I recently noticed that Jarritos [Twitter] became a sponsor on Boing Boing (you may well be seeing their ads here as you read this post). This is awesome! And tonight, I spotted this New York Times feature about how the 61-year-old Mexican soda pop company is going through a sort of marketing makeover, which I suppose advertising on Boing Boing is part of. In addition to ads on sites like ours, they’re also doing branded street art (see the photo below for one mural in Los Angeles).
I think it’s cool that this archetypal “ethnic” brand from Mexico is making new inroads here in the US. As with so-called “Mexican Coke”*, Jarritos is made with granulated natural sugar. All the big soda brands in the US are high-fructose corn syrup instead. There’s some debate over the health differences between sugar and HFCS, but soda aficionados argue there’s a big flavor difference. I agree.
Jarritos makes a cola flavor, too. My two favorite flavors in their line: hibiscus and guava. Also tamarindo! Almost forgot the tangy tamarindo.
Disclosure: nobody asked me to do this post, I just think the story, and the product, are neat.
* Not the kind the narcos sell, kids!
(Image: Piña Refresco, a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial No-Derivative-Works (2.0) image from brianauer’s photostream)
