47°F
weather icon Clear

Jones Soda Co. releases new labels featuring Boulder City favorite

Updated November 3, 2021 - 3:57 pm

A well-known Boulder City character is reaching new heights thanks to a partnership with a popular soda company.

Recently, Jones Soda Co. released special augmented reality beverage labels, featuring Zoltar.

“After starting out in 1987, making characters in my backyard in Boulder City, and selling them on the road out of a van, it’s exciting to see all the different directions that my business has gone in the last 34 years,” said Olaf Stanton, Zoltar creator and founder and CEO of Characters Unlimited. “We’re very proud to have Jones Soda as our newest Zoltar licensee.”

“We’re just very excited about it,” said Karina Stanton, who helps run Characters Unlimited with her dad. “I love Jones Soda, so it’s really cool.”

The augmented reality labels allow people to receive an individualized fortune with each bottle.

Karina Stanton said when someone gets a bottle, they need to scan the QR code on it to download the Jones Soda app and then hover the camera on their phone over Zoltar.

“Once you scan over Zoltar, the label comes to life,” she said. “It says the fortune and then a fortune card will pop up.”

“Our AR labels are unique in the soda category, a perfect fit for our brand personality, and a cornerstone of our content strategy to help attract new consumers in our demographic,” said Mark Murray, president and CEO of Jones Soda, in a press release. “The Zoltar character is ideally suited to our AR initiative because he is instantly recognizable as an animated character. You can’t look at him without wanting to hear what he has to say about your future, even though you know it’s all in good fun.”

Jones Soda also used the official voice artist for Zoltar, so his voice sounds the same as it does with the fortune-telling machines.

The special Zoltar labels are available on some Jones Soda products sold at Smith’s and other grocery stores owned by Kroger as well as at Wal-Mart.

Karina Stanton said they will also be available for sale locally at Grandma Daisy’s, 530 Nevada Way.

“We are working on getting them the contacts to order it,” she added.

The products should be available for sale through February or March of 2022.

Zoltar is part of Characters Unlimited created by Olaf Stanton.

He said he started creating a fortune teller character in the 1990s, and no matter what he named it everyone would call it Zoltar. He found out the name wasn’t trademarked and in 2006, Zoltar was born.

Karina Stanton said their licensing agency, Firefly Brand Management, made the partnership with Jones Soda Co. possible.

“We definitely owe it to them for making this happen,” she added.

The Zoltar labels will appear on Jones Soda’s orange and cream, cream soda, berry lemonade, root beer and green apple flavors.

Characters Unlimited, 709 Foothill Ct., specializes in designing and building animatronic people, birds, animals, fortune teller machines and dinosaurs and more. All of its products are built by hand in town.

Contact reporter Celia Shortt Goodyear at cgoodyear@bouldercityreview.com or at 702-586-9401. Follow her on Twitter @csgoodyear.

MOST READ
THE LATEST
Busy season at Garrett

December is a busy month of activities in schools, filled with wonderful winter concerts, the challenge of final exams and assessments, and the energy that just seems to come with the season.

Season of giving at BCHS

If you live in Boulder City, you know the community is very busy during the holidays, especially winter holidays.

Taking a look at diabetes

Did you know that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) advises people with diabetes to get a flu vaccination to prevent flu and serious flu complications and recommends people with diabetes who have flu infection or suspect flu infection be promptly treated with antiviral treatment.

Building a growth mindset at King

Sometimes as adults we can spend too much time focusing on “wins” and “losses.” This is true in education as well.

Busy fall season at Garrett Junior High

As we wrap up the fall season at Garrett Junior High, there’s so much to celebrate.

Sometimes simple appliance DIY can spare you costly service calls

Wasn’t I embarrassed when I couldn’t figure out why my friend’s dishwasher wouldn’t start. I troubleshot as best as I could, given my limited time visiting her. It was getting power, the door was closed properly, yet when I pressed “start,” it just wouldn’t. I advised her to call a local appliance repair company. $85 later she was informed that it somehow went into its “locked function.” Simply holding down the Heat/Dry button for three seconds unlocks it. That’s all it needed. Boy did I feel dumb. I mean, I’m the Toolbelt Diva, after all.

A look into Día De Los Muertos at BCHS

For nearly a decade, Boulder City High School has created a tradition in their Spanish Honors classes to build ofrendas in honor of the Spanish holiday, Día De Los Muertos also known as Day of the Dead.

Calculating breast cancer risk

Absolute risk versus relative risk and what you need to know about calculating the risk of developing breast cancer. Let’s define both and gauge the risk.

Staff, students impress principal

Andrew J. Mitchell recently earned a spot on the Clark County School District Superintendent’s Honor Roll. It was a pleasure to accept this award on behalf of the staff, students, and families of Mitchell Elementary.