iron brew changed to irn bru in 1974.
when did iron brew change to irn bru?
1974
barr's trademark application for the brand name irn-bru dates from july 1946 when the drink was still off sale because of wartime regulations. the firm first commercialised their drink using this new name in 1948 once government sdi consolidation of the soft drinks industry had ended. the name change followed the introduction of new labelling restrictions which cracked down on spurious health claims and introduced minimum standards for drinks claiming to contain minerals such as iron. however, according to robert barr obe (chairman 1947–1978), there was also a commercial rationale behind the unusual spelling. "iron brew" had come to be understood as a generic product category in the uk, whereas adopting the name "irn-bru" allowed the firm to have a legally protected brand identity that would enable the firm to benefit from the popularity of their wartime "adventures of ba-bru" comic strip advertising. (the "iron brew" name has continued to be used for many versions of the drink sold by rival manufacturers.)
irn-bru
the first iron brew drink was produced by the maas & waldstein chemicals company of new york in 1889 under the name ironbrew. the drink was popular across north america and was widely copied. a similar beverage was launched in 1898 by london essence firm stevenson & howell who supplied soft drinks manufacturers in the uk and colonies. following this date many local bottlers around the uk began selling their own version of the beverage. despite the official launch date for barr's iron brew being given as 1901, the firms ag barr & co (glasgow) and robert barr (falkirk) jointly launched their own iron brew drink at least two years earlier, according to a document in the firm's own archives which indicates that the drink was already enjoying strong sales by may 1899. the strongman image which barr's adopted for their bottle labels and advertising had in fact been trademarked by the firm stevenson & howell in 1898. barr's ordered their labels directly from stevenson & howell who also sold barr's many of the individual flavours with which they mixed their own drinks. an advertisement for barr's iron brew dated 1900 featuring the original strongman label can be found in falkirk's local history archives.
irn-bru