Sego was a US
meal replacement diet drink formally marketed by
Pet, Inc. (at the time ''Pet Milk'') as ''Sego Liquid Diet Food.'' Introduced in 1961
and selling for approximately US25ยข each,
Sego sales registered US$22 million to the company's Milk Products Division by 1965.
The name ''Sego'' derived from a
Salt Lake City
Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the capital and most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in Utah. With a population of 200,133 in 2020, th ...
-based company, Sego Milk Products Company, that Pet Milk had purchased in 1925.
Sold in 10-ounce cans,
before the advent of
aluminum cans or cans with
pull tabs, the beverages were available in flavors including Chocolate, Chocolate Coconut, Chocolate Malt, Vanilla, Strawberry, Banana and Orange
—each providing 225 calories (four cans to be consumed daily, for a total of 900 calories).
Marketed under the taglines "See the pounds go with Sego" and "Sego, it's great for your ego," Pet advertised the drinks being "thicker" and as having 10% more protein and 2 more ounces than other 900 calorie foods—e.g.,
Metrecal Metrecal was a brand of low-calorie, powdered diet foods (to be mixed with water as a beverage) "containing the essential nutrients of protein, carbohydrate, fat, vitamins and minerals" introduced in the early 1960s by the Mead Johnson company, with ...
, its predecessor in the market and the market leader—asserting that protein "helps control hunger."
In 1966, milk chocolate, caramel fudge and butter pecan flavors became available,
and Pet Milk subsequently offered Sego branded pudding and soup
—and, later still, diet bars.
By 1961, there were more than 100
meal replacement products on the U.S. market,
and Sego competed with such products as
Metrecal Metrecal was a brand of low-calorie, powdered diet foods (to be mixed with water as a beverage) "containing the essential nutrients of protein, carbohydrate, fat, vitamins and minerals" introduced in the early 1960s by the Mead Johnson company, with ...
, and ''Figurines'' from
Pillsbury,
and was ultimately superseded in the market place by such liquid diet drinks as
Slimfast
SlimFast is an American company headquartered in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida that markets an eponymous brand of shakes, bars, snacks, packaged meals, and other dietary supplement foods sold in the U.S., Canada, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, ...
.
In the 2010 book ''The Hundred Year Diet,'' author Susan Yager called Sego "baby formula mixed with water and a poor substitute for food."
Actress
Tippi Hedren
Nathalie Kay "Tippi" Hedren (born January 19, 1930) is an American actress, animal rights activist, and former fashion model.
A successful fashion model who appeared on the front covers of ''Life'' and '' Glamour'' magazines, among others, Hed ...
was discovered by
Alfred Hitchcock while shooting a television commercial for Sego on the ''
Today Show
''Today'' (also called ''The Today Show'' or informally, ''NBC News Today'') is an American news and talk morning television show that airs weekdays from 7:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. on NBC. The program debuted on January 14, 1952. It w ...
''.
Hedren later described the spot as "a story line; it wasn't just holding up a product and talking about it. It was a story and apparently he (Hitchcock) saw it."
See also
*
Slimfast
SlimFast is an American company headquartered in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida that markets an eponymous brand of shakes, bars, snacks, packaged meals, and other dietary supplement foods sold in the U.S., Canada, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, ...
*
Metrecal Metrecal was a brand of low-calorie, powdered diet foods (to be mixed with water as a beverage) "containing the essential nutrients of protein, carbohydrate, fat, vitamins and minerals" introduced in the early 1960s by the Mead Johnson company, with ...
References
{{Reflist
Products introduced in 1961
Brand name diet products
Non-alcoholic drinks