Lilt, Marathon bars and Opal Fruits: 6 classic confectionery items that have been rebranded

The soft drink brand Lilt, known for its tropical flavour, is being scrapped and rebranded as Fanta Pineapple and Grapefruit.

From Tuesday (14 February), it will be owned by the Coca Cola Company. The owner of Coke, Sprite, Fanta and Dr Pepper has stressed that the drink’s taste and ingredients would not change.

Fans, however, have expressed their disappointment on social media, fearing that Lilt is just another classic brand lost to large corporations.

“Fanta ‘Grapefruit & Pineapple’... I’m still going to call it Lilt. Just like I still call the chewy sweets in paper Opal Fruits!” tweeted one person, referencing the chewy sweets that are now known as Starburst.

“Our rational minds told us this day may come, but our hearts always held onto hope,” quipped Love Island star Georgia Townsend on Twitter. “Our beloved Lilt has succumbed to gentrification of the worst kind.”

“No use crying over spilt Lilt,” added Pointless host Richard Osman.

Lilt is now in the confectionery graveyard with Opal Fruits, Marathon bar (now Snickers) and Dime (Daim). Here’s a look back at all the sweets, chocolate and drinks that have been pointlessly rebranded over the years and why.

Snickers is an American chocolate bar created in 1930 and named after the favourite horse of the Mars family – Marathon. The nutty bar made with caramel, nougat and chocolate, was given the name Snickers in 1990, but remained the Marathon in the UK.

Later, the brand decided to change its name to Snickers to align it with the global market.

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This thin, chewy, chocolate bar made from crunchy almond caramel is now known for being sold in huge packets in Ikea. Before it was called Daim, the Swedish bar had three different names in separate countries after it was created in the 1950s.

It was first given the Norwegian phonetic version of the name “Dajm” and stayed with the chocolate brand until 1990 when the spelling was changed to the well-known ”Daim” worldwide.

Opal Fruits, the fruit-flavoured cube-shaped sweets, were first introduced in the UK in 1960 by manufacturer Mars, before being rebranded as Starburst in 1998 to align with the global brand name.

The original Opal Fruits flavours were strawberry, lemon, orange and lime. Starburst carries the same flavours, with the addition of a lemon, lime and blackcurrant.

In a less successful rebrand, Kellog’s cereal Coco Pops briefly became “Choco Krispies” in 1998. After Kelloggs saw the new name affect sales, it set up a vote. When 92 per cent said they did not like the new name, the company reverted to the original name.

The chewy caramel biscuit bar was first produced in the United Kingdom in 1967 under the name Twix. In mainland Europe, however, it went by the name Raider until it was changed in 1991 (2000 in Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden and Turkey) to match the global branding.

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Lilt is the latest sweet treat to be branded, as it becomes a fanta flavour as of Tuesday (14 February).

The drink was launched in 1975 with the strapline “totally tropical taste” and was only sold in the UK, Ireland, Gibraltar and Seychelles.

Apparently, Coca-Cola is intent on keeping the drink’s taste and ingredients the same.

“Our main priority with this announcement is to reassure Lilt’s loyal fan base that absolutely nothing has changed when it comes to the iconic taste of the drink they know and love,” Fanta brand manager Charlotte Walsham told BBC. “It’s just got itself a new name.”