SoBe (stylized as ) is an American brand of

tea Tea is an aromatic beverage prepared by pouring hot or boiling water over cured or fresh leaves of '' Camellia sinensis'', an evergreen shrub native to East Asia which probably originated in the borderlands of southwestern China and north ...

s, fruit-juice blends and enhanced water beverages owned by

PepsiCo PepsiCo, Inc. is an American multinational food, snack, and beverage corporation headquartered in Harrison, New York, in the hamlet of Purchase. PepsiCo's business encompasses all aspects of the food and beverage market. It oversees the man ...

. The name SoBe is an abbreviation of

South Beach South Beach, also nicknamed colloquially as SoBe, is a neighborhood in Miami Beach, Florida. It is located east of Miami between Biscayne Bay and the Atlantic Ocean. The area encompasses Miami Beach south of Dade Boulevard. This area was the fi ...

, named after the upscale area located in

Miami Beach, Florida Miami Beach is a coastal resort city in Miami-Dade County, Florida. It was incorporated on March 26, 1915. The municipality is located on natural and man-made barrier islands between the Atlantic Ocean and Biscayne Bay, the latter of which sep ...

. In the past, the SoBe name has also been licensed for

gum Gum may refer to: Types of gum * Adhesive * Bubble gum * Chewing gum * Gum (botany), sap or other resinous material associated with certain species of the plant kingdom ** Gum arabic, made from the sap of ''Acacia senegal'', an Old World tree s ...

and

chocolate Chocolate is a food made from roasted and ground cacao seed kernels that is available as a liquid, solid, or paste, either on its own or as a flavoring agent in other foods. Cacao has been consumed in some form since at least the Olmec civil ...

products. SoBe switched from glass bottles to plastic bottles for all of its beverages in 2010.

Company history

SoBe began as the South Beach Beverage Company, a drink manufacturer based in

Norwalk, Connecticut , image_map = Fairfield County Connecticut incorporated and unincorporated areas Norwalk highlighted.svg , mapsize = 230px , map_caption = Location in Fairfield County and Connecticut , coordinates ...

from 1996 to 2001. It was founded by Kevin McGovern, and co-founded by John Bello and Tom Schwalm in 1995. Their first product was ''SoBe Black Tea 3G'' which contained

ginseng Ginseng () is the root of plants in the genus '' Panax'', such as Korean ginseng ('' P. ginseng''), South China ginseng ('' P. notoginseng''), and American ginseng ('' P. quinquefolius''), typically characterized by the presence of ginsenosides ...

guarana Guaraná ( from the Portuguese ''guaraná'' ), ''Paullinia cupana'', syns. ''P. crysan, P. sorbilis'') is a climbing plant in the family Sapindaceae, native to the Amazon basin and especially common in Brazil. Guaraná has large leaves and clu ...

, and

ginkgo ''Ginkgo'' is a genus of non-flowering seed plants. The scientific name is also used as the English name. The order to which it belongs, Ginkgoales, first appeared in the Permian, 270 million years ago, and is now the only living genus withi ...

. It proved to be popular and led to the introduction of other flavors. The company was bought by

in October 2000.

Products

* SoBe Lifewater / SoBe Water - A vitamin-infused beverage. Most of the flavors are non-caloric and use

steviol glycoside Steviol glycosides are the chemical compounds responsible for the sweet taste of the leaves of the South American plant ''Stevia rebaudiana'' (Asteraceae) and the main ingredients (or precursors) of many sweeteners marketed under the generic name ...

s for natural sweetening. * SoBe Elixirs - A line of fully sweetened (with

sucrose Sucrose, a disaccharide, is a sugar composed of glucose and fructose subunits. It is produced naturally in plants and is the main constituent of white sugar. It has the molecular formula . For human consumption, sucrose is extracted and refi ...

and in some cases a mix of sucrose and

Stevia Stevia () is a natural sweetener and sugar substitute derived from the leaves of the plant species '' Stevia rebaudiana'', native to Paraguay and Brazil. The active compounds are steviol glycosides (mainly stevioside and rebaudioside), wh ...

) beverages with herbal extracts and some vitamins. * SoBe Tea - A line of

iced tea Iced tea (or ice tea) is a form of cold tea. Though it is usually served in a glass with ice, it can refer to any tea that has been chilled or cooled. It may be sweetened with sugar or syrup. Iced tea is also a popular packaged drink that can b ...

beverages with herbal extracts. * SoBe Pure Rush - A line of energy drinks, no longer available in the United States.

Discontinued products

* SoBe Qi * SoBe Adrenaline Rush * SoBe

No Fear No Fear is an American lifestyle clothing brand that was created in 1989 by Mark Simo, Brian Simo, Boris Said, and Marty Moates. No Fear Inc. products are sold at various retail stores ancompany owned stores It also offers No Fear energy dr ...

* SoBe Elixirs 3C * SoBe Eros * Power Line * SoBe Synergy * SoBe Nirvana * SoBe Special Recipes * SoBe Essential Energy * SoBe Ice * SoBe Zen Blend * Sobe Wisdom * SoBe SuperMan * SoBe Good * SoBe Dragon * SoBe Love Bus Brew * SoBe Oolong tea * SoBe Lizard Lava * SoBe Lizard Fuel * SoBe Lizard Lighting * SoBe Black and Blue Berry Brew * SoBe Long John Lizard's Grape Grog

SoBe Mr. Green

Mr. Green was a short-lived carbonated soda offered by SoBe, widely released in the United States. Shipping in April 2002 and first available to consumers in May, it was produced in 12 oz cans, 20 oz bottles, and 1- and 2-liter bottles. It was a rare carbonated beverage offered by SoBe. The soda's mascot of the same name was described as a "cyber lizard" in SoBe's press release. This character was a modernized version of the lizard found on other SoBe products. Mr. Green was tinted green, and included

for flavor and added energy.

Marketing campaigns

* ''Lizard Tales'' is a monthly digital newsletter published by SoBe for their fans. The newsletter provides consumers with product updates, promotions and cultural trends. * In 2003, SoBe launched ''Adrenaline Rush'' which was marketed toward action sports. * ''Heads or Tails'' was the name of the SoBe under-the-cap promotion where consumers could instantly win prizes, including SoBe apparel,

Apple iPod The iPod is a discontinued series of portable media players and multi-purpose mobile devices designed and marketed by Apple Inc. The first version was released on October 23, 2001, about months after the Macintosh version of iTunes wa ...

s, Apple MacBook Pros, or product coupons for future purchases. * The 2001 game '' Oddworld: Munch's Oddysee'' features vending machines in the game that dispense SoBe drinks. This was only available in the North American version of the game. * The 2004 game ''Driv3r'' also features vending machines (which don't work), along with bus ads and a SoBe themed truck in game. * Starting in 2007, SoBe sponsored the

Chicago Rush The Chicago Rush were a professional arena football team based in Rosemont, Illinois. The team played at the Allstate Arena from 2001 to 2013. They were a member of the Central Division of the National Conference of the Arena Football League ...

cheerleaders of the

Arena Football League The Arena Football League (AFL) was a professional arena football league in the United States. It was founded in 1986, but played its first official games in the 1987 season, making it the third longest-running professional football league in ...

. The Rush dance team was called the SoBe Adrenalin Rush Dancers. * In 2008 & 2009, SoBe had Super Bowl ads in support of SoBe Lifewater. * In 2010, SoBe Lifewater partnered with '' AOL FanHouse'' to bring college basketball fans a bracket challenge where they could play their

bracket A bracket is either of two tall fore- or back-facing punctuation marks commonly used to isolate a segment of text or data from its surroundings. Typically deployed in symmetric pairs, an individual bracket may be identified as a 'left' or 'r ...

against the brackets of celebrities, including

Kendra Wilkinson Kendra Leigh Wilkinson (formerly Baskett; born June 12, 1985) is an American television personality and model. She is known for being one of Hugh Hefner's girlfriends and for her role on the E! reality television series '' The Girls Next Door'' ...

, Brooklyn Decker,

Jerry Rice Jerry Lee Rice (born October 13, 1962) is an American former professional football wide receiver who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 20 seasons. Known primarily as a member of the San Francisco 49ers, winning three championsh ...

and

Kenny "The Jet" Smith Kenneth Smith (born March 8, 1965), nicknamed "the Jet", is an American sports commentator and former professional basketball player in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played in the NBA from 1987 to 1997 as a member of the Sacrame ...

. Those fans whose bracket beat a celebrity bracket had a chance to meet them. If a fan had a perfect bracket, they could win up to $10,000,000. *From 2010 to 2012, SoBe Lifewater partnered annually with actresses for their 'Skinsuits' campaign, Starting with

Ashley Greene Ashley Michele Greene Khoury (born February 21, 1987) is an American actress. She is known for playing Alice Cullen in the film adaptations of Stephenie Meyer's ''Twilight'' novels. Early life Greene was born on February 21, 1987, in Jacks ...

in 2010,

Jessica Szohr Jessica Karen Szohr (;) is an American actress. She started her screen career appearing on television shows such as ''My Wife and Kids'' (2003), ''Joan of Arcadia'' (2004), ''What About Brian'' (2007) and '' CSI: Miami'' (2007). She gained recogn ...

in 2011, and ending the campaign in 2012 with

Yvonne Strahovski Yvonne Jaqueline Strzechowski (born 30 July 1982), known professionally as Yvonne Strahovski (), is an Australian actress. Primarily noted for her roles in dramatic television, she has received numerous awards and nominations, including two Pri ...

* In 2011,

Ellie Goulding Elena Jane Goulding ( ; born 30 December 1986) is an English singer and songwriter. Her career began when she met record producers Starsmith and Frankmusik, and she was later spotted by Jamie Lillywhite, who became her manager and A&R. After ...

was announced as the UK face of SoBe. As part of the campaign she spent time in South Beach, Miami interviewing locals and traveling to South Beach hot-spots. * In July 2011 SoBe partnered with Mike Tyson: Main Event in launching a mobile gaming campaign for the brand's teas, fruit juice blends, and enhanced waters. * In ''Employee of the Month'' (2006 film), Vince Downey (played by

Dax Shepard Dax Randall Shepard (born January 2, 1975) is an American actor, comedian, filmmaker and podcast host. Since 2018, he has hosted ''Armchair Expert'', a podcast that interviews celebrities, journalists, and academics about their lives. Shepard ha ...

) drinks Sobe Nirvana with a

Gatorade Gatorade is an American brand of sports-themed beverage and food products, built around its signature line of sports drinks. Gatorade is currently manufactured by PepsiCo and is distributed in over 80 countries. The beverage was first develope ...

twist cap.

References

External links

*
Sobe Mr. Green Soda overview
on BevNet {{Authority control PepsiCo brands Juice brands Tea brands in the United States Companies based in New York (state) Companies based in Norwalk, Connecticut Food and drink companies established in 1996 1990s fads and trends 2000s fads and trends 1996 establishments in Connecticut 2000 mergers and acquisitions