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Quatro

Contributed by Florian Hardwig on Feb 25th, 2023. Artwork published in
circa 1983
.
Quatro 1
Source: peepersmuseum.tumblr.com License: All Rights Reserved.

Milton Glaser’s Neo Futura a.k.a. Glaser Futura Stencil, better known as Glaser Stencil, in use for Quatro, a short-lived fruity soft drink from the United Kingdom.

From the Guardian:

Quatro was the most notorious of several 1980s attempts to pitch sugary froth to an aspirational teen market. Stats were gathered, groups were focused, ad breaks were booked. The results were a decade distilled: chiselled youths roamed a foggy Blade Runner cityscape, obtaining bespoke laser-hewn cans of the grapefruit, lime, pineapple and orange crush via a steampunk cashpoint. But even a demographic naive enough to count debit cards as cool wouldn’t swallow all that, and four years later the account was closed.

Since 1996, the Quatro brand is owned by the Coca-Cola Company. It’s used for a grapefruit-flavored drink sold in South America. Despite being off the market for more than thirty years, the original Quatro with its four fruit flavors still has fans. There’s even a dedicated Facebook group that lobbies to bring it back.

Hat tip: Lubalin Center

Quatro 2
Source: www.flickr.com Uploaded to Flickr by John Jephcott. License: All Rights Reserved.
Collection of Quatro paraphernalia incl. coasters, towel, cooling box, from the Quatro Facebook group:
“Quatro is a sparkling mixed crush of pineapple, grapefruit, orange and passion fruit juices. Tastes great on its own or why not try a Q&V, a delicious blend of mixed fruits and vodka / Magic Soft Drink – Miracle Mixer”
The supporting typeface is  or similar.
Source: www.facebook.com License: All Rights Reserved.

Collection of Quatro paraphernalia incl. coasters, towel, cooling box, from the Quatro Facebook group:
“Quatro is a sparkling mixed crush of pineapple, grapefruit, orange and passion fruit juices. Tastes great on its own or why not try a Q&V, a delicious blend of mixed fruits and vodka / Magic Soft Drink – Miracle Mixer”
The supporting typeface is News Gothic or similar.

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  • News Gothic

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4 Comments on “Quatro”

  1. In a weird coincidence, I did a poster for a ceramics show when I was in college in 1976 that had a similar four-way design—also using Glaser Stencil. I’ve been meaning to post an item about it here for a while. I’ll try to do that soon.

  2. I’d love to see your poster!

  3. Wikipedia mentions two TV commercials made for Quatro:

    In 1986, the advertising agency Kirkwood and Partners was briefed to create a TV commercial for Quatro, and following several rounds of research, a script created by Colin Underhay (art director) and Alex Pearl (copywriter) entitled ‘Machine’ that featured a futuristic vending machine malfunctioning, went into production. Annabel Jankel and Rocky Morton from Cucumber Studios were briefed to create a commercial that fused live action with state-of-the art computer animation.

    They don’t have a lot of type in them, but you can watch them on YouTube:

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