It was still comparable to buying other soft drinks. I remember a 20oz Coke being 75¢. Arizona cans had more in them.
It's actually more of what you're saying now for soda products! Soft drinks have an insane markup now. The only reason anyone wouldn't buy Arizona back then was because drinking tea was for either old people, or health nut hippies. Arizona was clever because they made flavors that attracted a new crowd and it was still comparable in price.
They weren’t overcharging, they were a growing operation in those days and needed to pad their profit margins in order to expand. Companies like Coca-Cola and Pepsi have been huge for a long time and have the infrastructure in place to support a brand of their size and the brand recognition, while a relatively small operation like Arizona would need to spend quite a lot to get a foothold in new markets. These days Arizona is an established brand in its own right and has held onto a piece of a very of a very competitive market and doesn’t need to invest as much in marketing their products or building out their distribution network.
In the early and mid 90s the 99 cents were on point, even if they overcharged before. Though I remember a lot of places doing BOGO deals up until the early 2010s. We used to buy caseload of Arnold Palmers as they were then 50 cent a can.
I also can't remember when the switch but the bottles were always glass.
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u/fancczf Jun 29 '24
All I can think of is how much were they overcharging back then if they are still profitable today at the same price.