Beverage Wars 2021 didn’t disappoint as students went all out to introduce their brand of beverage and encourage a panel of senior student judges to vote for their product. It’s all part of an English project by teacher Cary Saxton, focusing on the art of rhetoric in writing, speaking and selling a product. Students use written advertising, social media, props, and even commercials to gain attention and entice consumers to want to know more.
“Our motto is that our drink is from the Earth and for the people,” said Mia Dickman in explaining her team’s Simplicitea. “It’s an environmentally friendly drink and uses natural flavors. We have raspberry, lemon and pomegranate. We wanted to focus on the simple, sweetest part of life.”
Dickman said they chose their campaign based on market research conducted to understand what was important to potential buyers. Environmental concerns were a leading area of interest. Teammate Keely Lambert said the goal is to convince a group of seniors to vote for their drink.
This multi-week project offers students a perfect opportunity to practice rhetoric in their campaign, use creativity in branding and marketing, and create successful advertising campaigns. It all starts with brainstorming a plan and creating a product.
“We did a survey to see what people liked for their beverages,” said Natalie Alden. “It was split about 50/50 between sweet and sour so we decided to offer something where a person can choose sweet or sour in one drink.”
Teammate Emma Thompson said they designed their drink with options with two drinks in one. “You really have to consider who you are selling to,” she said.
Alden said the project has been a lot of fun to do with her teammates. “I especially liked it at the beginning when we just came up with ideas of what we could do,” she said. “It’s all hands-on – which is so much different than writing a paper or report.”
The TKHS Beverage War project has been going on since the first champions were crowned in 2016 with their brand called Mad Apple. A Champion Beverage Wars sign in Saxton’s classroom adds the names of winning teammates and their product each year. In reality, all the students come out as winners learning valuable lessons in creativity, communication and creating and implementing a plan of action.