Tizer
Tizer is a red
soft drink from the
United Kingdom. The name comes from the word
appetizer. It was launched in
1924 by Fred Pickup of Manchester. After the death of Pickup it was owned by the Armour Trust before being sold to
A.G. Barr plc (the makers of
Irn-Bru) for £2.5 million in
1972.
Tizer famously produced a product called 'Tizer Ice' in the late
1990s. The concept of Tizer Ice was that the drink would taste ice cold even at room temperature. This was done by adding
menthol to the product to create a cold sensation in the mouth whilst drinking. Tizer Ice didn't sell well and was swiftly removed from sale, despite being rebranded "Ice by Tizer" towards the end.
Tizer and Scottish soft drink
Irn-Bru are both manufactured by A.G Barr. Tizer sponsors a funfair ride in Southport called the 'Traumatizer'.
The drink was promoted in the early '90s through a memorably surreal, minimalist series of TV and cinema adverts. A character filmed in black and white would wander onto a background of bubbly red liquid and mutter a few words. The ad would conclude with half-words such as 'appe', 'chas' and 'adver' voiced, often in a electronically-distorted manner. It was left up to the viewer to realise that the word 'tizer' had to be added to these half words to make the whole word, which then made sense of the character's pronouncements.
*
Tizer web site*
AG Barr corporate web site
