Tizer is an orange-coloured, citrus-flavoured carbonated soft drink bottled and sold in the UK. It was launched in 1924 by Fred and Tom Pickup when it was known as "Pickup's Appetizer", later abbreviated to Tizer. The original Tizer company would produce a range of other soft drinks including Jusoda. The drink has been manufactured by A.G. Barr since 1972.

History

Early history

Thomas Pickup was born on 21 July 1884 in Ashworth, Lancashire, while his brother Fred was born in 1879 in Heap, Birtle, Lancashire to parents Edmund Pickup and Eliza Saxon. Edmund's brother, Abraham, was by 1901 in partnership with Thomas Fentiman as Fentiman & Pickup, botanical brewers based in Middlesbrough.

After World War II

In 1956, Pickup announced that the company had made a profit of £270,209 in 1955 and that it had purchased the company, Our Boys Mineral Water based in South Wales. However, a year later profits had fallen to £68,818 after sales were affected by bad weather that summer. The company introduced a new drink, Jusoda, which with continued improved sales in Tizer, had seen the company's profits grow to £254,196 in 1957. Thomas Pickup died in 1960, In 1960, profits after tax stood at £263,403, but as the table below shows, after a climb in profits, these had decreased by the end of the decade:

However, Armour Trust only owned the company for a year and one day, and sold the business to Scottish drinks company A.G. Barr plc for £2.5m ($5.8 million) in December 1972.

In 2007, Tizer was re-branded with the slogan "Original Great Taste" and a classic recipe with fewer additives and no E numbers. It was also given classic 1976 style packaging.

A 1999 print advertisement which showed children with their faces pressed against a glass surface with the slogan "How many kids can you get in your fridge?" was criticised as "inappropriate" by the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents, which had recorded deaths of children trapped inside refrigerators. The drink was re-branded as Ice by Tizer' but poor sales saw the drink discontinued.

  • Jusoda Lemon-Lime Crush
  • Lemonade
  • Nectose (a concentrated cordial) A free, promotional flexidisc, featuring the voice of Spitting Image impressionist Rory Bremner, was produced as part of the campaign. The Evening Dispatch described Bremner as "doing the most to help people master the new language."

Fan club

A Tizer fan club for United Kingdom based consumers was launched in July 1991. The fan club was advertised in teenage magazines such as Smash Hits and cost £3.00 to join. In return the fan club member received a membership card and Tizer merchandise including a folder, stickers and Tizer branded wraparound sunglasses. The fan club was discontinued around 1993.

---tizer campaign

In April 1993, Tizer launched a £2.5 million television and cinema campaign, created by the agency BDH and Partners, which aimed the product at the 16–24 age group, rather than younger children. The novel campaign, which aimed for cult status and credibility, began with eight quirky television advertisements that the Manchester Evening News described as "completely off the wall". Each advert featured surreal representations and demonstrations of their respective classifications, such as raving young people and bottle jugglers; the actors – which BDH hired after scouting nightclubs in Manchester and London – appear in black-and-white against the bubbling red Tizer backdrop.

Refresh your head

In 1996, Tizer was rebranded, and the cans and bottles were redesigned to feature a new logo and a head mascot. The cans were changed from red to blue, and the old motto "The appetizer" was replaced by "Refresh your head". The changes by

Pilot Design of Leeds were to appeal to the 5 to 15-year-olds core market, who thought the previous packaging was old fashioned. DJ Chris Evans fronted a £2 million TV advertising campaign to relaunch the new design.

Sponsorship

In 1997, Tizer took over the sponsorship of The Chart Show which was a Saturday morning music chart show on the ITV network in the UK.

From 23 January 1999, Tizer was the sponsor of the newly rebranded CD:UK which was the replacement for The Chart Show back in 1998.

Tizer sponsored a roller coaster in Southport called the "Traumatizer" from 1999. The ride was closed in 2006 and relocated to Blackpool Pleasure Beach, where it became known as "Infusion".

Lunchboxes

A campaign for Tizer from 2001 saw the brand package four bottles of the drink in blue lunchboxes. This was inspired by the Tango lunchbox in 2000.

Itz a red thing

In 2003, a rebranding by Barr saw the company changed back to red packaging, axing its Refresh your head strapline in favour of Itz a red thing. The rebrand, which cost £1.5 million, included TV adverts featuring animation by Pete Candeland, but saw the product end its sponsorship of the Saturday morning TV show CD:UK as part of its plan to reposition the drink in the marketplace.

Chameleon

In 2004, Tizer aired a campaign depicting a red chameleon remaining the same colour despite a number of different coloured backgrounds—the campaign's slogan was "No, we're not changing colour."

Slogans

  • "You Can Tell It's Tizer When Your Eyes Are Shut" (1980, 1982)
  • "I'se Got The Ize" (1986)
  • "Refresh Your Head" (1996–2003)
  • "!tz a Red Thing" (2003–2007)
  • "The Great British Pop" (2011–present) as does the 1983 song "Party, Party" by Elvis Costello, the 1991 song "King Leer" by Morrissey and in the Deacon Blue track Fellow Hoodlums.

thumb|Ceramic bottle stopper embossed 'TIZER', circa 1920s

thumb|Old Tizer advert

References

  • Tizer website