R. White's is a British brand of a

carbonated Carbonation is the chemical reaction of carbon dioxide to give carbonates, bicarbonates, and carbonic acid. In chemistry, the term is sometimes used in place of carboxylation, which refers to the formation of carboxylic acids. In inorganic ch ...

lemonade Lemonade is a sweetened lemon-flavored beverage. There are varieties of lemonade found throughout the world. In North America and South Asia, cloudy still lemonade is the most common variety. There it is traditionally a homemade drink using le ...

, which is produced and sold in the United Kingdom by

Britvic Britvic plc is a British producer of soft drinks based in Hemel Hempstead, England. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index. It produces soft drinks under its own name, and several other brands. Hist ...

. Robert and Mary White produced the first R. White's lemonade in

Camberwell Camberwell () is a district of South London, England, in the London Borough of Southwark, southeast of Charing Cross. Camberwell was first a village associated with the church of St Giles and a common of which Goose Green is a remnant. This e ...

, south London, in 1845. The White Family took over H. D. Rawlings

Ltd. A private company limited by shares is a class of private limited company incorporated under the laws of England and Wales, Northern Ireland, Scotland, certain Commonwealth countries, and the Republic of Ireland. It has shareholders with limit ...

in 1891, the year that it was incorporated—a merger which made White's the biggest

soft drink A soft drink (see § Terminology for other names) is a drink that usually contains water (often carbonated), a sweetener, and a natural and/or artificial flavoring. The sweetener may be a sugar, high-fructose corn syrup, fruit juice, a su ...

s 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 Whitbread plc is a multinational British hotel and restaurant company headquartered in Houghton Regis, England. The business was founded as a brewery in 1742, and had become the largest brewery in the world by the 1780s. Its largest division ...

in the 1960s, and was later absorbed by Britvic in 1986, when Britvic and

Canada Dry Canada Dry is a brand of soft drinks founded in 1904 and owned since 2008 by the American company Dr Pepper Snapple Group, Dr Pepper Snapple (now Keurig Dr Pepper). For over 100 years, Canada Dry has been known mainly for its ginger ale, though ...

Rawlings Ltd. merged. In the 1970s R. White's also made orangeade,

dandelion and burdock Dandelion and burdock is a beverage consumed in the British Isles since the Middle Ages. It was originally a type of light mead but over the years has evolved into the carbonated soft drink commercially available today. Traditionally, it was mad ...

, 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 Aspartame is an artificial non-saccharide sweetener 200 times sweeter than sucrose and is commonly used as a sugar substitute in foods and beverages. It is a methyl ester of the aspartic acid/phenylalanine dipeptide with the trade names ...

saccharin Saccharin (''aka'' saccharine, Sodium sacchari) is an artificial sweetener with effectively no nutritional value. It is about 550 times as sweet as sucrose but has a bitter or metallic aftertaste, especially at high concentrations. Saccharin is u ...

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".

History

In 1845, Robert and Mary White started selling home-brewed ginger beer from a wheelbarrow in

, London under Robert White's name. As a nod to this heritage, today the wheelbarrow features in

's packaging of R. White's drinks. The business saw rapid expansion, and by the late 1860s it had five production units and 16 depots in the

midlands of England The Midlands (also referred to as Central England) are a part of England that broadly correspond to the Kingdom of Mercia of the Early Middle Ages, bordered by Wales, Northern England and Southern England. The Midlands were important in the Ind ...

and London. White's, who had concentrated on

, took over H. D. Rawlings Ltd, a company that specialised in mixers, and the merger made White's the biggest

s company in London and

south-east England South East England is one of the nine official regions of England at the first level of ITL for statistical purposes. It consists of the counties of Buckinghamshire, East Sussex, Hampshire, the Isle of Wight, Kent, Oxfordshire, Berkshire, ...

. Robert White's sons, Robert James and John George, joined the business, and they became R. White & Sons Ltd. By 1887, White's produced a range of flavours and products, all of which were sold in Codd’s glass bottles. Choices available included strawberry soda, raspberry soda, cherryade, cream soda, pineapple cider, ginger beer, soda water and orange champagne. Prices ranged from eightpence to a

shilling The shilling is a historical coin, and the name of a unit of modern currencies formerly used in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, other British Commonwealth countries and Ireland, where they were generally equivalent to 12 pence o ...

per dozen. At the beginning of the 20th century more than 40 different soft drink flavours were on sale. In 1914, during the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, over 100 R. White employees served in the armed forces and the company supplied the government with over half their horses and vans. In the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, a great part of the vehicle fleet was commandeered by the government and used by the army. During

the Blitz The Blitz was a German bombing campaign against the United Kingdom in 1940 and 1941, during the Second World War. The term was first used by the British press and originated from the term , the German word meaning 'lightning war'. The Germa ...

three major factories were wiped out in London alone. R Whites haulage before 1914.jpg, R. White's delivery haulage (pre 1914) Refreshments stall before 1914.jpg, R. White's refreshments (early 1900s)

Marketing

In 1973, the 'Secret Lemonade Drinker'

advertising campaign An advertising campaign is a series of advertisement messages that share a single idea and theme which make up an integrated marketing communication (IMC). An IMC is a platform in which a group of people can group their ideas, beliefs, and conc ...

was launched by London agency Allen, Brady and Marsh and devised by

Rod Allen Roderick Bernet Allen (born October 5, 1959) is an American former professional baseball outfielder and current game analyst for the Miami Marlins on Bally Sports Florida. He formerly worked as an analyst for the Detroit Tigers on Bally Sports ...

, who wrote the slogan. The adverts featured actor

Julian Chagrin Julian Chagrin (born 22 February 1940) is a British-Israeli comedy actor. He is the husband of actress and comedian Rolanda Chagrin. Biography Chagrin was born in London. His father was the composer and conductor Francis Chagrin, who was born t ...

in pyjamas creeping downstairs to raid the fridge for R. Whites Lemonade, only to be caught by his wife, played by Harriet Philpin.

Ross McManus Ronald Patrick Ross McManus (20 October 1927 – 24 November 2011) was an English musician, singer and trumpet player of Irish descent. He performed with Joe Loss and his orchestra. He was the father of Elvis Costello. Life and career McManus ...

wrote and sang the advert's song, with his son Declan McManus (later known as

Elvis Costello Declan Patrick MacManus Order of the British Empire, OBE (born 25 August 1954), known professionally as Elvis Costello, is an English singer-songwriter and record producer. He has won multiple awards in his career, including a Grammy Award in ...

) providing the backing vocals. An alternative, unaired version of the advert featured Costello and his father onstage, as the 'Secret Lemonade Drinker' fantasised about being a rock star.McManus, Declan (2015), pp.156-157 ''Unfaithful Music & Disappearing Ink.'' Viking. The commercials were the brand's best known advertising campaign, and continued to air until 1984 and won a silver award at the 1974 International Advertising Festival. There was also a version of the commercial in 1985 featuring

John Otway John Otway (born 2 October 1952) is an English singer-songwriter who has built a cult audience through extensive touring. Biography 1970s and 1980s Otway was born in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire. Although his first single, "Gypsy"/"Misty Mounta ...

as the secret lemonade drinker in a phone box. The secret lemonade drinker was reintroduced in 1993, starring actor & comedian

Julian Dutton Julian Dutton is an English comedy writer and performer, principally for television and radio, whose work has won a British Comedy Award, a BAFTA, and a Radio Academy Gold Award for Best Comedy. He is the author of five books. He is the co-cr ...

as the eponymous Secret Lemonade Drinker, and various celebrities have featured in the commercials including comedians

Ronnie Corbett Ronald Balfour Corbett (4 December 1930 – 31 March 2016) was a Scottish actor, broadcaster, comedian and writer. He had a long association with Ronnie Barker in the BBC television comedy sketch show ''The Two Ronnies''. He achieved promine ...

and

Frankie Howerd Francis Alick Howard (6 March 1917 – 19 April 1992), better known by his stage-name Frankie Howerd, was an English actor and comedian. Early life Howerd was born the son of soldier Francis Alfred William (1887–1934)England & Wales, Deat ...

, actor

Nicholas Parsons Christopher Nicholas Parsons (10 October 1923 – 28 January 2020) was an English actor, straight man and radio and television presenter. He was the long-running presenter of the comedy radio show '' Just a Minute'' and hosted the game show '' ...

, tennis player

John McEnroe John Patrick McEnroe Jr. (born February 16, 1959) is an American former professional tennis player. He was known for his shot-making and volleying skills, his rivalries with Björn Borg and Jimmy Connors, and his confrontational on-court beha ...

and footballers turned pundits

Ian St John John "Ian" St John (; 7 June 1938 – 1 March 2021) was a Scottish professional football player, coach and broadcaster. St John played as a forward for Liverpool throughout most of the 1960s. Signed by Bill Shankly in 1961, St John was a key mem ...

and

Jimmy Greaves James Peter Greaves (20 February 1940 – 19 September 2021) was an English professional footballer who played as a forward. Greaves is regarded as one of England’s best ever players. He is England's fifth-highest international goalscorer ...

. One version dubbed the advert entirely in Japanese; another version had another sultry woman appear randomly to kiss Dutton (before he is rejoined by a lookalike of Harriet Philpin), while yet another featured the animation of

Mr Benn Mr Benn is a character created by David McKee who originally appeared in several children's books. The first, ''Mr Benn Red Knight'', was published in 1967, followed by three more; these became the basis for an animated television series of the ...

. In 2000, “Secret Lemonade Drinker” was ranked seventh in

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...

's poll of " The 100 Greatest TV Ads". Julian Chagrin and Harriet Philpin returned in 2012 to advertise R White's Lemonade Lollies.

References

External links

Britvic - R. White's Lemonade
{{Lemonade Lemonade British drink brands British drinks Carbonated drinks 1845 establishments in England Products introduced in 1845 British brands

History

Marketing

See also

References

External links