Tizer

Tizer

Type	carbonated soft drink
Manufacturer	A.G. Barr plc
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Introduced	1924
Colour	Red
Related products	Vimto Tango Fanta

Tizer is a red-coloured soft drink sold in the United Kingdom. The name originally comes from the phrase 'Tizer the Appetizer'. It was launched in 1924 by Fred Pickup of Manchester when it was known as 'Pickup's Appetizer'. After the death of Pickup it was owned by the Armour Trust before being sold to the Scottish drinks company A.G. Barr plc for £2.5 million in 1972. As is the case with Barr's other famous drink Irn-Bru, Tizer's exact recipe has not been made public, although a list of ingredients and nutritional data is given on the product's packaging. In the late 1990s, Tizer decided to sale other-flavoured versions of Tizer, such as "Purple" and "Green" versions^[1] There was also a brief "fruitz" varation of Tizer. From 1996 to 2007, Tizer was stylized as T!zer.

In 2007 Tizer was re branded with the slogan 'Original Great Taste' and a classic Tizer recipe with fewer additives and no E numbers. It was also given classic style packaging without the "Ed The Head" character. However, despite the relaunch making great play of the addition of real fruit juice and the absence of artificial flavourings, colourings and sweeteners, the recipe was reverted in 2009 to remove the real fruit juice and reintroduce natural flavourings, natural colours and sweeteners (Acesulfame-K). Tizer was rebranded in 2011 with a new logo and the slogan "The Great British Pop".

Tizer sponsored a roller coaster in Southport called the 'Traumatizer'. The ride was closed with the park in 2006 and relocated to Blackpool, where it became known as Infusion.

Tizer Ice

'Tizer Ice' was launched in the late 1990s. The drink included menthol, giving it the sensation of tasting cold, even at room temperature. Later branded "Ice by Tizer", the product did not sell well and was removed from sale.

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.^[2]

Tizer Diet

Tizer Diet was a short lived low-calorie alternative to Tizer. Its 2001 advertising campaign included a bus shelter advertisement in the form of a funhouse mirror bearing the Tizer Diet logo, designed to make the viewer appear thinner.^[3]

Advertising

Tizer has been advertised under various slogans. One 1982 television advertisement for the drink featured dwarf actor David Rappaport wearing star-shaped sunglasses at a disco, the advert finishing with the slogan "You can tell it's Tizer when your eyes are shut". A 1986 campaign used the slogan, "I'se got the Ize".^{[citation needed]} A campaign in the early 1990s featured a character filmed in black in white against a bubbly red backdrop, who would say word fragments such as 'appe', 'adver', 'depu' and 'chaz' - words which could be completed with 'tizer' as a suffix.

In the mid-1990s, Tizer was rebranded, and the cans and bottles were redesigned to feature a new logo and a mascot, known as "Tizer Head" and later "Ed the Head". Ed appeared as a red-coloured human head, the top of which was opened so that Tizer could be poured in.^{[citation needed]}

In 1997, Tizer sponsored The Chart Show. Short Tizer adverts would be used at the start of all episodes of the programme, which would segue into the opening titles for The Chart Show. For these adverts viewers would send in pictures of their heads, the best one being chosen to be the new Tizer head. The opening advert featured a head laughing maniacally. The adverts received some criticism, as they were intentionally played at random moments during the titles and end credits, interrupting the show. The slots were eventually dropped, and as part of 'The Vault' repeats,^{[clarification needed]} the sponsorships were either blurred or edited out of the title sequences and end credits.

From 1999-2003, Tizer sponsored the CD:UK music show. Short advertisements were used at the start and end of the programme, with bumper adverts during commercial breaks. The first set of idents showed a fridge automatically open to reveal Ed the Head. During 2001 and 2002, the ads featured the Tizer Head asking questions to contestants in a style similar to the quiz show Mastermind. In mid-2002, the sponsor ad showed Ed the Head singing about being "your bestest buddy", in various situations. This ran until November 2003 when the "itzred" campaign launched.

As part of a rebranding process in 2003, the cans were changed to red and Ed the Head's expression was changed to that of a smiling face. The ads featured a chef battling a lobster, a bunch of gorillas and monkeys drawn in the style of the Gorillaz artwork. 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." The television adverts ended with Ed the Head appearing from the bottle and saying "Tizer, it's a red thing".^{[citation needed]}

Tizer are known for their distribution of drink fridges,^{[citation needed]} both full-sized ones for restaurants, shops and cafés, and smaller "mini-fridges" for public sale. Their full-sized, illuminated drink fridges from 1997-2003 were blue, whilst 2003-2007 fridges were red. They also distribute mobile can coolers, normally for usage in shops, and vending machines.

Tizer was also sold at the discontinued Pizza restaraunt chain, Pizzaland. In 1995, cans of Tizer offered that the specific can was "worth £1 at Pizzaland" when £4 or more was spent. That same year, Tizer were responsible for the "£150,000 worth of hi-tech prizes" competition, one of the biggest soft drink competitons at the time.^{[citation needed]}

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" (2004-2007)
• "Live the Red Life" (2004, for Ringtones site)
• "The Great British Pop" (2011-present)
• "Freeze Your Head" (1998, for Tizer Ice)
• "Don't Just Taste It. Feel It" (1999, for Ice from Tizer)

For the slogans "Refresh Your Head" and "Freeze Your Head", the 'R' in Red, and the 'E' and 'D' in Head, are highlighted so they spell out the word "Red".

Music

The 1974 song "Back in Judy's Jungle" by Brian Eno mentions the soft drink, as does the 1983 song "Party, Party" by Elvis Costello and the 1991 song "King Leer" by Morrissey. In Billy Connolly's "Casual Vomit" Sketch, found on The Best Comedy Album Ever; Bacardi and Tizer is mentioned as the ingredients in a vomit inducing pint. Ant & Dec's music video for their song "We're on the Ball" features a sticker-advert for Tizer at the start of the video on a fridge.

Variants

• Tizer (1924-present)
• Tizer Lemon (1995-1996)
• Tizer Ice (1998-1999)
• Ice by Tizer (1999) (Same as Tizer Ice, replacement)
• Diet Tizer (2001)
• Tizer Blue (2003)
• Tizer Green (2003)
• Tizer Yellow (2003)
• Tizer Fruitz (2004)

References

1. ^ http://www.mad.co.uk/Main/Home/Articles/31ed78cec6a3444cb3ac3e1a0e7b98ed/Barr-Soft-Drinks-launches-new-Tizer-flavours.html
2. ^ "Sick 'kids in the fridge' advert horror. - Free Online Library". Thefreelibrary.com. 1999-06-13. http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Sick+'kids+in+the+fridge'+advert+horror.-a060198375. Retrieved 2011-08-01. 
3. ^ Diet Tizer: MIRROR. ""MIRROR" Print Ad for Diet Tizer by Bdh\tbwa". Coloribus.com. http://www.coloribus.com/adsarchive/prints/diet-tizer-mirror-2856805/. Retrieved 2011-08-01. 

External links

• Tizer web site