Iconic may well be one of the most over-used words in marketing, but Britvic’s Tango brand heritage and advertising heritage could justly be described as such. It disrupted the soft drinks market in the late 1980s and 1990s with its creative ‘you know when you’ve been Tangoed’ advertising campaign.

Yet in 2019 the challenges the brand faces are very different to its 90s heyday. Younger consumers are the most health conscious yet. On the whole, they eat less meat, drink less alcohol and are more aware of their sugar intake. They are, to borrow a culturally used phrase, more ‘woke.’ But what of the impact this is having on the soft drinks market?

The sugar tax that was introduced in 2018 in the UK on soft drinks applies to the amount of sugar per gram in 100ml of liquid. The tax was applied to manufacturers, leaving it up to them as to whether they passed on the cost to consumers. This tax inspired pre-emptive decisions by many brands choosing to reduce their drinks’ sugar content in advance of the tax’s introduction. In fact 94% of Britvic’s owned brands and 72% of the company’s overall portfolio are either under or exempt from the sugar tax.

Tango, with their latest campaign, mark the launch of three new sugar free flavours designed to appeal to the younger consumer. As new data reveals, it’s this demographic who are the fastest growing consumer group for low and no sugar fruit carbonate drinks.

The brand’s new campaign from VCCP introduces us to the ‘Tanguru,’ a knowledgeable genie who materialises to freeze time and diffuse awkward situations between a teenager and her dad, handing her both sage advice and a refreshing can of Tango. In one slot, the girl walks in to find her dad holding her vibrator, confusion writ large across his face while in the other, a text meant for her boyfriend suggesting “a quickie” plus the relevant aubergine emojis is accidentally sent to her dad.

The campaign is daringly X-rated, but not gratuitously so. Rather it suggests the brand’s acknowledgment of the power of humour to reach the next generation, much as they did provocatively in years previous. Brands in every sector are identifying the influence of the younger consumer especially those who no longer remember the brand ads of old.

With this bold, brave, humorous new campaign, that also stretches across cinema and bespoke social activation, Tango hope to appeal to a new generation, to inspire them with a cheeky figure that aligns with the brand’s historically bold messaging. The teen’s toe-curlingly awkward mistakes are rectified with the crisp snap of an opening can, a father/daughter crisis averted as normal service resumes.