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, other than some regional differences, it has been Coke vs. Pepsi. As a county we seem to always fall to 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 does not mean that it's maker has a spotless past. There were some evil doings by Coca-Cola and others against its one time biggest customer.
RC Cola had its start when a humble pharmacist, Claud A. Hatcher asked for a better pricing deal from Coca Cola. You see his grocery store was the largest seller in his region by far, and he wanted a little 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. It was 1905 when and he and his wife started selling their own soft drinks, all the while continuing to innovate with other new flavors.
In 1907 they took on their rival directly by selling a cherry flavored cola named “Chero-Cola”. It sold so well, that this little family quickly found themselves in the soda business full time. Coca Cola was not happy with losing sales to this small family or with their use of the word “cola” so they sued in court 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 had beaten the small family business with their resources and ability to wait it out in 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 little health scare when some new science showed there were health problems with some of the sweeteners and ingredients. That was a temporary setback for them. Other soda companies had this exact same issue with their products as well, but RC felt it deeper. They were a smaller company and the larger firms were able to direct the press to report more on RC's issues than their own. 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 was another trend they started and which they grew to lead 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 who stole their ideas and ran with them, Pepsi is guilty of this as well. Do you remember the blind taste test commercials that Pepsi ran on television for years and years? Yeah, those were run and held by RC first. The main difference was RC held them live on television risking a bad outcome. They had no need to worry about the 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 Pepsi vs. Coke taste test. They left RC out of the competition all together. 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 nation wide. They were the first with a caffeine free cola (the called it RC 100). They were the first with a cherry cola, and the first with a diet cherry cola. In addition they were early users of the Muppets and Jim Henson in their commercials even before they became a huge on their own. There is so much more that the Hatcher family and RC innovated and led the industry with for over a century that I could not list it all here.
This "little company that could" has had more influence on our drinking tastes and habits then they get 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.
