During the Second World War, the US established a trade embargo against Germany—making the export of Coca-Cola syrup difficult. To circumvent this, Max Keith, the head of Coca-Cola Deutschland, decided to create a new product for the German market, using only ingredients available in Germany at the time, including beet sugar, whey, and apple pomace—the "leftovers of leftovers", as Keith later recalled. The name was the result of a brainstorming session, which started with Keith's exhorting his team to "use their imagination", to which one of his salesmen, Joe Knipp, retorted "Fanta!". The plant was cut off from Coca-Cola headquarters during the war. After the war, The Coca-Cola Company regained control of the plant, formula, and the trademarks to the new Fanta product—as well as the plant profits made during the war. In 1943 alone, 3 million cases of Fanta were sold. Many bottles were not drunk, but used to add sweetness and flavor to soups and stews, since wartime sugar was severely rationed. During the war the Dutch Coca-Cola plant in Amsterdam suffered the same difficulties as the German Coca-Cola plant. Max Keith put the Fanta brand at the disposal of the Dutch Coca-Cola plant, of which he had been appointed the official caretaker. Dutch Fanta had a different recipe from German Fanta, elderberries being one of the main ingredients. Fanta production was discontinued when the German and Dutch Coca-Cola branches were reunited with their parent company. Following the launch of several drinks by the Pepsi corporation in the 1950s, Coca-Cola relaunched Fanta in 1955. The drink was heavily marketed in Europe, Asia, Africa, and South America. The orange Fanta of today was produced for the first time in Italy, in Naples, in 1955, when a local bottling plant started producing it using locally sourced oranges.
Marketing
United States
Fanta is known for its upbeat colorful advertising; in the United States, it showcases The Fantanas, a group of young female models, each of whom promotes an individual Fanta flavor. For the re-introduction of Fanta in the United States, Coca-Cola worked with the ad agencyOgilvy in 2001. After a brainstorming session, the Ogilvy creative team of Andrea Scaglione, Andrew Ladden and Bill Davaris created the tagline "Wanta Fanta!" which became the jingle for the Fantanas in the broadcast campaign. The campaign lasted from mid-2001, in the form of a successful trial run, to October 1, 2006. Three years later, in June 2009, Fanta re-launched the campaign.
Germany
75th anniversary version
In February 2015, a 75th-anniversary version of Fanta was released in Germany. Packaged in glass bottles evoking the original design and with an authentic original wartime flavor including 30% whey and pomace, it is described on the packaging as "less sweet" and a German original. An associated television ad referenced the history of the drink and said the Coca-Cola company wanted to bring back "the feeling of the Good Old Times" which was interpreted by many to mean Nazi rule. The ad was subsequently replaced.
International availability
There are more than 90 flavors worldwide. In Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Poland, Serbia, Turkey, Romania, Russia, Sweden and some other countries, there is Fanta Shokata based on an elderflower blossom extract drink. Orange Fanta is available in Canada. The formula differs from its American counterpart in that it contains orange juice and the American version contains none. The other variants available in Canada are Grape and Cream Soda, both made with grape juice. Primary competitors to Fanta have included Tango, Mirinda, Sunkist, Slice, Sumol, Crush, Faygo, Tropicana Twister, and Orangina. Fanta is the second drink to have been produced by Coca-Cola, after the original Coca-Cola. In New Zealand, unlike the rest of Australasia, Fanta is visually branded with the original logo used since 2008. The New Zealand market includes the Fanta variants Fanta Blueberry, Fanta Sour Watermelon, and Fanta Strawberry Sherbet. The comedian Gabriel Iglesias has made references to Fanta having a substantial fan base in India and Mexico.
