The poorly received Fanta sponsorship on Oblivion has now been partially removed, with little branding remaining.
At the start of the 2011 season it was revealed that Oblivion, the world’s first vertical drop rollercoaster, would be sponsored by the soft drink company Fanta. Previously, the ride was subtly sponsored by Coca-Cola.
Once the Fanta branding started to appear on the iconic rollercoaster, many Alton Towers fans criticised the sponsorship and wanted them to reconsider their decision to add large and un-subtle graphics which were totally against the immersive theme of Oblivion.
TowersTimes contacted the General Manager of Alton Towers Resort, and also Nick Varney, the head of Merlin Entertainments, to show them that there were hundreds of our readers against the Fanta sponsorship. Nick Varney’s response was as follows:
“Following your comments, I recently walked through the entire Oblivion queue and ride station area. There is no doubt that unlike the original Coke branding, this is not themed as sensitively to the ride concept as it could have been. I cannot make any promises at this stage as we have a contract with Coca Cola, but we are making efforts to see what we can do to improve the situation. We take the integrity theming and “story”’ for our rides and attractions very seriously, so please regard this as a one off which is not a symptom of more to come.“
Since Nick Varney’s response to the TowersTimes petition, much of the Fanta sponsorship has been removed from Oblivion with only some posters at the Rehydrator cafe remaining.
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