Irn Bru Snowman Advert
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- Duration: 1:05
- Published: 2006-12-01
- Uploaded: 2011-02-02
- Author: AllyFarrell
Irn Bru's take on the Snowman.
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| Name | Irn-Bru |
|---|---|
| Type | Carbonated soft drink |
| Manufacturer | A.G. Barr plc |
| Origin | |
| Introduced | 1901 |
| Colour | Orange |
| Related | Coca-Cola Pepsi Fanta Kinnie |
| Variants | Diet Irn-Bru Irn-Bru 32 Irn-Bru Chew Bar |
Irn-bru (pronounced Iron brew) is a popular carbonated soft drink produced in Blantyre, Scotland. It is made by A.G. Barr of Glasgow since moving out of their original Parkhead factory in the mid-1990s and at a second manufacturing site in Mansfield, England. In addition to being sold throughout the United Kingdom, Barr's Irn-Bru is also available in many key markets throughout the world and can usually be purchased where there is a significant community of people from its native Scotland. Innovative and sometimes controversial marketing campaigns have consistently kept it as one of the best-selling soft drinks in Scotland where it competes directly with massive global brands such as Coca-Cola and Pepsi.
Irn-Bru was first produced in 1901, in the town of Falkirk, under the name Strachan's brew. In 1946, a change in laws required that the word "brew" be removed from the name, as the drink is not technically brewed. The chairman of the company came up with the idea of changing the spelling of both halves of the name to a phonetic spelling echoing how it is pronounced in a Scottish, or more accurately a Glaswegian accent, giving the current Irn-Bru brand. 1980 saw the introduction of Low Calorie Irn-Bru; this was re-launched in 1991 as Diet Irn-Bru and the Irn-Bru 32 energy drink variant was launched in 2006
It has long been the most popular soft drink in Scotland, with Coca-Cola second , but recent fierce competition between the two brands has brought their sales to roughly equal levels. It is also the third best selling soft drink in the UK, after Coca-Cola and Pepsi, outselling high-profile brands such as Fanta, Dr Pepper, Sprite and 7-Up. This success in defending its home market (a feat claimed only by Irn-Bru) has led to ongoing speculation that Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, Inc. or its UK brand franchisee Britvic would attempt to buy A.G. Barr.
It is thought that the name 'Irn-Bru' originated with the re-building of Glasgow Central Station in 1901. When workers from the William Beardmore and Company Steel Works in Glasgow were dying from the large amounts of beer drunk to quench their thirst from the heat of the steel works, an alternative was sought. A local soft drinks manufacturer, A.G. Barr, approached the steel works and eventually a contract was created to provide the workers with this drink. This unnamed drink later went on to be known as 'Iron Brew' because of its connections to the steel (and iron) works.
Irn-Bru's advertising slogans used to be 'Scotland's other National Drink', referring to whisky, and 'Made in Scotland from girders', though the closest one can come to substantiating this claim is the 0.002% ammonium ferric citrate listed in the ingredients.
The ingredients in Irn-Bru are a closely guarded secret, and the recipe is known only to Robin Barr, the Chairman - who announced his retirement in May 2009 -, and one unnamed person (who are not allowed to travel on the same plane together). A copy of the recipe is kept in a bank vault in Scotland. Robin Barr himself mixes the essences of the drink in a sealed room at their headquarters in Cumbernauld once a month. Once Robin Barr steps down as Chairman, he will continue to be the company mixer, but will eventually pass on the recipe to his daughter (and company secretary) Julie.
Irn-Bru and Diet Irn-Bru are available in the following sizes:
* 150 ml can
* In May 2007, Irn-Bru underwent a re-design of its bottles and cans.
Barr has a long-established gimmick associating Irn-Bru with Scottishness, stemming from the claim of it being Scotland's most popular soft drink. A tagline, 'Made in Scotland from girders', was used for several years from the 1980s, usually featuring Irn-Bru drinkers becoming unusually strong, durable, or magnetic.
An advertising campaign launched in 2000 featured eccentric characters and situations. One involved a grandfather (played by actor Robert Wilson) who removed his false teeth to spoil his grandson's interest in his can of Irn-Bru. A further TV advertisement featured a senior citizen in a motorised wheelchair robbing a local shopping market of a supply of Irn-Bru. Further advertising campaigns for Irn-Bru appeared in conjunction with the release of Irn-Bru 32 in 2006. This campaign consisted of a parody commercial of a popular Christmas Cartoon, The Snowman, and was extremely effective in interesting American audiences in the Irn-Bru brand.
The most recent advertisement for the product features a group of high school students performing a musical number, with the refrain 'It's fizzy, It's ginger, It's phenomenal!'. It is suggested to be a parody of musicals such as High School Musical.
In 2003, an Irn-Bru commercial which showed a midwife trying to entice a baby from its mother's womb during a difficult delivery sparked a complaint from one viewer. Some saw it as upsetting to women who had suffered miscarriages.
One billboard featured a young woman in a bikini along with the slogan 'I never knew four-and-a-half inches could give so much pleasure'. Another featured a picture of a cow with the slogan 'When I'm a burger, I want to be washed down with Irn-Bru'. This billboard received over 700 complaints but was cleared by advertisement watchdogs. A billboard which featured a depressed goth and the slogan 'Cheer up Goth. Have an Irn Bru.' was also criticised for inciting bullying.
Detective Inspector John Rebus, the main character in Ian Rankin's Rebus series, is often described buying an Irn-Bru for its hangover benefits after one of his all-too-frequent binges. This also occurs in the Iain Banks novel The Crow Road. The night after the New Year's eve party, Prentice's father gives him Irn-Bru.
Elvis Costello references Irn-Bru in "The St. Stephen's Day Murders," referring to a mixture of Tia Maria and "that drink made from girders."
Irn-Bru is currently manufactured in five factories in Russia, and is also manufactured under licence in Canada, United States, and since May 2008 in Norway. Bru and various other Barr products are exported to Spain, Netherlands, Germany, Gibraltar, Greece, and Cyprus, as well as parts of Africa and Asia. It is available relatively widely in Ireland (chiefly in both Northern Ireland and border counties, but increasingly in BWG and ADM Londis supplied stores nationwide), Malta, Belgium and, as of 2005, in Poland. A similarly named product, using the 'Iron Brew' spelling but bearing little resemblance to Irn-Bru in flavour, colour or packaging, is produced by Coca-Cola in South Africa.
The now-defunct McKinley/McInlay soft-drink company in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, Canada, for many years offered its own non-licensed beverage called 'Iron Brew'. It was a brown carbonated soft-drink with a fruity cola taste. After the company stopped operations ca. 1990, PepsiCo continued to sell the drink locally as 'Cape Breton's Irn Bru'. The packaging consisted of plainly labelled plastic bottles (black text on a featureless white label) and a disclaimer 'Not a source of Iron'.
As of 2006, this product seems to be very difficult to find, but not impossible. There is a small store in Montreal West (Québec) called Bramble House that imports this beverage direct from Scotland so there are no alterations made to it. They are also willing to ship it to you if you live too far away to visit the store. (Verified on Dec 20, 1010: Bramble House sells both the original (Scottish) bru and the Canadian (no quinine, no caffeine) versions. Be sure to ask the nice ladies at the counter. Or just check the labels for the contents. Last seen: the cans were Scottish, the bottles were Canadian (still said "imported from Scotland" but contained no quinine, no caffeine).)
Imports can also be found in The Beaches area of Toronto in a store called the Nutty Chocolatier. Denninger's in Hamilton also stocks it as a regular staple in their fridges.
The standard Irn-Bru distributed in Canada also contains the 'Not a source of iron' disclaimer on the label.
A soft drink called 'Iron Brew' is made by Foxon Park (est. 1922), a local bottler in East Haven, Connecticut. 'It is tough to describe Iron Brew', says Foxon Park's web page, noting that it 'has its roots in old Scotland.' It's promoted as combining cola, cream soda, and root beer flavours.
Category:Soft drinks Category:Scottish cuisine Category:Scottish brands Category:Carbonated drinks Category:British brands Category:1901 introductions
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