THE BEST RIBENA ADVERTS

Did you know that Ribena is over 80 years old? Yes, first released in 1938, Ribena has been tickling our tastebuds for far longer than you’d expect. Which means that over its eight decades, there have been some fantastic Ribena ads! We look at some of the boldest and the best from the brand’s history.

A Heritage British Brand

Ribena was produced by the British pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) until 2013, when the brand was sold to Japanese conglomerate Suntory.

Ribena’s original positioning was as a healthy drink for kids – it was distributed to children as a Vitamin C supplement during World War II by the government. Why is it called Ribena? Well, the name is derived from the fact that it was made from blackcurrants – whose botanical name is Ribes nigrum.

Ribena’s ongoing success story was proven by its sale to Suntory – GSK sold it and Lucozade to the Japanese multinational for £1.35 billion.

Future-Proofing the Brand

In 2019, Ribena launched a new creative platform in a bid to ‘future proof’ the brand. It repositioned itself to focus on its heritage by creating the new tagline, ‘Blackcurrant Artistry since 1938’. Most brands reposition themselves to appeal to younger customers, but Ribena’s aim at this point was to align itself with an older audience.

The first Ribena TV ad for the new campaign was created by agency Wunderman Thompson and featured a comedically intense hipster ‘blackcurrant artist’, Andrew Berry, who explained the method behind making Ribena. It’s a tongue in cheek approach to craftsmanship, as Charlotte Flook, the brand’s head, told Marketing Week.

‘It’s important [to talk about heritage] as consumers are continuing to look for brands with purpose. There are lots of brands that talk about their craft and their heritage, but it’s about doing it in a way that is modern and relevant for the average consumer.’

The ad has a gentle, bucolic feel, with an orchestral soundtrack lifted by a soaring vocal as Andrew starts to wax particularly lyrical about the ‘fruits of his labour’.

Poor Andrew was later comically tortured by ‘Ribena Fruitologist’ James Bloom in the spot for the brand’s Frusion drink:

‘Was there creative tension?’ asks Andrew, rhetorically, as James blows up a watermelon in the background and creates low-level havoc. But the two manage to successfully work together to create the new drink, backed by the calming tones of Bach’s Cello Suite.

When it’s Ribena High Pressure Parking Palaver (2022)

Ribena’s most recent campaigns focus on a new strapline, ‘chin up, my friend, chin up’. The brand have joined forces with agency BBH, who have opted for a major shift in direction. Ribena is being positioned as the thing to get you through those awkward moments when you might be cringing.

The first ad features a hapless man having a right palaver trying to parallel park. Gently harassed by a bunch of scruffy-looking animatronic cats – nature’s most judgey animal – on his bonnet, his sunroof and wandering around in the street disappointedly saying, ‘maaaate’, this is an off-beat take on a daily occurrence.

Charlotte Flook revealed that, ‘”Chin Up” puts our brand’s cheeky, irreverent personality at its heart by encouraging the nation to reach for a Ribena to help them laugh through life’s awkward little stumbles.’

The second ad will chime with anyone who’s tried to surreptitiously check their appearance – the woman eventually reaches for her bottle of Ribena ‘when it’s Ri-bena bit awkward.’

We can’t wait to see which small, cringey bit of modern life will crop up in the next ad in the series.

Ribena Commercials

Ribena Minis (2017)

Ribena ads often focus on a sense of adventure, and in this one, our hero puts a Ribena Mini bottle through its paces round the house to test its ‘less spills, less mess’ cap, perfectly designed to create playtime thrills.

The ad has a mix of big, bold Taiko-style drums for the ‘adventure’ elements – think the re-booted Jumanji series, and Indiana Jones elements – combined with a more everyday, light-hearted track. Putting the two together brings the comedy.

Ribena Tropicoliday (2015)

Ribena ‘turned up the tropical’ with its competition to ‘Win a #Tropicoliday’ in 2015 to promote its tropical range – Mango & Lime, Pineapple & Passion Fruit and Orange & Guava.

Consumers had the chance to win one of five tropical holidays by finding one of three special bottles on the shelf. Once all three had been found, the contestants had to battle it out via a series of tropical-themed trials. And as if that weren’t enough, each of the three were supported by a social media star: Alfie Deyes, Sam King and Hazel Hayes. Watch how much fun was had by all in this promo film:

You Can’t Get Any More Ribenary (2015)

With owls shooting lasers from their eyes, giant and tiny robins balancing on blackcurrants, sunglasses and moustache-sporting rabbits and a girl riding a small hedgehog riding a larger hedgehog, it’s fair to say that this is one of the more surreal ad adventures – and in our view, one of the best Ribena ads in terms of being both visually memorable and having a banging earworm.

Award-winning animation house NOMINT’s Christos & Yannis worked closely with JWT London to target young adults as part of a £6 million marketing campaign. JWT’s creative director John Cherry said that, ‘we’ve attempted to create an intense, playful and visually striking campaign, bringing to life the almost impossible-to-describe taste of Ribena’.

As for that super-catchy track? ‘Zooby Doo’ by Tigermonkey keeps the ad, and everyone in it, bouncing along.

If you’re wondering what it reminds you of, then it’s this iconic Flat Eric/Mr Oizo track from the Levi’s ad:

The Ribena Colouring Café (2016)

A remix of ‘Zooby Doo’ was used for the Ribena Colouring Café ad, which was ‘all about grabbing life by the felt tip’. Colouring-in connoisseurs were able to bring a unique illustration by artist Alex Lucas to life, courtesy of lots of individual pieces. Every Saturday, artist Lucas opens her front window, selling artwork through her ‘Window Shop’ in Bristol.

The ad promotes the idea of leaving the world outside for an hour and adding a splash of colour, tapping into the vogue for grown-up colouring books that took off as part of the mindfulness trend (in the first months of 2015, 12 million adult colouring books were sold, from illustrators such as Johanna Basford.) The wall of the Ribena Colouring Café is shown through time-lapse filling up with each artist’s mini canvas, plus a light show once the piece is completed.

It's a joyous example of how much fun art is, and how something simple can bring people together.

Want More?

There’s nothing we love more than a well-crafted ad, from IKEA’s Wonderful Everyday campaign to Nike’s biggest hits. Read our monthly ad breakdown to keep up to date, or check out which of our tracks have been used by brands recently over on The Edit.

And if you want music to license for advertising, then we have everything from orchestral classics to brand new releases. Our in-house music experts put together playlists covering every mood and genre, including seasonal specials, if you want to capture a summer sound, or harness the festive spirit.