Not often do you see a full page advertisement dedicated to just one product.
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Usually its a storewide sale, or a themed season of the year sale.
But in the late 1970s, there was a war of sorts happening in the Australian beverages market.
And little old Warrnambool was not exempt from this battle.
As it has since the dawn of time, Coke was the leading drinks brand in the world.
The closest to it was still under its control, with that being its stablemate Fanta.
But in the Australian market, two products had been developed to take on the US powerhouses.
One was the subject of the full page advertisement we spoke of in this article's opening line.
Fruit Box had burst onto the scene in the late 1970s, with this 1979 advertisement in The Standard spruiking its carton as "the most natural packaging form since the orange skin".
It came in larger cartons for the family to use, but its real selling point was the hold-in-your-hand size that you could drink anywhere, anytime.
The first of its kind came in the flavours of orange, apple and the little bit exotic orange-mango.
It proved to be an instant hit, with the kids loving something new, shining and sweet, while parents loved that it was fruit and therefore very healthy.
And it seemed that cagey old crew from Coke had their finger in the pie.
Fruit Box was a product from the Halls Soft Drink Company in South Australia.
But closer investigation shows at that time Halls was indeed owned by Coke, but still operating under its original name.
While Coke was quietly diversifying, it was still ensuring the juggernaut that was its main product was still king.
This was happening through the iconic "Coke Adds Life" campaign.
In Warrnambool at the time, we had two television stations to tune into, the ABC or BTV6 Ballarat.
Most houses had the commercial station on and one advertisement on a high rotation was the Cokes Adds Life.
It was all beaches, bikinis, happy people and cold, cold bottles of Coke.
It was of course just another stroke of genius from Coke, because while Warrnambool in the depth of winter was so different to what was on the screen, this Coke and all its life looked like magic and made it the drink to get from your local milkbar.
But the summer of 1978 was to produce another player in the beverage race and it came from an unlikely source, the Victorian state government.
There had been small dabbling in flavoured milk before, but nothing on any scale of note.
This was until the Victorian Dairy Industry Authority released Big M, a flavoured milk product in a carton, in two handy hand-held sizes.
Not only was the drink appealing, but the advertising campaign that came with it was as bold and brazen as anything Coke had produced.
It featured bikini clad women frolicking in the water and on the beach, and also Big M calendars starring these girls.
Big M also made itself a sporty product, with sponsorship of the Big M marathon and the VFL Little League.
The advertising, sponsorship and the product itself, quickly established Big M as a serious competitor in the beverage market, with most of its sales at milkbars and by the youth audience.
The original flavours included chocolate, banana, iced coffee, strawberry and were later followed with eggflip, blue heaven and vanilla.
It was a phenomenon, and one that has remained a much-loved product more than four decades later and has spawned many copycat competitors.
One feature the Big M shared with Fruitbox was the ability to blow the empty carton up and then stomp or jump on it to produce a mighty pop.
This was a thrill many young lads back in the day enjoyed nearly as much as the drink itself, and if truth be known, I'm sure many of those now men would love to wind back the clock and launch a huge pop.
Before we go, a couple of local mentions in the beverage war.
Loys and Opal soft drinks were delivered to Warrnambool homes during the 70s and 80s, while Reeves soft drinks were perhaps Warrnambool's most famous fizzy drink.