The ad landed at the peak of a national calorie-counting fixation. Fashion had shifted toward slimmer silhouettes through the 1950s, insurance company height-weight tables got wide press coverage, and magazines ran diet advice at a steady clip. Food and drink makers noticed, and a new category of “dietetic” products began showing up on grocery shelves aimed at that anxiety.
Diet soda itself predated the Coke ad by nearly a decade. Hyman Kirsch invented No-Cal ginger ale in 1952 for diabetic patients at a Brooklyn hospital, and Royal Crown began testing its own Diet Rite cola in 1954. Diet Rite went national in 1962, and within about a year and a half it had become the fourth best-selling soft drink in the country, trailing only Coke, Pepsi and Royal Crown’s regular cola.
Coca-Cola had no diet product of its own when this ad ran. Regular Coke’s calorie count became the selling point instead, a stopgap pitch while the company worked on something sugar-free. That product arrived in 1963 as Tab, sweetened with saccharin and cyclamate, and it became Coca-Cola’s first zero-calorie soda.
Cyclamate was banned by the FDA in 1969 over cancer concerns, forcing Tab and its rivals to reformulate overnight. Aspartame won approval in 1981 and reached store shelves the following year in Diet Coke, which eventually eclipsed Tab entirely. The “fewer calories” argument Connie Clausen made in 1961 never really went away either, and decades later, commentators pointed to this same commercial when Coca-Cola ran anti-obesity messaging built around a nearly identical claim.
The page below has the full 1961 commercial and transcript along with a companion Coca-Cola holiday spot from the same year, also featuring Clausen, promoting the brand’s new family-size bottle.
VIDEO | Coke keeps you thin! (1961 Coke commercial)
In this 1961 Coca-Cola commerical, actress Connie Clausen explains that Coke is low in calories and will help keep you thin.
Transcript of “Coke keeps you thin!” TV commercial
You know, this was me five years ago, and it’s still me. I must confess, I’m a waistline watcher from way back.
Well, that’s enough for today. Time for a lively lift: Ice-cold Coca-Cola. There’s no waistline worry with Coke, you know. Actually, this individual-size bottle has no more calories than half a grapefruit.
Mmm — another thing — the cold crisp taste of Coke is so satisfying, it keeps me from eating something else that might really add those pounds.
Coke’s a natural, wholesome blending of pure food flavors. I guess that’s why everyone likes the refreshing new feeling you get only from not-too-sweet Coca-Cola.
And no wonder. Lively, lifty Coca-Coca provides a welcome bit of quick energy between meals. Makes for a pleasant pause in a busy day.
Oh, and remember, Coke is low in calories, too. Say now — don’t you get any thinner!
VIDEO | Coca-Cola Christmas Commerical (1961)
Again with Connie Clausen, she talks about the new family-size bottle of coke, and the new, refreshing feeling Coca-Cola provides.
