Best Throwback on the Street
7UP Rio Rita Sign
Truth be told, we don't know much about the old Rio Rita on East Sixth, except that it was once an orquesta haven back in the day (1950s) and that sometime in the early Seventies someone erected this wondrous bit of commercial psychedelia, which we are darn glad no one has taken down since. Back then, 7UP might as well have been the electric Kool-Aid acid soda of the now (then) generation with its defiantly "Uncola" rainbow butterfly ad campaigns, distinguished by the deep dark growl of Trinidadian voiceover master Geoffrey Holder (Baron Samedi in Live & Let Die, and the narrator of Tim Burton's Charlie & the Chocolate Factory), describing the difference between the "Cola Nut" and the "Uncola Nut..." This bit of commercial art stands the test of time. And it should. The original campaign was designed by pop art master and Yellow Submarine creator Peter Max. Long may it glow!
Rio Rita
1203 Chicon, 512/524-0384
www.riorita.net
