There was a commercial that had a bald black man talking about an “uncola nut,” which he may have been holding. He had an incredibly deep voice, and he always said something like “ah ha ha.” What was he advertising? Anyone remember?
7Up?
Yes, 7-Up.
And I would have posted first, except for the 60-second violation.
**WOW[\b] - talk about fast! Thanks - it was driving me crazy. Do you know who the actor was? Is he still around?
Yep. Anthracite and Pipeliner beat me to it.
But I have a link! Hah!
[url=http://tulsatv.tripod.com/mazeppa2.html]Here’s another link[/url.]
You may have seen Mr. Holder in such films as “Live and Let Die”, “Boomarang” (starring Eddie Murphy), and “Annie” (he was Punjab).
I’m not sure why that didn’t work (haven’t had my third cup of coffee…)
Here’s another link.
I have an even better link.
I remember it well.
“These are cola nuts. They grow here. THESE are uncola nuts. [a lemon and a lime, I suspect – a black & white tv made it hard to distinguish] They grow here, too. They are larger than cola nuts. Jucier, too.”
Too bad 7-up tastes like fizzy sugar water
Se’m-up. Crisp and clean and NOO caffeine.
That same guy did a commercial for mounds/almond joys. “Creaaammmmmy Cocoanut”
I remember the commercials, but was born in the early 70s, so I think it was closer to 1980.
Also, has 7 UP changed its recipe? I used to love it as a kid, but now it tastes like ass.
the commercial you inquire about, was a campaign for soft drink Seven Up. In the seventies, they used the slogan,“The uncola” in response to the big three back then-Coca Cola, Pepsi, And Royal Crown Colas. Now, what I have is a more obscure querie: Do you remember Sport Cola, advertised by Wally Cox,aka. Under Dog? Sport was possibly the first caffeine free cola on the market. I liked it. I wish it was still available, but maybe because Wally Cox died, the company folded.
Geoffrey Holder was the actor. Many people thought it was James Earl Jones.
The commercial was picked as 1 of the 50 best of all time.
http://www.sodafountain.com/navframe.htm?http://www.sodafountain.com/softdrnk/7_up.htm
Didn’t that guy also say “MAAAAAAhhhhhhhh-velous,” I mean long before Billy Crystal did his SNL character?
Patty MARVEL
Don’t think the recipe has been changed - perhaps just a shortage of high-quality uncola nuts??
Same thing happened to the formula that happened to virtually every other soft drink-they replaced the sugar with high-fructose corn syrup. It’s probably up to the bottler (most manufacturers supply the flavoring & let the bottlers use their own carbonated water and sweetener), so it’ll say “sugar and/or high fructose corn syrup” on the label. But the corn syrup is so much cheaper that virtually nobody uses anything but corn syrup, or a corn syrup-base with a little sugar, to avoid getting priced out of the market.
** ACTUALLY **
7-Up tastes different now because it was reformulated in the late '90s. I actually like it much better now…
From U.S. News and World Report September 1997:
http://www.usnews.com/usnews/issue/970922/22bizb.htm
7 Up: Remaking the Uncola
It looks like the Uncola will be undone. Executives with Dr Pepper/Seven-Up, owned by Britain’s Cadbury Schweppes PLC, are expected to announce this week that the 7 Up soft-drink brand will be reformulated to have a less sweet, crisper taste. The move is in response to 7 Up’s flagging market share, which has dropped by a third since 1987. Its rival, Coca-Cola’s Sprite, now holds more than double 7 Up’s market share in the $54 billion soft-drink industry. “7 Up is a fading star, and they have to do something to pick it up,” says Tom Pirko, president of Bevmark LLC, an industry consulting firm.
Prior to the early 1980s, the Uncola dominated the U.S. lemon-lime beverage segment. But an aggressive advertising campaign by Sprite aimed at a younger and hipper audience has made 7 Up look old and tired–the kiss of death in a youth-oriented soda market, observers say.
Mindful of the New Coke debacle in 1985, 7 Up’s managers say they are aiming for a new image to accompany the crisper taste. They’re planning a revamped marketing campaign called “Best Ever” 7 Up targeted at the extreme-sports crowd.–Dan McGraw"