J2O is a still soft drink made from fruit juices. It is manufactured by Britvic and sold in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Its launch in 1998 was led by Sheraz Dar who joined Britvic in 1994, and was aimed at providing an alternative solution for people who were going out to bars and clubs but were not drinking alcoholic beverages. The name J2O is a pun on the chemical formula for water, H2O, chosen due to the drink's 50% fruit juice content and 50% alcohol content. created The first flavours available were Orange & Passion fruit, Apple & Mango and Apple & Melon, but the range has progressively grown since.
History
In 2001 due to growing brand success, the J2O packaging was redesigned and a fourth flavour, Orange & Cranberry, was introduced. In 2002, due to the brands' popularity within the on-trade sector, J2O was made available to the take-home market for the first time, with four-bottle packs being introduced into supermarkets and retail shops. The packaging was again changed in 2005, and Apple & Raspberry was introduced. On 2 August 2006, Britvic announced a promotional campaign designed to coincide with the Little Britain live tour. The campaign, named "J2O is in for a laugh" allows buyers to enter a competition to win one of 96 VIP tickets to see the Little Britain show. As of 15 August 2007, J2O has been made available to bars, clubs, and restaurants in the Chicago area and is imported by Exotic Beverage Co. In 2009 J2O introduced two new flavours, Grape & Kiwi and Winter Berries. Both of these flavours were originally limited edition but have since been integrated into the range of permanent flavours. 2010 saw a major packaging redesign and the launch of the J2O White Blend range. Two flavours, one based on white grape, the other on red grape, are less sweet than the existing J2O flavours and are designed to complement food, in the same way that white and red wine does. Orange & passion fruit and apple & mango have been released in PET bottles. In 2011 a limited edition flavour of J2O called "Glitter Berry" was brought out. Then in 2012, 2 further limited edition flavours, papaya punch and diamond berry were released. In 2013, a limited edition Pear Gold version was released for summer.
In November 2014 they launched a TV advert called Junior’s crew 2 Old Irish beats, which featured contemporary London dance outfit Junior’s Crew, break-dancing to a live Irish folk band called The Other Brothers. The TV advert was filmed in Stoke Newington Town Hall and debuted during The X-Factor on ITV1.
