Royal Tru

Royal Tru

Type	Soft drink
Manufacturer	Coca-Cola FEMSA Philippines, Inc.
Country of origin	Philippines
Introduced	1922
Variants	Royal Tru-Orange Royal Tru-Lemon* Royal Tru-Dalandan* Royal Tru-Grape* Royal Tru-Orange Light* Royal Tru-Strawberry* Royal Wattamelon *(discontinued)
Related products	Fanta

Royal Tru (often referred to simply as Royal) is a carbonated fruit-flavored soft drink brand owned by The Coca-Cola Company that is only available in the Philippines. The brand was introduced in 1922 by the original San Miguel Brewery. Since being acquired by Coca-Cola's Philippine unit in 2007, the brand has become the Philippine counterpart of Coca-Cola's Fanta brand.

History

A Spanish-language poster advertising beverages produced by the original San Miguel Brewery, including Royal fruit-flavored soft drinks (right), circa 1924.

The brand was first introduced in the 1922 by the original San Miguel Brewery as its first non-alcoholic, carbonated beverage. In 1927, San Miguel became the first international bottler of Coca-Cola. The brand became best associated with its orange-flavored soft drink, Royal Tru-Orange.

In 1981, San Miguel spun off its soft drink business (its Coca-Cola franchise and the manufacture of Royal beverages) to a new company known as Coca-Cola Bottlers Philippines, Inc. (CCBPI), a joint-venture with The Coca-Cola Company. The brand continued to be owned by San Miguel until 2007, when San Miguel sold the rights to the brand along with its entire interest in CCBPI to The Coca-Cola Company. CCBPI was renamed Coca-Cola FEMSA Philippines, Inc. since January 2013 after the entry of Mexico-based Coca-Cola FEMSA S.A. de C.V.

Products

Current

• Royal Tru-Orange
• Royal Wattamelon

Discontinued

• Royal Lem-O-Lime
• Royal Soda Water
• Royal Tonic Water
• Royal Ginger Ale
• Royal Tru-Grape
• Royal Tru-Lemon
• Royal Tru-Orange Light
• Royal Tru-Dalandan
• Royal Tru-Strawberry

Marketing

A Filipino (Tagalog) language advertisement of Royal Tru-Orange dating 1976

The beverage targets teenagers as its consumers. The product was available during the 1970s in single-serve bottles and contained orange "pulp bits" (pulp) "from California Valencia oranges".^[1]

When San Miguel Corporation became one of the founding members of the Philippine Basketball Association in 1975, its basketball franchise played under the name Royal Tru-Orange from 1975 to 1980.^[2]

Royal Tru-Orange gained much attention in the late 1980s, after its logo and formulation (now without the orange pulp) were changed through an advertising campaign that starred teen model RJ Ledesma (playing the role of "Joey"). The first television advertisement in the series, wherein Joey was being egged on by friends to introduce himself to a girl named Jenny, was directed by noted film director Lino Brocka.^[3][4]

Slogans

• "Pag-ibig kong Tunay!" ("My Tru Love"!)
• "Royal, natural!" ("Royal, naturally"!)
• "Ito ang gusto ko!" ("This is my choice!")
• "Ilabas ang kulit!" ("Bring out the "kulit" (fun energy)!")

Controversy

Royal Tru-Orange was one of 300 products of the Philippines barred by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 2004 from entering the United States due to "failure to meet its requirements. ^[5]

References

1. "Royal Tru-Orange advertisement, 1976". YouTube.com.
2. "Express battle Magnolia in PBA opener today". The Daily Tribune. October 14, 2007.
3. Mata, Paul (October 31, 2007). "Royal Tru Orange model RJ Ledesma comes full circle". Philippine Entertainment Portal. Retrieved 2008-06-30.
4. Jorge, Rome (April 3, 2008). "RJ Ledesma tells all about his yaya". The Manila Times. Archived from the original on 2008-04-06. Retrieved 2008-06-27.
5. Tan, Michael L (February 20, 2004). "Read those labels". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Archived from the original on December 6, 2008. Retrieved 2008-06-30.