Old Jamaica Ginger Beer seems to have announced its retirement from store shelves, leaving fans on social media distraught.
The iconic soft drink was first launched in 1988 and has become revered for its refreshing and zingy flavour of Jamaica. However, after 36 years, the brand has decided to announce its goodbye in a series of online posts over the past couple of weeks.
The firm recently uploaded a new advertisement on its website that features an actor pretending to be a shelf-stacker revealing: “It’s time for our beloved Old Jamaica Ginger Beer to bid farewell to its beloved drinkers”.
Multiple posts on the company’s Instagram account have also confirmed the cherished fiery drink’s farewell in a series of posts. After saying “farewell Old Jamaica”, the firm has urged its fans to “enjoy it before it’s gone”.
While the details of its discontinuation haven’t been revealed, fans of the ginger beer who have been left distraught have taken to social media to share their thoughts. One on X wrote: “They’re apparently discontinuing the Old Jamaica Ginger Beer… haven’t we suffered enough as a people?!”
Someone else lamented: “Old Jamaica discontinuing their Ginger Beer? I have nothing left to live for.”
Another upset fan wrote: “Old Jamaica ginger beer is being discontinued??? This is criminal.”
While another added: “Just found out old Jamaica ginger beer is being discontinued. How can I carry on?”
However, there have been a few among them who have wondered if the drink might be undergoing a rebrand back to its ‘original’ taste, which was uniquely made with authentic ginger root. The ‘regular’ versions on store shelves contains three times less sugar.
One such fan wrote: “Hopefully this is just interaction bait, and that you’re just going back to the original recipe!!”
Join the Daily Record’s WhatsApp community here and get the latest news sent straight to your messages.
Meanwhile, someone else added: “Old Jamaica ginger beer ending better be some marketing gimmick thing because I can not go the rest of my life without the number one top tier soft drink!”
And another added: “Old Jamaica ginger beer ending better be some marketing gimmick thing because I can not go the rest of my life without the number one top tier soft drink! Worst thing to ever happen on this date if so.”
Hernán Cerdeiro, chief coordinating officer for MediaShotz, the firm behind the Old Jamaica retirement campaign told The Sun: “The chance to ‘retire a brand’ was something that we relished, simply because as far as we can work out, it had never been done before so publicly.
“We wanted to give Old Jamaica’s loyal customers one last chance to say goodbye, to take that final sip, and see the can ride off into the sunset.”
When we checked online, you could still buy single 330ml cans of Old Jamaica Regular Ginger Beer at the likes of Tesco for 60p.
Meanwhile, there are also packs of six on offer at Morrisons and Amazon.
The Daily Record has approached MediaShotz and Refresco, the firm that manufactures the drink in the UK, for further comment.