The Fantanas are a group of spokesmodels (later dancers) who were created to promote the

Fanta Fanta is an American-owned German brand of fruit-flavored carbonated soft drinks created by Coca-Cola Deutschland under the leadership of German businessman Max Keith. There are more than 200 flavors worldwide. Fanta originated in Germany as ...

brand of soft drinks in the United States. The quartet has appeared since 2002 in

advertising Advertising is the practice and techniques employed to bring attention to a product or service. Advertising aims to put a product or service in the spotlight in hopes of drawing it attention from consumers. It is typically used to promote a ...

and personal appearances. There have been five different Fantanas rosters, the latter reintroduced as a co-ed dance ensemble in 2017. Their jingle is "Wanna Fanta! Don't you wanna?".

The "story" behind the Fantanas

According to the Fantanas' website, they lived on Fantana Island and were accidentally discovered by an entertainment mogul named Sir Juan-Carlos Martinez III after he fell off his yacht and was washed ashore on that island, seeing their work. He later talked with an advertising mogul, Paul Gurbel, in a fictional New York restaurant who brought them to the United States. In reality, the advertisements were created by

Ogilvy and Mather Ogilvy is a New York City-based British advertising, marketing, and public relations agency. It was founded in 1850 by Edmund Mather as a London-based agency. In 1964, the firm became known as Ogilvy & Mather after merging with a New York City a ...

in 2002.

Incarnations

Original Fantanas (2002–2004)

The original lineup of Fantanas donned an island/party style. The members (with their real names) were: *Nina (

K.D. Aubert Karen Denise Aubert, (born December 6, 1978) also known as K.D. Rose, is an American actress, fashion model and singer. She owns her own record label, Roseland. Early life Aubert was born in Shreveport, Louisiana on December 6, 1978. She des ...

) - red (strawberry Fanta) *Calli (Jennifer Diaz) - orange (orange Fanta) *Leelee (

Adrienne Janic Adrienne Janic (), sometimes credited simply as AJ, is an American actress and television host. Career and life She has primarily worked as a television host including as a co-host of TLC's ''Overhaulin, an automotive, reality-television ser ...

) - yellow (pineapple Fanta) *Raquel (Andrea De Oliveira) - purple (grape Fanta) They gained attention outside their advertisements for their

camp Camp may refer to: Outdoor accommodation and recreation * Campsite or campground, a recreational outdoor sleeping and eating site * a temporary settlement for nomads * Camp, a term used in New England, Northern Ontario and New Brunswick to descri ...

iness and use of sexuality, and these original four were featured in a ''

Maxim Maxim or Maksim may refer to: Entertainment * ''Maxim'' (magazine), an international men's magazine ** ''Maxim'' (Australia), the Australian edition ** ''Maxim'' (India), the Indian edition *Maxim Radio, ''Maxim'' magazine's radio channel on Sir ...

'' magazin
spread
in December 2002.

"Mod" Fantanas (2004–2006)

In 2004, the Fantanas returned with a new look inspired by the mod fashion styles of the late 1960s. The members (some real names being withheld or unknown) were: *Capri (

Kat Graham Katerina Alexandre Hartford Graham (born September 5, 1989) is an American actress, singer and dancer (now distributing music under the stage name Toro Gato). She is widely known for her role as Bonnie Bennett on The CW supernatural drama seri ...

) - red (strawberry Fanta) *Kiki - orange (orange Fanta); leader *Lola - yellow (pineapple Fanta) *Sophia
Monica Flores
- purple (grape Fanta)

"Party" Fantanas (2006–2009)

In 2006, the next-generation lineup of Fantanas was introduced, this time with a contemporary party look. The commercials featuring this Fantanas roster were filmed in Argentina. The members (some real names being withheld or unknown) were: *Kaia (Danielle Acoff) - red (strawberry Fanta) *Amie (Dena Cali) - orange (orange Fanta); leader *Mimi (Mimi Karsh) - yellow (pineapple Fanta) *Sophia (Monica Flores) - purple (grape Fanta); character held over from the second incarnation

Return of the Fantanas (2009–2011)

In April 2009, it was announced that New Fantanas would be advertising the drinks with the original Fanta flavors. Each of the Fantanas would have an individual fashion style. The lineup of the Fantanas had these members (some real names being withheld or unknown): *Summer (Diana Carr) - orange (

orange Orange most often refers to: *Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis'' ** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower *Orange (colour), from the color of an orange, occurs between red and yellow in the visible spectrum * ...

Fanta); indie, healthy hippie style, leader. *Melody (Katherine Wilkes) - purple (

grape A grape is a fruit, botanically a berry, of the deciduous woody vines of the flowering plant genus ''Vitis''. Grapes are a non- climacteric type of fruit, generally occurring in clusters. The cultivation of grapes began perhaps 8,000 years ago, ...

Fanta); music-loving, punk, rockstar style.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yG4I-2rtX6I , https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1atdIPQvJiI , Also starred in https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_pxsjWapuHA *Isabela (

Marilinda Rivera ''Project Runway Season 3'' was the third season of ''Project Runway'', Bravo's successful reality competition for fashion designers. The third season of the show, with Heidi Klum returning as the host and Tim Gunn as the designers' guide, b ...

) - red (

strawberry The garden strawberry (or simply strawberry; ''Fragaria × ananassa'') is a widely grown hybrid species of the genus '' Fragaria'', collectively known as the strawberries, which are cultivated worldwide for their fruit. The fruit is widely ap ...

Fanta); fashionable, sexy, red-hot style. *Lily (Brittany Hampton) - yellow (

pineapple The pineapple (''Ananas comosus'') is a tropical plant with an edible fruit; it is the most economically significant plant in the family Bromeliaceae. The pineapple is indigenous to South America, where it has been cultivated for many centuri ...

Fanta); cute, chic style. Brittany was voted the winner of the 4th Fantana Search in Summer/Fall 2010. Replaced

Shakira Barrera Shakira Barrera (born 1990) is an American dancer and actress. She joined the cast of the Netflix series '' GLOW'' in its second season. Early life and education Barrera was born in Englewood, New Jersey, to Nicaraguan-American parents and att ...

"Be More Than One Flavor" Fantanas (2017–present)

In 2017, Fanta reintroduced the Fantanas with a modern style and encourages consumers to "be more than one flavor". It is the first time the group includes a male member. *Eva (

Eva Gutowski Eva Marisol Gutowski (also known as "MyLifeasEva") is an American YouTube influencer and actress with 11.4 million subscribers on Youtube. She graduated from Brea Olinda High School in Brea, California. She also attended California State Univers ...

) - orange (

Fanta) *Coco (

Coco Jones Courtney "Coco" Jones (born January 4, 1998) is an American singer and actress. She rose to prominence starring in the Disney Channel film '' Let It Shine'' (2012) and was featured on ''Radio Disney's Next Big Thing'' from 2010 to 2011. Jones wa ...

) - purple (

Fanta) *Jordan (

Jordan Fisher Jordan William Fisher (born April 24, 1994) is an American actor, singer, and dancer. He began his career with recurring roles on several television series, including ''The Secret Life of the American Teenager'' in 2012 and ''Liv and Maddie'' fr ...

) - red (

Fanta) *Lauren ( Lauren Riihimaki) - yellow (

Fanta)

''MADtv'' parody

The Fantanas were twice parodied on the sketch comedy series ''

MADtv ''Mad TV'' (stylized as ''MADtv'') is an American sketch comedy television series originally inspired by '' Mad'' magazine. In its initial run, it aired on Fox from 1995 to 2009. After a one-off reunion show in 2015 to celebrate the twentiet ...

''. Both appearances (Episodes #1004 and #1009, aired 6 November and 18 December 2004, respectively) starred

Daniele Gaither Daniele Gaither is an American actress and comedian. Gaither is most notable for her membership in the recurring cast of comedians on sketch comedy series ''MADtv''. Early life Daniele Gaither was born in St. Paul, Minnesota. As a child, Gait ...

as Capri,

Stephnie Weir Stephnie Carmel Weir (born November 28, 1967) is an American actress, comedian, and writer. She is best known for being a main cast member and writer on the Fox sketch comedy television series ''Mad TV'' from 2000 to 2005, for which she got two W ...

as Lola,

Nicole Parker Nicole Frances Parker (born February 21, 1978) is an American actress. She is best known for her work on Fox's sketch comedy show ''Mad TV'' (2003–2009, 2016), which she was a regular cast member. In July 2009, Parker concluded her run as Elph ...

as Kiki, and

Paul C. Vogt Paul Calvin Vogt (born December 16, 1964) is an American actor and comedian, best known for his work as a cast member on the sketch comedy programs ''Mad TV'', ''The Big Gay Sketch Show'', and ''The Rerun Show''. Life and career Paul C. Vogt was ...

as "Two-Liter" Beth. The commercials were similar to the actual Fantanas commercials, with Capri, Lola and Kiki offering Fanta to a series of men, only to be interrupted by Beth's attempts to seduce the men with her two-liter bottle of an odd savory flavored Fanta (and some blurred nudity). The former episode featured the Fantanas representing similar Fanta flavors, but the latter episode (aired just before Christmas) featured the Fantanas representing holiday-themed Fanta: * Candy Cane Capri (Gaither) * Cinnamon Spice Lola (Weir) * Frosted Gingerbread Kiki (Parker) * Holiday Ham Dinner Beth (Vogt)

Other parodies

The Fantanas also made an appearance in the popular animated show ''

Robot Chicken ''Robot Chicken'' is an American adult animated stop motion sketch comedy television series, created and executive produced for Adult Swim by Seth Green and Matthew Senreich along with co-head writers Douglas Goldstein and Tom Root. The writers, ...

'' in the episode "Adoption's an Option" in 2006. In the "

Peter's Daughter The sixth season of ''Family Guy'' first aired on Fox from September 23, 2007, to May 4, 2008. The season includes 12 episodes and was shortened due to creator Seth MacFarlane's participation in the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, ...

" episode of ''

Family Guy ''Family Guy'' is an American animated sitcom originally conceived and created by Seth MacFarlane for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The show centers around the Griffin family, Griffins, a dysfunctional family consisting of parents Peter Griff ...

'', first shown on November 25, 2007, the Fantanas were parodied as four elderly women promoting

Sanka Sanka is a brand of instant decaffeinated coffee, sold around the world, and was one of the earliest decaffeinated varieties. Sanka is distributed in the United States by Kraft Heinz. History Decaffeinated coffee was developed in 1903 by a team ...

. The Australian comedian

Pam Ann Pam Ann is the air hostess alter-ego of Australian comedian, writer, producer & DJ Caroline Reid. Performances focus on the nuances of air travel, identifying the individual quirks of some of the biggest international airlines and their media ...

uses the Fantana jingle as a catchphrase when she does her routine as the

Iberia Airlines Iberia (), legally incorporated as ''Iberia Líneas Aéreas de España, S.A. Operadora, Sociedad Unipersonal'', is the flag carrier airline of Spain. Founded in 1927 and based in Madrid, it operates an international network of services from i ...

stewardess Conchita Rosa María González Gómez in her shows.

Notes

{{Reflist

External links

Fanta's websiteAdrienne Janic's websiteMonica Flores's websiteDena Cali's website
Mascots introduced in 2002 Advertising campaigns Drink advertising characters Female characters in advertising