7 Up

In an advert from many years ago:

7up, lithiated lemon soda. The added citrate neutralizes free acid. The sugar is inverted...burns clean. 7up is more than a mixer...It blends out the harsh features. Dispels hangovers. Takes the "ouch" out of grouch.

For hospital or home use.

(sic)

In addition, the 7UP spot was also the mascot for the soft drink, and starred in his own video game, published for the NES, SuperNES, Genesis, Game Gear, and Game Boy.

7 up is also a game often played in classrooms. 7 people are chosen from the class to stand up, and the rest of the class puts their head down on their desks so they can't see, and sticks out their hand with a thumb pointing up. Each of the seven people touch one person's thumb each. When they're all done and have assembled at the front, a signal is given and everyone opens their eyes. Those who have been poked stand up and in turn try to guess (they have one guess only) who touched them. If they guess right, they get to be one of the seven. If not, the person who touched them gets to stay up. The correct answers are not revealed until everyone has guessed, so that it doesn't become drastically easier for the last person to guess.

The sitting class tries to listen to footsteps, identify the person by the feel of their touch on your thumb, and psych out likely strategy from the seven people. The seven, in turn, try to psych people out by walking around unnecessarily, barely touching the thumb or almost hitting it if you might be seen as a light touch, "accidentally" speaking aloud far away from your victim.. It's usually a lot of fun for a few rounds at least, particularly when the alternative is classwork. A crowd-pleasing favourite of substitute teachers.

Mini-Timeline:

1957 - 7up starts advertising on TV and radio.

In 1963, 7up began selling a diet lemon-lime drink called Like. Renamed in 1969 to 7up.

In the 1970s 7up started making 1 liter bottles with the label, "Follow the Liter." (Clever)

In 1986, Dr. Pepper and Seven Up merged into one company.

In 1987 Cherry 7up and Diet Cherry 7up were released, and Spot was created.

In 1999, 7up launched the Make 7 Up Yours marketing campaign, with Orlando Jones playing

the part of the guy who makes 7up.

(And recently, they changed the logo on the can)

7UP, aka Seven-up was created by C.L. Grigg. In 1920, he formed the Howdy Company in St. Louis, Missouri, where he made the Howdy Orange drink.

11 different formulas were tested over the years, different lemon-flavored soft drinks. I 1929, he introduced Seven-Up, the caramel-colored beverage.

So where did the 7 and the Up come from? Actually, 7-Up has seven natural flavors. Before The Great Caffeine scare of the 90's, 7-Up was marketed as a tonic, with ads that had a winged 7. "Seven-Up energizes-sets you up-dispels brain cobwebs and muscular fatigue."

--facts and quote taken from Do Penguins Have Knees? by David Feldman.