The Uncola.

“The Uncola” is best known as a U.S. advertising slogan used to position 7UP as an alternative to traditional colas. It emerged in the late 1960s as part of a broader shift in soft-drink marketing toward youth-oriented, countercultural, and identity-based branding. By defining itself negatively—“un-cola” rather than “cola”—7UP emphasized difference (lighter, lemon-lime, non-cola) and invited consumers to see the choice as a statement of individuality. Because it functioned as a tagline rather than a literary utterance, it is often treated as anonymous or corporate-authored rather than attributable to a single person.

The slogan works by turning absence into identity: “Uncola” frames 7UP as the opposite of the mainstream cola category, inviting consumers to see themselves as choosing something different, cleaner, or less conventional. Linguistically, it’s a compact neologism—prefixing “un-” to a familiar noun—to create a memorable contrast in a single word. Culturally, it exemplifies how advertising can coin terms that outlive specific campaigns, becoming a general label for “the alternative” within a crowded market. As a quotation, its significance lies less in propositional meaning than in rhetorical strategy: differentiation through negation.

1) "The Uncola." 2) "7UP: The Uncola." 3) "The Uncola: 7UP."