I'm Groove Un

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In the late 1960s 7-Up was facing bankruptcy. In 1967 advertising executives at Chicago’s J. Walter Thompson Company pitched a hippie-focused rebranding of the soda. They nicknamed the drink “The UnCola,” derived from the term “un-American,” which was associated with the antiwar protests and counterculture movement of the 1960s. The campaign consisting of colorful, and at times psychedelic, cartoons ran from 1969 to 1975. Slogans included “Un in the Sun,” “Uncanny in Cans,” Un & Un Is Too,” and “We Un Wild.” Much of the UnCola campaign ran on billboards but also included posters, buttons, and “Fallpaper,” a paper product that could be used as wallpaper, wrapping paper, or other things. 7-Up sales rose 30 percent in the first few years of the campaign. The campaign tapered off in the mid-1970s.