Hires To You headerThe Illustrated History of Hires Root Beer

1988 

IT HAPPENED IN…1988

U.S. savings and loans posted a $13 billion loss, setting in motion an investigation into savings and loans scandals.

Former Vice President George Herman Walker Bush defeated Michael Dukakis, the Governor of Massachusetts, and was elected President of the United States.

An October, 1988 Beverage World article detailed the current condition of the market for root beer:

ROOT BEER REVISITED by Alan E. Wolf, Managing Editor

Root beer.  The very name evokes turn-of-the-century images of barbershop quartets, handlebar moustaches, straw hats and frothy soda fountain mugs of the dark brew.  But don’t tell that to the current generation of root beer barons, for these savvy niche marketers are expending considerable amounts of time and money to rejuvenate the segment’s cachet in hot pursuit of the dream demographic: the 12-to-24-year-olds, by far the largest consumers of soft drinks.

The category’s major players…are accomplishing this through a potent combination of contemporary package redesigns, aggressive, youth-themed advertising, and adroit, surgically precise media buys…

Hires too has managed to strike a delicate balance between old and new in its latest package redesign, which capitalizes on its franchise as the worlds’ first and oldest root beer brand while injecting a healthy dose of pop culture pizazz.  Cincinnatti, OH-based Libby Perszyk Kathman, Inc., a package design firm, retained the traditional Hires logo, brown color scheme and frothy root beer mug graphic, but set the elements against a stylized “effervescent” background pattern that shifts from darker to lighter shades of brown as the eye travels up the package (see photo).  In addition, a brighter snipe frame and cleaner typeface were added for starker contrast and improved shelf presence.

Indeed, snipe bands aside, the future seems brighter for most root beer brands of late, although such was not always the case.

Through the Past Darkly

Root beer grew in popularity as an “all-American” favorite during the post-World War I years and flourished during Prohibition, when consumers flocked to Hires and a host of competitive root beer brands in lieu of the fermented variety.  The flavor never achieved the predominance of cola, however, having been pushed outside the major cola stream during its formative years by bottlers who were discouraged from adding secondary product lines to their mix.

Worse still, the category was nearly dealt a death blow in 1960 when the Food and Drug Administration banned oil of sassafras and its derivative, safrole, a major ingredient in many root beers, because it had been found to cause cancer in laboratory rats.  In an 18-month period between 1960 and 1962, sales of root beer plunged 50 percent.  Recalls one industry veteran, “Taking sassafras out of root beer was like taking tomatoes out of ketchup.  All we had left was colored water.”

Root beer companies responded quickly by reformulating the flavor ingredients of their products and by banding together as an industry for the first – and perhaps last – time.  The now-defunct Root Beer Institute was inaugurated in the mid-1960s to help promote acceptance of root beer’s rather abrupt taste change and to restore the beverage’s tarnished image.  In time, cancer-related articles began to subside in the press and a new generation of root beer drinkers came to the fore, signaling the beginning to root beer’s “revival.”  Mission accomplished, the institute, by the early 1970s, was dissolved.

Grin and Beer It

Root beer was once again relegated to a back seat as the 1980s witnessed a renewed outbreak of cola warfare, and media and consumer attention was drawn to the Pepsi Challenge taste tests, the new Coke/Cola-Cola Classic “controversy,” the growth of the aspartame-enhanced diet cola sector, and the advent of myriad ancillary brands.  Observes Barq’s Koerner, “Root beer as a category has been artificially depressed over the last few years while the major bottlers introduced all sorts of short-term soft drinks such as the juice-added, caffeine-free and cherry-flavored beverages.  A lot of hoorah was going on about drinks that boomed but quickly settled to much lower sales levels.  And as such, those drinks took our shelf space, our vendor booths, our promotional period and so on.  Right now, the pressure’s off, and root beer is rising rapidly up to where it ought to be…”

Far and away the leading player in the root beer battle is A&W Brands, which, through a combination of national distribution, solid bottler support, successful programs, tight management and sharp advertising, has managed to capture fully 30 percent of the root beer business…

The re-designed Hires logo was used for this wooden yo-yo.

(Figure 1988-01, wooden yo-yo)

This cast pewter tankard with brass hinges was manufactured for Hires by Crown & Rose of London, England.  It measures 6.0" tall, with a base diameter of 4.625". 

(Figure 1988-02, cast pewter tankard)

This aluminum, pull-tab can is marked "INGREDIENTS: CARBONATED WATER, HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN-SYRUP AND SUGAR, CARAMEL COLOR, SODIUM BENZOATE AS A PRESERVATIVE (1/10 OF 1%), PHOSPHORIC ACID, NATURAL AND ARTIFICIAL FLAVOR.  DISTRIBUTED BY SYCAMORE BOTTLING, INC., A PROCTER & GAMBLE COMPANY, CINCINNATI, OHIO 45202."

(Figure 1988-02.5, aluminum, pull-tab can, 12 ounce)

(Figure 1988-03, cardboard wall sign, 26.0" x 18.0")

Crush Canada, Inc. chose implementation of the new Hires logo as an opportunity to also introduce a new 500 ml (just under 17 ounces) non-returnable, glass bottle featuring a styrofoam label and an aluminum, threaded cap. 

(Figure 1988-03.5, Canadian non-returnable, glass bottle, 7.25" tall)

This three piece store display supported a baseball advertising theme.  The inflatable plastic bat measures 41.0" long, the ball is 18.0" across, and the glove is 38.0" x 32.0".  All three items were manufactured in China and distributed in the U.S. by the Anglo Inflatables Group in Baldwin, New York.  

(Figure 1988-04, inflatable plastic baseball bat, ball, and glove)

This Plex-i View acrylic, battery-powered, wall clock was manufactured by Mirror Image, Inc., in Mendon, Michigan.  It measures 16.0" high and 14.0" wide. 

(Figure 1988-04.3, acrylic wall clock)

(Figure 1988-04.5, foam stadium seat cushion, 11.5" x 11.5" x 1.0")

This inflatable plastic ghost was produced for Halloween-themed store displays.  It measures 37.0" tall and 33.0" from arm to arm.  The smaller logo near the base advertises Diet Hires Root Beer.  This item is marked "MADE IN TAIWAN R. O. C. ALGER BKLYN NY."

(Figure 1988-05, inflatable plastic ghost)

(Figure 1988-06, glass mug, 6.0" tall)

This hot air balloon-shaped metal and poured acrylic lapel pin is 1.0" tall.

(Figure 1988-07, lapel pin)

This push-kick scooter may have been used as a contest prize.  Hires' newly redesigned logo adorned the foot plate and front wheel support.  In addition to the foot plate, the foam wrap on the handlebars also bears the "Hires Hustler" name.  The scooter is 25.0" tall and 48.0" long.   

(Figure 1988-08, Hires Hustler push-kick scooter, side view)

(Figure 1988-08, Hires Hustler push-kick scooter, front view)

This wooden carrier is 17.0" long and 11.0" wide, with 2.5" high sides.  It would hold four six-packs of cans.  The end panels are blank.

(Figure 1988-09, wooden carrier - Hires Root Beer side)

(Figure 1988-09, wooden carrier - Crush Flavors side)