Kentucky’s legendary soda company, Ale-8-One, decided to reboot its original 1906 soda called Roxa Kola. No one expected a resurgence of this little-known soda originally made by G.L. Wainscott, the founder of what’s now a fourth-generation family-run soda maker in Winchester, Kentucky.
From its beginning, Rox Kola immediately defied the odds by defeating a lawsuit brought on by the Goliath Coca-Cola Company, surviving the great depression, World War I, and II. It was discontinued in 1968. Dormant for 55 years, many forgot about this “Kola” that actually preceded Kentucky’s new favorite drink (next to bourbon), Ale-8-One. For a small family-owned soda company, relaunching this drink was important to deepen the links to their quirky, stalwart, Appalachian heritage; but also incredibly risky. Over half a century had passed since anyone had seen a Roxa Kola on a store shelf, and a lot would ride on the attention this new design needed to grab.
The packaging had to embody so much of its rich story that was the foundation of this soda company while quickly alerting consumers that something remarkable was within their reach. Borrowing from the original Roxa Kola color palette, the idea of embellishing the “X” in Roxa, and the original tagline “more than wet” (they were wild 1902), a four-pack design was created. The design aimed to create as much charm as the Roxa Kola back story, reminiscent of the corner and country stores Roxa Kola where “pop” drinkers would have found Roxa Kola at the turn of the 20th century. A vivid visual cue in the X of “Roxa” would lead to people saying, “X marks the pop.” As intended, soda drinkers snatched up this limited-time release, reinforcing the brand’s belief in a good story while honoring its origins.
