Like Cola

Like Cola
TypeCola
ManufacturerThe Seven Up Company
Country of origin United States
Introduced1982; 42 years ago (1982)
Related products7 Up

Like Cola was a cola soft drink, introduced by the 7 Up company (then under the ownership of Philip Morris), that appeared in the American market in 1982. Its slogan was "Made From The Cola Nut." Like Cola was one of the first attempts at a low-caffeine cola, containing 1% caffeine. It was packaged in a red and blue can. A diet version was also available, with the color scheme reversed. Like Cola was also packaged in 1 pint (16 ounce) clear bottles embossed with shooting stars.

Like Cola in 16 ounce embossed bottle circa 1982

Like Cola was the major sponsor of one of the races in the 1983 NASCAR Winston Cup Series that occurred on July 24 of that year – the Like Cola 500 at Pocono Raceway in Long Pond, Pennsylvania. Tim Richmond won that race. Commercials for the product featured comedian Tim Conway and actor Kevin Dobson as spokespersons.

Because several 7 Up bottlers also distributed colas such as Coca-Cola, Pepsi-Cola or eventual 7 Up sister drink RC Cola (which introduced another caffeine-free cola, RC 100, in 1980) they refused to distribute Like Cola – limiting its availability.[1]

The Like name was first used from 1963 to 1969 for 7 Up's diet lemon-lime soda which was renamed Diet 7 Up.[2]

Like bottles archived at the Soda Museum in St. Charles, MO
  1. ^ Transformation and continuity the U.S. carbonated soft drink bottling industry and antitrust policy since 1980. DIANE Publishing. ISBN 9781428953673.
  2. ^ http://ca-yd.com/images/bottles/aclcoll/SN71041688.jpg [bare URL image file]