There are some things in life—ok, grocery stores—that are so steady, we take them for granted. For as many new Oreo flavors that come out, the good ol' original chocolate sandwich cookie will always be on store shelves. Kids' cereal will always be colorful (remember that whole Trix kerfuffle?). And Arizona Iced Tea cans, blessedly, will always be 99-cents.
Rather than an occasional promotion, keeping those big, 23-ounce cans cheap is a core part of the brand's strategy, Arizona's Chief Marketing Officer and Co-Owner Spencer Vultaggio told Thrillist. "The cans are synonymous with 99 cents now. Our fans love it," he said. "They've grown up with us, and they'll always know they can head to their local store and our drinks will be 99 cents." I appreciate you, Spencer.
The company maintains the low price in part by keeping advertising to a bare minimum—you won't find any random celebrities hawking Arizona Sweet Tea on a Subway ad.
Even without traditional ads, the dollar price tag has acted as a sort of marketing tactic in and of itself. Just take a look at the "Great Buy! 99 cents" printed on cans or Arizona's funny social media posts.
The photo above pokes fun at convenience stores that try to up their profit by covering the can with their own price tags—which Arizona doesn't like, though they can't really police it nationwide.
Beyond marketing, Arizona has figured out ways to cut costs elsewhere in the company, thinning out the cans to use less aluminum and improving technology so cans can be packed more efficiently. And not all of their products are just a buck—take a look at this wild photo of every Arizona product.
Anywho, all that's to say the 99 cent price tag isn't going anywhere. We'll toast an Arnold Palmer to that.
