Crusha
Crusha is a brand of milkshake mix, sold in the United Kingdom. The brand first appeared in the 1950s, and was bought by British Sugar. In December 2001, it came under the Silver Spoon brand. Crusha is often the milkshake of choice in cafés. However, it is also sold in shops, for home mixing in bottles, of from 250ml to 1l in size.
Logo | |
Type | Milkshake |
---|---|
Manufacturer | Silver Spoon |
Country of origin | United Kingdom |
Introduced | 1950s |
Colour | Depends on flavour |
Flavour | Depends |
Variants | Various |
Website | crusha |
History
Crusha was originally sold in glass bottles, but was later changed to plastic. Crusha is sold in many different flavours, the first four flavours being chocolate, banana, strawberry and raspberry. Flavours like Lemon, Lime and pineapple were also available.
In 2003, Joel Veitch animated an advert for Crusha, featuring cats playing musical instruments, with a ginger cat (Errol) singing, and cows getting crushed under bottles of the product.[1] Music for the commercials was provided by Mammoth Music. During October of that year, British Sugar admitted a secret plot to clear faulty milkshakes from Tesco, without telling the company.[2] That year, new flavours Vanilla and Black Cherry were added to the lineup, alongside the returning flavours Lime and Pineapple.
Two new flavours were released in May 2005: white chocolate and "Wild'n'Fruity". No Added Sugar versions of Strawberry and Banana were also introduced that year.
In Early 2007, Crusha rebranded, changing their logo and introducing "Nothing Artificial" versions of their reduced range of flavours, consisting of Raspberry, Strawberry, Banana, Chocolate and White Chocolate flavours. In August 2007, after receiving thousands of complaints from dismayed customers, about the wildly different taste of the new 'Nothing Artificial' version of Strawberry Crusha, it was confirmed that they would revert to the old recipe. The White Chocolate variety was later discontinued.
In 2008, a No Added Sugar variation of the Raspberry flavour was introduced. Joel Veitch produced another advert campaign, this time showing the cats inside a gym, with cows on treadmills getting Crushed by bottles of the product, with eventually the main cat singer Errol, (who has become black and white) getting crushed as well.
In March 2010, Lime Crusha was reintroduced at Morrisons and Waitrose stores after a long hiatus. It rapidly established itself as its highest selling flavour. A new advert was also made, featuring the Crusha cats discorolling, with Errol getting crushed by a bottle once again. Lime Crusha was regarded as something of a 'cult drink', and for a time was not stocked by many shops, due to low customer demand.
In 2011, the Crusha brand was extended to a range of desserts, including Puddings and Jelly, the Milkshake Mix was rebranded as Crusha Mixa, and the Vanilla flavour returning as a limited Edition flavour, now as Vanilla Ice Cream. Banana Crusha was discontinued in shops, but remained a bulk product for cash and carry stores.
For 2012, a new limited edition flavour was released, Cherry and Vanilla, which replaced the Vanilla Ice Cream flavour. Another advert was broadcast that year, featuring Errol and his cats breakdancing, with cows on skateboards getting crushed by a bottle at the end. In 2013, Apple & Blackcurrant replaced the Cherry and Vanilla flavour.
In 2014, Crusha rebranded fully, scrapping "Errol's Crew" and giving Errol a more younger appearance, with kittens doing stunts to make Crusha. The flavour selection rebranded to just raspberry, strawberry and chocolate, with a new No Added Sugar version of the chocolate flavour.
In 2016, Vanilla returned, but as a no added sugar flavour, without any sugar version.
In 2019, Crusha introduced a limited edition no-added-sugar Cookies & Cream flavour to the product family.
In 2020, The Lime flavour was reintroduced as a limited edition product, with it being available in No Added Sugar for the first time.
Current flavours
- Strawberry (no added sugar)
- Raspberry (no added sugar)
- Chocolate (no added sugar)
- Banana (no added sugar)
- Cookies & Cream (no added sugar)
- Lime (no added sugar, limited edition)
- Strawberry (Full sugar, Cash and Carry only)
- Raspberry (Full sugar, Cash and Carry only)
- Banana (Full sugar, Cash and Carry only)
Former flavours
- Toffee
- Vanilla Ice Cream (Limited Edition 2011)
- Cherry and Vanilla (Limited Edition 2012)
- Apple and Blackcurrant (Limited Edition 2013)
- Lemon
- Caramel
- White Chocolate
- Black Cherry
- WildNFruity
- Pineapple
References
- J. Hallam (4 December 2012). The Social Media Manifesto. Palgrave Macmillan UK. pp. 56–8. ISBN 978-1-137-27142-6.
- "Tesco anger over milk shake plot". bbc.co.uk. 10 October 2003. Retrieved 23 May 2015.