History:
– Robert and Mary White started selling ginger beer in Camberwell, London in 1845.
– The business expanded rapidly with multiple production units and depots by the late 1860s.
– Whites acquired H. D. Rawlings Ltd, becoming the largest soft drinks company in London.
– Robert White’s sons joined the business, leading to the formation of R. White & Sons Ltd.
– By 1914, over 100 R. White employees served in WWI, supplying horses and vans to the government.
Marketing:
– The Secret Lemonade Drinker campaign was launched in 1973.
– The iconic adverts featured actor Julian Chagrin and musician Ross McManus.
– The campaign won awards and continued until 1984.
– Various celebrities, including Elvis Costello’s father, were featured in later versions.
– The campaign was ranked seventh in the 2000 poll of The 100 Greatest TV Ads.
See also:
– Drink portal.
– List of lemonade topics.
References:
– Chester homeless charity collaboration with R. Whites.
– Story of R. Whites and successors in Barking and Essex.
– Information on R. White & Sons Limited from Gov.uk.
– Premium Lemonade details from Britvic.
– The 100 Greatest TV Ads poll by Channel 4.
R. White's is a British brand of a carbonated lemonade, which is produced and sold in the United Kingdom by Britvic. Robert and Mary White produced the first R. White's lemonade in Camberwell, south London, in 1845. The White Family took over H. D. Rawlings Ltd. in 1891, the year that it was incorporated—a merger which made White's the biggest soft drinks company in London and the south-east—and then R. White & Sons Ltd. was itself incorporated in 1894. The company was taken over by Whitbread in the 1960s, and was later absorbed by Britvic in 1986, when Britvic and Canada Dry Rawlings Ltd. merged.
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.JPG) R. White's lemonade, est. 1845 | |
| Type | Carbonated lemonade |
|---|---|
| Manufacturer | Britvic |
| Country of origin | British |
| Introduced | 1845 |
In the 1970s R. White's also made orangeade, dandelion and burdock, and cream soda. The lemonade product, formerly made using sugar, has (as of 2012, possibly earlier) changed the traditional recipe, replacing some sugar with aspartame, saccharin and acesulfame K. R. White's still contains real lemons and is available in regular, diet, Traditional Cloudy, Raspberry, Pear and Elderflower varieties. A television commercial from the 1970s, "Secret Lemonade Drinker", was ranked seventh in a 2000 UK wide poll of "The 100 Greatest TV Ads".