Save the Snapple Lady

Save the Snapple Lady, four words which I didn’t realize would not only shape my career as a User Experience Designer but would also create a friendship which has lasted decades!

Nearly 25 years ago as I was driving to work at Netscape in Mountain View, California I was sitting in traffic and listening to the radio when a heavily New York accented woman was on the show talking about how she had just lost her job as the Snapple spokeswoman. Wendy Kauffman, who was often called The Snapple Lady was talking about the recent sale of Snapple Beverages to Quaker Oats and she made a really bold statement.

You might remember her, she was the spokeswoman who read letters to Snapple from fans and this time she was asking for fans to write to her personally. I remember her saying “I will respond to all fans who send me email” and I remember thinking, this woman is nuts. I jotted her email address down and as soon as I got to work, I wrote her.

Much to my shock; moments later I received a response. Holy shit, it was her. She really did respond. I didnt even know what to say as I was star struck so I said “Save the Snapple Lady”!! What happened next would change my life forever.

Together, we hatched a plan to create an online petition to save her job as the Snapple Lady. In today’s world that doesnt seem as innovative but we’re talking early 1990s here. Back then email had just gone mainstream and there were literally no online petitions.

We launched a site which in today’s standards would be considered totally cheesy. Complete with spinning globes and under construction signs, our plan had started to come together. The website was a gateway to the petition which was attractive a lot of attention.

Remember browser buttons back in the 1990s ?

Thousands of digital signatures later, Triarc Beverages, the new owners of Snapple, took notice. I can’t stay for sure, but I do believe the petition had some affect. They asked Wendy to return to Snapple, gave her her own Snapple Flavor, and I got to fly to New York to participate in a parade in Wendy’s honor.

But the best part… I made a friend for life!! Wendy is an inspiration to me both professionally and personally. And it all started with four little words, Save the Snapple Lady!!

Past news reports:

Quaker Oats may bring back the Snapple Lady

Snapple Lady gets her job back