From Fatigue Fighter to Heartburn Healer: The Evolving Marketing of a Functional Beverage in Sweden

Abstract

This paper historicizes our understanding of the contemporary functional beverage trend by focusing on the marketing practices of the biggest-selling “health drink” in early twentieth-century Sweden: Samarin. Drawing upon a large dataset of Samarin advertisements, it uses multimodal critical discourse analysis to track the evolution of Samarin over a 48-year period, from its launch in 1923 to the introduction of the Market Practices Act in 1971, which clamped down on false advertising. The analysis demonstrates how Samarin advertisements were continuously reshaped to capitalize upon new scientific/medical discoveries, societal changes, and public interests, tapping into evolving ideas on health and diet to remain popular with consumers. Through these constantly shifting discourses, Samarin became mythologized and framed as a “good” food choice, essential to maintaining a healthy lifestyle. The findings reveal that many of these strategies are still used today, despite legislation in place that is supposed to protect consumers.