking for this comment 😂 7up feels so ubiquitous in Ireland that i was so surprised to find out it was an American company as a child
I still see 7-UP here in the Philippines.
Here in Argentina I'd say 7Up is the most popular lemon-lime soda, beating Sprite. It helps that here it's distributed by PepsiCo and is served in fast food chains like Burger King
OMG the nostalgia! The game was awesome trough I don't know if I ever beat it
I remember playing the game 7-Up heads up in elementary school in the late 80s it was so much fun
I dug the initial release of cherry 7up and then even more when they tweaked the recipe to give it a bit more cherry flavor. I can’t explain it but that flavor just seemed unique
Dollar Tree sells it now and I was shocked to see it on the shelf.
I loved cherry 7up and now I can hardly find it anywhere.
yes also they are a consistent sponsor in one of the segments of NBA's all star game
I liked this flavor too!
The release was a huge event when I was a kid. HUGE.
A good buddy passed away in high school, we were all drinking 7up the night before, so always has a special place for us. And it's caused us to choose 7up over others. Getting harder to find it.
Pepsi, that owned the international license, used Fido Dido to promote 7Up in the rest of the world, which really gave the drink a resurgence in popularity in the late 80s and 90s - it was a very popular drink in Europe and Australia and didn't have the lull in popularity described here in the US market.
My memories are of the Fido dido ad campaign, that was so much fun. I bet 7up is here to stay for generations.
I’m a delivery driver for Keurig Dr Pepper and 7-up definitely dose not sell much most of my deliveries they get one or two cases of it and even at some stops the managers at my accounts send it back because it doesn’t sell. Funny thing is when we pull up to our stores we deliver too they all call us the ‘’ 7-up guys ‘’ or when they ask us who we are we check in as 7-up. Definitely will always be a household name even though it’s declined.
7Up was the default lemon-lime in my mind growing up in the 90s - presumably because it had been for my parents. So I very much noticed the rise of Sprite and even Sierra Mist in its place.
And now sierra mist is gone.
Sierra Mist is now called Starry. PepsiCo (their parent company) changed the name back at the beginning of 2023 in order to compete with Sprite. Also, they updated their formula because people thought their product taste bland and flat.
@@lonewolf07 I mean, if they changed the name and the formula at the same time, I'd call that discontinuing Sierra Mist and replacing it.
@@lonewolf07 Starry doesn't even remotely taste like Sierra Mist. Tastes more like salted piss, with a bit of sugar added in at the last second as an after thought
Starry looks like a cheap knock-off brand, Pepsi has had so many name changes for their lemon-lime, once called Slice and Teem, too.
7 Up is kind of hard to find here in the Midwest. Sprite and Starry are everywhere.
I haven't had 7up since I was a kid but I actually want to buy some next time i go to the shops.
I think the fountain drink business is an overlooked reason for the decline of 7UP. You don't have much trouble finding Dr. Pepper on tap, since it has a rather distinctive flavor (even compared with Coca Cola's Pibb Extra) but the lemon-lime option at the fountain often defaults to either Sprite or (until recently) Sierra Mist, depending on the cola sold at a particular establishment. I don't drink much soda anymore, but 7UP is still my favorite of the bunch.
In N Out is about the only place I can find 7-Up on tap. Everyone else in my area (San Antonio, Tx) is either all Coke products plus Dr Pepper or all Pepsi products plus Dr Pepper and Big Red. Ugh the new Pepsi lemon-lime soda, Starry, is pretty bad and I wish they'd have kept Sierra Mist.
@homerthompson416 If you have In N Out near you, why would you ever eat anywhere else anyway? 😍
I drink a crazy amount of Dr Pepper and I cannot stand Dr Pepper out of fountains or in bottles. The last year or two, cans have always had gunk on top. If you wipe the rim of your can, you may find an oily residue come off almost every can.
Back when I used to drink a lot of regular soda I would always choose 7 up whenever I went to in n out.
Hello from Denmark.
I've never seen Dr. Pepper on tap here. In fact I've never tasted it. Haha!
But Sprite is the default lemon-lime option like you say. Either that or the local danish lime-lemon uncola soda: Faxe Kondi. There's just no room for 7up.
I would prefere 7up over Sprite if I had the option, but then again, I would pick Faxe over both.
7up Cherry is easily the best tasting soda I've had here in the USA, but its sooooo incredibly difficult to find, and my experience trying to contact the company has been horrible, their customer service is basically non existent.
If you're desperate you can always put a little grenadine syrup in your 7UP. If you put just the right amount you can pull your brain into thinking it is a cherry
Dr Pepper doesn’t pay for excessive shelf space, like Coke and Pepsi do.
I see it every so often at Dollar Tree, so might be worth checking.
Cherry 7up is the nectar of the gods
@@walterrequiem6467 it sure is... I wish I could have some
I was born in the late 1950s, and growing up during the 1960s, I can verify that 7-Up was a major brand those years. It is kind of surprising to see them slipping into relative anonymity over the decades.
Played Cool Spot on the Genesis a lot as a kid. The "Rave Tune" is still awesome to this day.
The “uncola” advertising campaign was incredibly effective; 50-some years later, I still remember the “Kung Fu”-based commercial: Within a monastery, a young boy is shown a cola nut and a lemon and a lime by his elderly teacher, who then asks, “Cola nut…or uncola nut-can you choose wisely?” The boy considers for a moment, then takes the lemon and lime. The teacher smiles and says, “Very good, Weedhopper.” This probably would make no sense if you were not familiar with the TV series “Kung Fu,” with David Carradine (as a boy in a monastery, his nickname was “Grasshopper”), but at the time, the commercial was a hit. “Crisp and clean with no caffeine-never had it, never will,” is still impressed in the minds of those who were alive at that time.
Lmao! Wooowwwww! Talk about nostalgia! ❤😂
7up was the go-to solution in rural Ireland for kids who were sick in the early 2000s. My nan would always ask if I drank some "flat" 7up, meaning it wasn't fizzy anymore. It somehow always helped me get better. Nice memories.
Me too. I grew up in rural Illinois.
I remember being given it while sick as a kid too. It was the more flavorful alternative to ginger ale to help settle an upset stomach.
I remember as a kid, we used to drink 7up far more often than sprite, slice, or squirt. I even remember playing the video game with spot. But, when 7up changed their formula for a " new, crisp, clean taste" it definitely didn't taste as good as it used to. I found it had an odd after taste, and I never really returned to drinking it. I actually prefered pepsi's slice over sprite. That sadly has gone away with other drinks taking its place.
Loved the commercial where the guy walks down the street wearing a t-shirt with "Make 7" on the front and "Up Yours" on the back. I want that t-shirt.
In my family 7-Up is associated with illness. The reason for that is usually when someone in the house is sick with a fever, it's one of the few non-water drinks we've been able to drink and it not make us feel sick. And while the taste isn't something I enjoy on a day to day basis like other pops, it's fine for when I'm feeling under the weather. But beyond that my brain just goes "nope" otherwise. Like I'll drink it if there's nothing else available. I don't hate it. But it just isn't my go to lemon-lime pop. I'll take a Sprite over it pretty much every time.
True my too. Must be black family thing.
When I was home sick, my mom would make me drink a semi flat, warm 7up! I just would want something cold and she insisted that it needed to be room temp if I were sick.
@@mikethepokemaster2012 Possibly. Must be a white family thing too. Or maybe a Midwest thing in general? Who knows.
@@SynchroSk8 We always do cold since it's part of keeping a fever in check usually. Also warm 7-Up just doesn't taste good.
Latino/white here, my Mexican mom said 7up was good for stomach aches and fevers as well!
1) Yes, I played Cool Spot. A surprisingly well made platformer.
2) 7-Up was the only soda my dad would drink. He had one with lunch and one with dinner, every day, until the day he passed. So I grew up with it around at all times.
It was good on every platform it was on too.
Your second point isn't really a ringing endorsement for the product.
Also, sorry for your loss.
@@jxchamb His death had no relation to the 7Up. It was a heart attack from a pulmonary blood clot. And thank you.
Cool Spot was the shit. One of my favorite games on the Sega Genesis
Showin up for cool spot. I wasn’t that good at it, i was pretty weak with coordination at that age, there was this level with all this precise platforming where like these floating bottle caps that would tip over if you stayed too long, i think that’s as far as i could get
We played "Heads Up 7-Up" in school back in the early 80's too.
I was born in 1954, and I defiantly remember 7-Up's heyday. It has always been one of my favorite flavors, so I appreciate you covering its history. One thing of note you left out was the brand's long-time slogan before "They Uncola". It was:
*You Like It -- It Likes You.* It subtlety implied health benefits as well as reminding people it tastes good. I liked the Uncola campaign as well, but it is not the first one I knew.
I love 7-up!! I’ll take it over both of Coke and Pepsi’s clear lemon lime offerings that only increase my thirst whereas 7-up really does leave me feeling quenched.
I haven’t seen 7UP sold anywhere in years at this point. I thought the brand went under!
Thanks for always providing international context too
When I lived in Philadelphia, I happened to see at an antiques shop a sign for "Lithiated Lemon Soda" and was told "that's what became 7 Up". I used to drink 7 Up fairly regularly but I don't think I've done so in probably around 35 years. But that may be more a factor of availability than anything else.
It was originally called Bib-Lable Lithiated Lemon-Lime Soda when it was first invented in 1929 because in the Original formula it contained Lithium Citrate which was a Popular Mood stabilizer at the time. it was renamed to 7up Lithiated Lemon Soda before being shorten to just 7up in 1936 and the Origins of the name 7up is unknown some say it came from the Atomic mass for lithium being 7, and some say it was because it was Bottled in 7 ounce bottles instead of the 6 ounce bottles that other competors like Coca-Cola used at the time.
I think you're correct. As I got older, and started dating, hanging out in the 90s at restaurants I'd always ask for 7Up. Restaurants never seemed to have it, but the waiters would always suggest Sprite. After many years, I just started asking for Sprite.
I loved 7-Up when they were available for a short time in my country. Sadly the company stopped exploring the Brazilian market.
It’s by far the tastiest lemon/lime soda. Every now and then when I travel to the US or neighboring countries I drink a lot of it.
i remember kids and teens liking 7up in the 90s (i was born in 1990 btw) because we all loved the "make 7up yours" commercials
These company breakdowns are very interesting.
I ❤7Up; not as sweet as sprite or Starry. I'm 43 so it's nostalgic for me.
Slice was pretty good......with all their different flavors.
I must say I like them all but my favorite too are the ones that are less sweet. May I recommend squirt. Not only is it cheaper than the other three but it is WAY more tart than the other three aswell. Technically squirt is grapefruit soda though rather than lemon lime.
Same but i am 17
@@jimv77I remember slice and liked the lime flavor and the orange flavor
@@rgnszeb123I enjoy Squirt as well. These old school sodas are my favorite and yes the less sweet tasting.
7Up was basically the drink me and my siblings had when we were sick and stayed home from school. We mainly went with the Cherry kind. It was a nice treat to have whenever that happened. The regular kind was also my main choice, along with Sprite, when I was starting out on my "No caffeine drinks" thing. I don't have it as much as I used to. It's a nice thing to have every so often these days.
Same here. A bad stomach or sore throat - 7Up did the trick.
I knew they were huge, my dad loved 7up back in the 70's and 80's when he was a kid. I believe he still has a limited edition six pack of 7up bottles that have pro basketball players on them from the 70's.
Late 80’s.. remember the ‘Spot’ character?
Two things: 1. When 7-Up was in their "Uncola" phase, Coke was selling a lot of souvenir glasses shaped like the one at 3:35 with their logo on them. We got a set of a 7-Up version ( I think at a pizza parlor ) which were the same shape as the Coke ones, but upside down, with the wide end at the bottom, to represent their "Uncola" status. 2. Adam Savage has said that the mobile vending machine at 9:22 was one of his earliest collaborations with Jamie Hyneman, from before they starred on Mythbusters.
Yes!!!!!
I had several of the upside down 7-Up glasses. But while being more stable due to wide base, they would easily slip out of your hand and break. You could see why the Coke design, becoming wider at the top was better. So with use they are becoming scarce.
When I see a 7up logo I think of my first one. I was a young boy in the mid 50’s. A friend asked me if I wanted a 7up fizz. I had no idea what this was. I watched him put two scoops of vanilla ice cream in a glass and then fill the glass with 7up and stir. He gave me a spoon for the ice cream. . He made a glass for himself, too. I will never forget how enjoyable that treat was.
Yeah!!! Like similar to a Coke with chocolate ice cream. Give your grandkids these treats today, and they will think you are a god.
7up doesn't contain an addictive drug. That tends to be a problem when you're competing in the addiction industry.
It was a big mistake to discontinue dnL.
My favorite 7up campaign was dnL, something as simple as flipping the logo was just so cool and I always wanted to drink it
So funny enough, my Great Grandfather bought a 7-Up station outside Pittsburgh right at the beginning signs of great depression. It serviced the greater keystone from PA, WV, MD, OH, and NY. As a kid we would get the reject bottles from the line that were always half filled. I even have a bunch of old 7-Up items like their weird lamps, Christmas lights, a bunch of bank bags, even the old ledgers.
A part of the history that was left out was when they did the dnL campaign (7-Up just flipped upside-down). Even the cups they had you drank from the bottom at the thinnest part rather then the larger mouth. Just so much history I have with the brand due to my family working with it and bottling it for decades.