Sunday, August 31, 2008

who was the marketing genius behind marble top soda bottle

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramune

Ramune is widely known for the distinctive design of its bottle, often called Codd-neck bottles after the inventor,Hiram Codd. They are made of glass and sealed with a marble; the marble is held in place by the pressure of the carbon dioxide in the drink. To open the bottle, a device to push the marble inward is provided with the bottle. The marble is pushed inside the neck of the bottle where it rattles around while drinking. Two little glass nodes inside the bottle allow the drinker to hook the marble in place while drinking.

People trying Ramune for the first time sometimes find it difficult to drink, as it takes practice to learn to stop the marble from blocking the flow. In the new version of the bottle (2006), little slots were added to the cap where the marble was originally held. This allowed the flow to not be obstructed if the marble falls back into the cap.

Ramune is one of the modern symbols of summer in Japan and is widely consumed during warm festival days and nights. Empty bottles are usually collected for recycling at stalls where it is sold.