Game Boy Play It Loud! Transparent American Edition

The clear craze was a marketing fad from the late 1980s to early 2000s, often equating transparency with purity. Inspired by

Ivory Ivory is a hard, white material from the tusks (traditionally from elephants) and teeth of animals, that consists mainly of dentine, one of the physical structures of teeth and tusks. The chemical structure of the teeth and tusks of mammals is ...

's "99 and 44/100 percent pure" campaign for bath soap, and by low-calorie or "

light Light or visible light is electromagnetic radiation that can be perceived by the human eye. Visible light is usually defined as having wavelengths in the range of 400–700 nanometres (nm), corresponding to frequencies of 750–420 tera ...

" beverages, sodas were redesigned in the 1980s and 1990s as being free of artificial dyes, such as the caffeine-free and preservative-free

Crystal Pepsi Crystal Pepsi is a clear cola soft drink made by PepsiCo. It was initially released in the United States and Canada from 1992 to 1994. Online grassroots revival efforts prompted brief re-releases throughout the mid-2010s. It was briefly sold ...

. Personal hygiene products were then relaunched as clear dye-free gels, and many electronics had transparent cases.

History

Since the introduction of

Plexiglas Poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) belongs to a group of materials called engineering plastics. It is a transparent thermoplastic. PMMA is also known as acrylic, acrylic glass, as well as by the trade names and brands Crylux, Plexiglas, Acrylite, ...

in the late 1930s, devices have been made with clear shells to expose the electromechanical components inside. At the

1939 New York World's Fair The 1939–40 New York World's Fair was a world's fair held at Flushing Meadows–Corona Park in Queens, New York, United States. It was the second-most expensive American world's fair of all time, exceeded only by St. Louis's Louisiana Purchas ...

, a 139 Pontiac Deluxe Six engine with a clear Plexiglas body was on display. Peaking in the 1960s and 1970s, transparent-shelled devices fell out of fashion until the clear craze in the late 1980s. Following the

breakup of the Bell System The breakup of the Bell System was mandated on January 8, 1982, by an agreed consent decree providing that AT&T Corporation would, as had been initially proposed by AT&T, relinquish control of the Bell Operating Companies, which had provided loc ...

in the mid 1980s, a surge of manufacturers began creating phones, many of them transparent and having flashing neon lights when the phone rings. A trend of "light" beer with fewer calories started in the 1960s. Then, color was identified in the marketing industry as a "tool for visual persuasion" toward a product's purity and health consciousness. Ivory soap was adapted from its classic milky solution and its slogan of "99 and 44/100 percent pure". This led up the clear craze starting in the 1980s. To showcase the reduction of calories or artificial flavors, many companies released clear versions of their products. The

clear cola Cola is a carbonated soft drink flavored with vanilla, cinnamon, citrus oils and other flavorings. Cola became popular worldwide after the American pharmacist John Stith Pemberton invented Coca-Cola, a trademarked brand, in 1886, which was imi ...

market was entered by

on April 13, 1992"Business Digest"
''The New York Times'', April 13, 1992 featuring no preservatives or caffeine, although the existing

Pepsi Pepsi is a carbonated soft drink manufactured by PepsiCo. Originally created and developed in 1893 by Caleb Bradham and introduced as Brad's Drink, it was renamed as Pepsi-Cola in 1898, and then shortened to Pepsi in 1961. History Pepsi was ...

also did not have preservatives, and a caffeine-free version was already available.Zyman, Sergio
The End of Marketing as We Know It
Harper-Collins, 1999.

Coca-Cola Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a carbonated soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. Originally marketed as a temperance drink and intended as a patent medicine, it was invented in the late 19th century by John Stith Pemberton in Atlanta ...

soon responded with

Tab Clear Tab Clear was a variation of Tab (soft drink), Tab. It is The Coca-Cola Company, Coca-Cola's contribution to the short-lived "clear cola" movement during the early 1990s. It was introduced in the United States on December 14, 1992,Coors announced

Zima Zima may refer to: * Zima (drink), an alcoholic beverage * Zima (town), a town in Russia * Zima (surname) * ''Zima Blue and Other Stories'', a collection of short works by Alastair Reynolds * Zima, a character in the anime series ''Chobits ...

, a clear, carbonated malt beer and in 1993,

Miller A miller is a person who operates a Gristmill, mill, a machine to grind a grain (for example corn or wheat) to make flour. Mill (grinding), Milling is among the oldest of human occupations. "Miller", "Milne" and other variants are common surname ...

released Miller Clear to mixed reviews.

Gillette Gillette is an American brand of safety razors and other personal care products including shaving supplies, owned by the multi-national corporation Procter & Gamble (P&G). Based in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, it was owned by The Gil ...

released versions of its existing deodorants and shaving creams in a clear gel form, which have continued indefinitely. Through the 1990s, the clear trend included transparent watches, staplers, calculators, handheld gaming devices such as the

Nintendo Game Boy The is an 8-bit fourth generation handheld game console developed and manufactured by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan on April 21, 1989, in North America later the same year, and in Europe in late 1990. It was designed by the same tea ...

, and computers such as

Apple An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple fruit tree, trees are agriculture, cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus ''Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, wh ...

iMac G3 The iMac G3, originally released as the iMac, is a series of Macintosh personal computers sold by Apple Computer from 1998 to 2003. The iMac was the first major new product release for Apple under Steve Jobs, Apple's interim CEO and cofound ...

. File:Crystal Pepsi 20oz.jpg, Crystal Pepsi. File:IMac G3 Indigo.jpg, A translucent indigo iMac G3. File:N64-Console-Orange.jpg, A translucent orange Nintendo 64.

References

External links

Clear, and cashing in
''

Newsweek ''Newsweek'' is an American weekly online news magazine co-owned 50 percent each by Dev Pragad, its president and CEO, and Johnathan Davis (businessman), Johnathan Davis, who has no operational role at ''Newsweek''. Founded as a weekly print m ...

'', February 2, 1993 {{portal bar, 1980s, 1990s, 2000s Product management 1980s fads and trends 1990s fads and trends 2000s fads and trends

History

See also

References

External links