The Fantanas are a group of spokesmodels (later dancers) who were created to promote the

Fanta Fanta () is an American-owned brand of fruit-flavored carbonated soft drinks created by Coca-Cola Deutschland under the leadership of German businessman Max Keith. There are over 200 flavors worldwide. Fanta originated in Germany as a Co ...

brand of soft drinks in the United States. The jingle itself was produced by John Alters, and written by John Alters and Eric Kupper. None of the models actually sang on the jingle. The singers were in fact studio session singers. The quartet has appeared since 2002 in

advertising Advertising is the practice and techniques employed to bring attention to a Product (business), product or Service (economics), service. Advertising aims to present a product or service in terms of utility, advantages, and qualities of int ...

and personal appearances. There have been five different Fantanas rosters, the latest reintroduced as a co-ed dance ensemble in 2017. Their jingle is "Wanna Fanta! Don't you wanna?".

The "story" behind the Fantanas

According to the Fantanas' website, they lived on Fantana Island and were accidentally discovered by an entertainment mogul named Sir Juan-Carlos Martinez III after he fell off his yacht and was washed ashore on that island, seeing their work. He later talked with an advertising mogul, Paul Gurbel, in a fictional New York restaurant who brought them to the United States. In reality, the advertisements were created by

Ogilvy and Mather Ogilvy is a New York City-based British advertising, marketing, and public relations agency. It was founded in 1850 by Edmund Mather as a London-based agency. In 1964, the firm became known as Ogilvy & Mather after merging with a New York City a ...

in 2002.

Incarnations

Original Fantanas (2002–2004)

The original lineup of Fantanas donned an island/party style. The members (with their real names) were: *Nina ( K.D. Aubert) - red (strawberry Fanta) *Calli (Jennifer Diaz) - orange (orange Fanta) *Leelee (

Adrienne Janic Adrienne Janic () sometimes credited simply as AJ, is an American actress and television host. Career and life She has primarily worked as a television host including as a co-host of TLC's ''Overhaulin, an automotive, reality-television ser ...

) - yellow (pineapple Fanta) *Raquel (Andrea De Oliveira) - purple (grape Fanta) They gained attention outside their advertisements for their

camp Camp may refer to: Areas of confinement, imprisonment, or for execution * Concentration camp, an internment camp for political prisoners or politically targeted demographics, such as members of national or minority ethnic groups * Extermination ...

iness and use of sexuality, and these original four were featured in a ''

Maxim Maxim or Maksim may refer to: Entertainment *Maxim (magazine), ''Maxim'' (magazine), an international men's magazine ** Maxim (Australia), ''Maxim'' (Australia), the Australian edition ** Maxim (India), ''Maxim'' (India), the Indian edition *Maxim ...

'' magazin
spread
in December 2002.

"Mod" Fantanas (2004–2006)

In 2004, the Fantanas returned with a new look inspired by the mod fashion styles of the late 1960s. The members (some real names being withheld or unknown) were: *Capri (

Kat Graham Katerina Alexandre Hartford Graham (born September 5, 1989) is an American actress, singer, dancer, and activist. She played Bonnie Bennett on The CW supernatural drama series ''The Vampire Diaries'' (2009–2017). Her film credits include '' ...

) - red (strawberry Fanta) *Kiki - orange (orange Fanta); leader *Lola - yellow (pineapple Fanta) *Sophia
Monica Flores
- purple (grape Fanta)

"Party" Fantanas (2006–2009)

In 2006, the next-generation lineup of Fantanas was introduced, this time with a contemporary party look. The commercials featuring this Fantanas roster were filmed in Argentina. The members (some real names being withheld or unknown) were: *Kaia (Danielle Acoff) - red (strawberry Fanta) *Amie (Dena Cali) - orange (orange Fanta); leader *Mimi (Mimi Karsh) - yellow (pineapple Fanta) *Sophia (Monica Flores) - purple (grape Fanta); character held over from the second incarnation

Return of the Fantanas (2009–2011)

In April 2009, it was announced that New Fantanas would be advertising the drinks with the original Fanta flavors. Each of the Fantanas would have an individual fashion style. The lineup of the Fantanas had these members (some real names being withheld or unknown): *Summer (Diana Carr) - orange (

orange Orange most often refers to: *Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis'' ** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower ** Orange juice *Orange (colour), the color of an orange fruit, occurs between red and yellow in the vi ...

Fanta); indie, healthy hippie style, leader. *Melody (Katherine Wilkes) - purple (

grape A grape is a fruit, botanically a berry, of the deciduous woody vines of the flowering plant genus ''Vitis''. Grapes are a non- climacteric type of fruit, generally occurring in clusters. The cultivation of grapes began approximately 8,0 ...

Fanta); music-loving, punk, rockstar style.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yG4I-2rtX6I , https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1atdIPQvJiI , Also starred in https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_pxsjWapuHA *Isabela ( Marilinda Rivera) - red (

strawberry The garden strawberry (or simply strawberry; ''Fragaria × ananassa'') is a widely grown Hybrid (biology), hybrid plant cultivated worldwide for its fruit. The genus ''Fragaria'', the strawberries, is in the rose family, Rosaceae. The fruit ...

Fanta); fashionable, sexy, red-hot style. *Lily (Brittany Hampton) - yellow (

pineapple The pineapple (''Ananas comosus'') is a Tropical vegetation, tropical plant with an edible fruit; it is the most economically significant plant in the family Bromeliaceae. The pineapple is indigenous to South America, where it has been culti ...

Fanta); cute, chic style. Brittany was voted the winner of the 4th Fantana Search in Summer/Fall 2010. Replaced

Shakira Barrera Shakira Barrera (born 1990) is an American actress. She joined the cast of the Netflix series '' GLOW'' in its second season. Biography Barrera was born in Englewood, New Jersey, to Nicaraguan-American parents and attended the Bergen County Ac ...

"Be More Than One Flavor" Fantanas (2017–present)

In 2017, Fanta reintroduced the Fantanas with a modern style and encourages consumers to "be more than one flavor". It is the first time the group includes a male member. *Eva ( Eva Gutowski) - orange (

Fanta) *Coco (

Coco Jones Courtney Michaela Ann "Coco" Jones (born January 4, 1998) is an American singer-songwriter and actress. Born in Columbia, South Carolina and raised in Lebanon, Tennessee, Jones began auditioning as a child to pursue a career in entertainment. Sh ...

) - purple (

Fanta) *Jordan (

Jordan Fisher Jordan William Fisher (born April 24, 1994) is an American actor, singer, and dancer. He began his career with recurring roles on several television series, including '' The Secret Life of the American Teenager'' in 2012 and '' Liv and Maddie'' ...

) - red (

Fanta) *Lauren (

Lauren Riihimaki Lauren Kobayashi Riihimaki (born August 11, 1993) is a Canadian YouTuber known for her video content on the LaurDIY channel as well as her vlog and podcast content on the ''LaurDIY Vlogs'' and ''WILD 'TIL 9'' channels. As of January 2022, ''LaurDI ...

) - yellow (

Fanta)

''MADtv'' parody

The Fantanas were twice parodied on the sketch comedy series ''

MADtv ''Mad TV'' (stylized as ''MADtv'') is an American sketch comedy television series created by David Salzman, Fax Bahr, and Adam Small. Loosely based on the humor magazine '' Mad'', ''Mad TVs pre-taped satirical sketches were primarily parodie ...

''. Both appearances (Episodes #1004 and #1009, aired 6 November and 18 December 2004, respectively) starred

Daniele Gaither Daniele Gaither is an American actress and comedian. She is most notable for her membership in the recurring cast of comedians on sketch comedy series ''MADtv'' and for her role of Super President Kickbutt in ''The Thundermans''. Early life Dani ...

as Capri,

Stephnie Weir Stephnie Carmel Weir (born November 28, 1967) is an American actress, comedian, and writer. She is best known for being a main cast member and writer on the Fox sketch comedy television series ''Mad TV'' from 2000 to 2005, for which she got two W ...

as Lola,

Nicole Parker Nicole Parker is an American actress and comedian. She is best known for her work on Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox's sketch comedy show ''Mad TV'' (2003–2009, 2016), for which she was a regular cast member. In 2009, Parker played Elphaba in the ...

as Kiki, and

Paul C. Vogt Paul Calvin Vogt (born December 16, 1964) is an American actor and comedian, best known for his work as a cast member on the sketch comedy programs ''Mad TV'', '' The Big Gay Sketch Show'', and '' The Rerun Show''. Life and career Paul C. Vogt w ...

as "Two-Liter" Beth. The commercials were similar to the actual Fantanas commercials, with Capri, Lola and Kiki offering Fanta to a series of men, only to be interrupted by Beth's attempts to seduce the men with a two-liter bottle of Fanta Grape (and some blurred nudity, but only from the waist up). The former episode featured the Fantanas representing similar Fanta flavors, but the latter episode (aired just before Christmas) featured the Fantanas representing holiday-themed Fanta: * Candy Cane Capri (Gaither) * Cinnamon Spice Lola (Weir) * Frosted Gingerbread Kiki (Parker) * Holiday Ham Dinner Beth (Vogt)

Other parodies

The Fantanas also made an appearance in the popular animated show ''

Robot Chicken ''Robot Chicken'' is an American adult animation, adult stop motion, stop-motion animated sketch comedy television series created by Seth Green and Matthew Senreich for Cartoon Network's nighttime programming block Adult Swim. The twelve-minute ...

'' in the episode "Adoption's an Option" in 2006. In the " Peter's Daughter" episode of ''

Family Guy ''Family Guy'' is an American animated sitcom created by Seth MacFarlane for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series premiered on January 31, 1999, following Super Bowl XXXIII, with the rest of the first season airing from April 11, 1999. Th ...

'', first shown on November 25, 2007, the Fantanas were parodied as four elderly women promoting

Sanka Sanka is a brand of instant decaffeinated coffee, sold around the world, and was one of the earliest decaffeinated varieties. Sanka is distributed in the United States by Kraft Heinz. History Decaffeinated coffee was developed in 1903 (see Dec ...

. The Australian comedian

Pam Ann Pam Ann is the air hostess alter ego of Australian comedian, writer, producer & DJ Caroline Reid. Performances focus on the nuances of air travel, identifying the individual quirks of some of the biggest international airlines and their media s ...

uses the Fantana jingle as a catchphrase when she does her routine as the

Iberia Airlines Iberia (), legally incorporated as ''Iberia Líneas Aéreas de España, S.A. Operadora, Sociedad Unipersonal'', is the flag carrier of Spain. Founded in 1927 and based in Madrid, it operates an international network of services from its main ...

stewardess Conchita Rosa María González Gómez in her shows.

Notes

{{Reflist

External links

Fanta's websiteAdrienne Janic's websiteMonica Flores's websiteDena Cali's website
Mascots introduced in 2002 Advertising campaigns Drink advertising characters Female characters in advertising