Fanta Soda - The Evil Origins

Fanta soda, typically known for their fun, upbeat commercials with dancing women asking "wanna Fanta?" has a darker past. The soda brand was developed in Nazi Germany during World War II.  That may come as a surprise to you or perhaps you already knew that tidbit of information.

It's one thing for a company to have Nazi ties, but have a forward looking approach. The companies that still exist with associations to that era have gone through radical transformations in the last 75 years and today, many are viewed as respectable. Here's a list of 10 other companies with Nazi ties. With that being said, it's probably not a good idea to revisit those Nazi origins - you might make some folks angry...even if it's unintentional.

But Fanta (and their ad agency) did exactly that. They referenced the "good old days" in a commercial that aired in Germany recently as John Oliver from HBO's Last Week Tonight with John Oliver points out in the YouTube video below. Coca-Cola pulled the commercial immediately after customer backlash.