Big Red Texas Cream Soda

Big Red was invented in 1937 in Waco, Texas (that's Dr. Pepper country, guys), and was originally dubbed Sun Tang Red Cream Soda -- whatever that means. Now distributed by the Dr. Pepper Snapple Group, the syrupy soda has found its way up north thanks to devoted fans, ex-pats and lovers of all things... well, red. While Big Red doesn't have a stirring history to tell you, their present is pretty interesting, in that it's incredibly strange. Their slogan, "Deliciously Different," is just about exactly right.

Big Red is less interesting as a soda than a brand, to be perfectly honest. This bright red, cream soda-ish drink is beloved throughout Texas and the south, for it's sweet, bubbly properties. Some say it's cream soda, some say Big Red is flavored like bubble gum. What we can tell you for sure: it's really sweet, and has one of the most hilariously strange marketing campaigns we've ever seen. As Serious Eats perfectly quipped, "In our minds, this isn't what red tastes like."