Sego was a US meal replacement diet drink formally marketed by Pet, Inc., (at the time Pet Milk) as Sego Liquid Diet Food. Introduced in 1961 [1] and selling for approximately US25¢ each, [2] Sego sales registered US$22 million to the company's Milk Products Division by 1965. [1]
The name Sego derived from a Salt Lake City-based company, Sego Milk Products Company, that Pet Milk had purchased in 1925. [1]
Sold in 10-ounce cans, [3] before the advent of aluminum cans or cans with pull tabs, the beverages were available in flavors including Chocolate, Chocolate Coconut, Chocolate Malt, Vanilla, Strawberry, Banana and Orange [3]—each providing 225 calories (four cans to be consumed daily, for a total of 900 calories). [4] Marketed under the taglines "See the pounds go with Sego" and "Sego, it's great for your ego," Pet advertised the drinks as being "thicker" and having 10% more protein and 2 more ounces than other 900-calorie foods—e.g., Metrecal, its predecessor in the market and the market leader—asserting that protein "helps control hunger." [3] In 1966, milk chocolate, caramel fudge and butter pecan flavors became available, [5] and Pet Milk subsequently offered Sego branded pudding and soup [6]—and, later still, diet bars.
By 1961, there were more than 100 meal replacement products on the U.S. market, [6] and Sego competed with such products as Metrecal, and Figurines from Pillsbury, [6] and was ultimately superseded in the market place by such liquid diet drinks as Slimfast.[ citation needed]
In the 2010 book The Hundred Year Diet, author Susan Yager called Sego "baby formula mixed with water and a poor substitute for food." [6]
Actress Tippi Hedren was discovered by Alfred Hitchcock while shooting a television commercial for Sego on the Today Show. [7] Hedren later described the spot as "a story line; it wasn't just holding up a product and talking about it. It was a story and apparently he (Hitchcock) saw it." [8]
See also
References
- ^ a b c "Pet Incorporated". Harvard University, Baker Library, Lehman Brothers Collection.
- ^ "Lucky Hiram's Grocery Store ad" (PDF). The Torrance Herald, November 1, 1962.
- ^ a b c 1962 Sego Advertisement, Pet Milk. Life Magazine, Feb 2, 1962. 2 February 1962.
- ^ 1962 Sego Advertisement, Pet Milk. Life Magazine, Jul 27, 1962. 27 July 1962.
- ^ "Supermarkets To Bulge With New Products". The Toledo Blade, April 25, 1966, p. 23.
- ^ a b c d The Hundred Year Diet: America's Voracious Appetite for Losing Weight, Susan Yager, p. 93. Rodale Books (May 11, 2010). 11 May 2010. ISBN 9781605290874.
- ^ "Tippi Hedren". Independent Film Quarterly, Briege McGarrity.
- ^ "The Birds (1963)". Joe Bob Briggs.