Nantucket Nectars, as you may know, is a beverage company run by Tom & Tom, who call themselves "The Juice Guys." They are called this because one day, according to the website, they had an idea that ranks up there with the inventions of Edison and da Vinci: Tom and Tom met at Brown University in the fall of 1985. Four years later they graduated and headed to Nantucket. The pair delivered everything from newspapers to laundry in their unmistakable red boat. One cold winter night they began mixing juice in a blender. The following summer they sold it off their boat. People loved it!
Holy crap! Who would have thought of mixing juices in a blender? As I've said before, I hope that history will still have room for George Washington Carver after it's done memorializing these two. "You see kids, before Tom and Tom, we thought that mixing two juices together would release a deadly nerve gas."
And this brings us to their latest invention, which the Smithsonian plans to honor next year with a $32 million exhibit: carbonation. Recently I tried one of their new "NectarFizz" beverages, and it left such an impression on me that I had to e-mail them via the Nantucket Nectars website.
Dear Tom and/or Tom:
I recently tried one of your raspberry lime "NectarFizz" drinks. I took a swallow and literally spit it out on the sidewalk. It tastes like CLEANSER! I thought you guys made juice beverages, but then I saw there's only 1% juice, and the rest is sugar and chemicals, so I guess that's the reason for the Comet taste. Really, it's like drinking Soft Scrub.
My story has a happy ending, though. I'm an amateur inventor, and I thought to myself, "If it TASTES like cleanser, maybe it WORKS like cleanser!" My bathroom needed freshening, so I poured a little of your NectarFizz in my toilet, and you know what? The stuff really works! I think the "fizz" acts like scrubbing bubbles, and it leaves a pleasant raspberry-lime scent in the bowl. It even removed stubborn remnants!
Is this how you designed your new beverage, or did I just discover something new? I'm wondering if we could market this, kind of like baking soda, which has 1,001 uses around the home. What do you guys think? I'd like to contact an attorney about patenting my discovery, but wanted to see how you felt about it first.
Thanks,
John Hargrave
From: Jeff.Kolb@snapbevgrp.com
To: John Hargrave
Sent: Friday, April 18, 2003 10:17 AM
Dear Mr. Hargrave:
Thank you for taking the time to contact us. We regret that you have had a disappointing experience with a bottle of Nantucket Nectars.
We can understand your dissatisfaction and appreciate your concern. Your feedback is crucial for we strive to provide the highest quality products available, and we need to know about the good and the bad of Nantucket Nectars.
Please be assured that this is a rare occurrence that has not gone unnoticed. In hopes that you will continue to enjoy Nantucket Nectars, and to reimburse you for the juice, please accept this coupon with our compliments.
Thank you again for your concern.
Sincerely,
Jeff Kolb
SBG
7680
I was confused by the "please accept this coupon" message, since he was sending me an e-mail. I thought maybe he meant to send an attachment, and was just about to write him back, when this arrived in the mail:
They'll probably want to take credit for the invention of the coupon as well.
