Royal
Crown Cola, or RC, is over eighty years old. It was an innovative brand
that paired well with deep-dish pizza in Chicago and Moon Pies in the
South. And RC Cola was still eclipsed by both Coca Cola and Pepsi. Yeah,
it’s still around, yet the brand doesn’t spend all that much on
promotion, relatively, and it stays out of the “cola wars.”
But
the number of RC drinkers could have been much, much higher. In an
alternate—and completely plausible—universe, it would have given Coke
and Pepsi a run for their money. At one point, it did. Believe it or
not, Royal Crown Cola used to be one of the most innovative companies in
the beverage industry. It came out with the first canned soda, the
first caffeine-free soda, and the first 16-ounce soda. It was the first
to take diet cola mainstream, and the first to stage nationwide taste
tests.
Given its long and pioneering history, RC deserved to be
more than the middling soda brand it is today. In an industry that lives
and dies by marketing, RC didn’t do nearly enough. But its failure
wasn’t just due to lack of initiative. It was also a case of supremely
bad luck, bad judgment, and a fateful ingredient known as cyclamate.
Baby
Boomers might remember what happened next, but you probably don’t know
all the details. Today RC Cola and its sister brands like Nehi and Diet
Rite are still sold, although you may have to look for them. Read about
the rise and spectacular fall of RC Cola at mental_floss.
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