Fanta-stic

Has anyone else noticed that Coca-Cola is now marketing Fanta a lot more aggressively in North America? It also seems to be available in stores here more than it used to be. I think of Fanta as Coke's third-world soft drink, because in places like Africa it's often cheaper to buy Fanta than bottled water. Coke airlifts shipping containers of the stuff onto roadsides in Kenya, where it's sold straight out of the container--putting other local roadside stores out of business. When I was there, one bottle would set you back about 30 cents (Canadian). As well, different flavours are available in different places worldwide. This Wikipedia page details the international availability of Fanta. I'm intrigued by Honeydew Melon Fanta (available in Taiwan) and Elderflower Fanta (Norway).

Fanta was actually invented by a Coke factory manager in Germany during WWII because shipping restrictions prevented Coke syrup from getting into Germany. Then it was marketed in Nazi Germany. The Scopes page linked above points out that it was not, as is often incorrectly said, invented BY the Nazis. However, I'm sure they found it delicious, especially since original German-recipe Fanta was made with whey and apple fiber. Yum.

What is maybe the most discouraging detail from Fanta's history is the fact that it is marketed using a made-up girl group called "The Fantanas". The Fantanas look kind of like Josey and the Pussycats, only more commercial, if you can imagine that. The Fanta website includes online games and, my favourite feature, you can send an email to your mom pestering her to buy you Fanta. I'm trying to picture what would happen if I sent such an email to my mom.

This little soft drink factoid has been brought to you by bored Jocelyn and the internet.