Red Rock Cider
A short-lived UK cider with a memorable parody ad campaign.
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Red Rock Cider was a drink made by the Taunton Cider Company, available in the UK from the late 1980s into the early 1990s. The company itself had grown significantly after the Second World War, thanks to a rise in bulk orders from other breweries that were merging during the 1950s and 1960s.
In 1990, a series of TV adverts for the cider were directed by John Lloyd. They were filmed in the style of the comedy series Police Squad! (though they were called Fraud Squad!), and starred Leslie Nielsen in a role very similar to his character Detective Frank Drebin. In one advert, a very quick close-up of Nielsen’s badge shows it actually reads “FRIED SQUID,” and identifies him as “Drebin, Lt. F.” Each advert followed the Police Squad! joke of having a different title spoken in the voice-over than the one shown on screen. Musician Hank Marvin made a cameo in one advert, appearing after Nielsen’s character shouts, “Hey you over there in the shadows!” The campaign’s strapline was “It’s not red, and there’s no rocks in it.” This line was originally written as “and it doesn’t taste like cider,” to match the brewery’s instruction that the drink had a different flavour from traditional ciders, but that version was dropped just before filming.
The company closed shortly after the UK Monopolies Commission forced large breweries to break up their monopolies. The name “The Taunton Cider Company” was successfully re-registered by cider enthusiasts in 2015, and production started again in 2016. The cider is now made in Somerset county, an area with a long cider-making history stretching from the late 1600s to the 1800s, when cider was used as currency and farmers sometimes received their daily wages in it.
Quick Facts
- Producer
- Taunton Cider Company
- Period of sale
- Late 1980s to early 1990s
- Advert director
- John Lloyd
- Advert star
- Leslie Nielsen
- Advert strapline
- It's not red, and there's no rocks in it
Facts from the source article.
Lore & Background
Red Rock Cider was produced by Taunton Cider Company, a cider maker that grew significantly after WWII due to an increase in inventory orders from other brewing industries merging during the 1950s and 1960s. The company closed shortly after the UK Monopolies Commission required large breweries to break apart their monopolies. In 2015, the name 'The Taunton Cider Company' was successfully re-registered by cider enthusiasts, and production began in 2016 in Somerset county, which has a rich history of cider production dating back to the late 17th to 19th centuries, where cider was considered a currency and farmers were sometimes paid their daily wage with cider.
Reader's Guide
Red Rock Cider's significance lies primarily in its distinctive advertising campaign, which leveraged the comedic style of Police Squad! through a series of TV adverts titled Fraud Squad! directed by John Lloyd and starring Leslie Nielsen. The adverts featured a running gag where the voice-over title differed from the on-screen caption, and included a cameo by Hank Marvin.
The strapline 'It's not red, and there's no rocks in it' was originally written as 'and it doesn't taste like cider' to reflect the brewery's brief that the drink had a different taste to traditional ciders, but this was dropped shortly before shooting. The cider itself was produced during a period of consolidation in the UK brewing industry, and its producer's eventual closure was linked to the Monopolies Commission's actions. The revival of the Taunton Cider Company in 2015 and its resumption of production in 2016 in Somerset connects the brand to the region's long cider-making heritage, where cider once served as a form of currency.
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Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: Red Rock Cider (CC BY-SA 4.0).
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