The Overlooked Cola Innovation King
A drug store - not the Hatcher’s mentioned below, but a drug store still
In the “Cola Wars” of my lifetime, there have only been two contenders that anyone thinks about. For the last 50 years, aside from some regional differences, it's been Coke vs. Pepsi. As a country, we seem to always fall into a two-party system, even with our soft drinks. This overly simplified story misses the overlooked and underappreciated cola - RC Cola.
Most people have no idea about what may be the most important part of the Cola Story. Someone needs to make a movie out of the facts I’ll share with you below. This is a good-vs.-evil story. Even if I love my Diet Coke, that doesn’t mean its maker has a spotless past. Coca-Cola and others did some evil things to its one-time biggest customer.
RC Cola started when a humble pharmacist, Claud A. Hatcher, asked Coca-Cola for a better pricing deal. His grocery store was by far the largest seller in his region, and he wanted a better deal. He wanted a better cost structure since he was selling more than anyone. Coke refused, so Claud decided to stop carrying their drink and make his own soft drink in his basement. He was 27 years old at the time. He named his new drinks “Royal Crown”. The first soda released was Royal Crown Ginger Ale. In 1905, he and his wife started selling their own soft drinks, while continuing to innovate with new flavors.
In 1907, they took on their rival directly by selling a cherry-flavored cola named “Chero-Cola”. It sold so well that the family quickly found itself in the soda business full time. Coca-Cola was not happy about losing sales to this small family or their use of the word “cola,” so they sued and won. The Hatcher family had to change the name of their drink to just “Chero”. This court case was overturned decades later, and in the end, Coke lost. But by that time the damage had already been done. Goliath beat the small family business with its resources and its ability to wait out long court battles. Even in losing, Coca-Cola won.
Not only did RC have the first successful Cherry Cola, but also the first successful and tasty diet soda - they had to name it Diet Rite due to the ongoing lawsuit with Coca-Cola, of course. They became the number 1 selling diet soda company in the country. They had a minor health scare when new science showed health problems with some sweeteners and ingredients. That was a temporary setback. Other soda companies faced the same issue, but RC felt it more deeply. They were a smaller company, and larger firms could direct the press to cover their issues more than RC’s. Their sales plummeted, but the Hatcher family did not give up.
They focused on their fruity tasting sodas during these challenging times. They called the fruity flavors “Nehi Sodas”. Fruity-flavored sodas were another trend they started, and they grew to lead it before the large conglomerates crushed their plans yet again. I know I’m old, but no one from my generation can hear the words “Grape Nehi” without thinking of Radar on the TV show “M.A.S.H.” of the 70’s and 80’s.
It is not only Coke that stole their ideas and ran with them; Pepsi is guilty of that too. Do you remember the blind taste-test commercials Pepsi ran on television for years and years? Yeah, those were run and held by RC first. The main difference was that RC held them LIVE on television, risking a bad outcome. They didn’t have to worry about live responses; RC consistently won all the taste tests. They had enough confidence to run them live for all to see. Pepsi stole the idea and pre-recorded a series of commercials with a Pepsi vs. Coke taste test. They left RC out of the competition altogether. That was just cold. Pepsi ran those pre-recorded spots for years and years, ignoring RC the entire time.
RC was the first nationally available soda in a can. They were the first to make the larger 16-ounce bottles. They were the first to have diet soda available nationwide. They were the first with a caffeine-free cola (they called it RC 100). They were the first to offer a cherry cola and a diet cherry cola. They were also early users of the Muppets and Jim Henson in their commercials, even before they became huge on their own. The Hatcher family and RC innovated and led the industry in so much more; I can’t list it all here.
This "little company that could" has influenced our drinking tastes and habits more than it gets credit for. So next time you have the chance to buy an RC Cola, do it. And thank the Hatcher family for giving us what we love, even if nobody knows or remembers all that history.
