'Halls with a twist': Iconic SA brand questioned over vodka drink
Concerns have been raised over a range of alcoholic drinks from South Australian distiller Higher Vision, which have similar labels to Halls soft drinks.
The products, marketed as "Halls with a twist", include "Round The Twist", which shares a colour scheme with Halls "Lemon Twist", and "Fruity Punch", which uses similar colours and fonts to Halls "Fruita".
A scotch and "Classic Cola" drink is also included in the range.
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The Halls brand experienced a high-profile comeback in 2023 and is considered a strong brand in South Australia. Nine
Chad Oldfield, the owner of Roxby Downs-based Higher Vision, has denied any deliberate imitation in the branding.
"It's not something that I really looked at when I did it to be completely honest," he said.
"You see them as similar, I don't," he added.
"I see a tree and a rainbow on one and lines on others."
That's not a view shared by Jacqueline Bowden, an addiction expert at Flinders University.
"These products should not be on the market," she said.
She drew a parallel to Hard Solo, which was rebranded to Hard Rated following complaints about its appeal to minors.
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Chad Oldfield, the owner of Roxby Downs-based Higher Vision, has denied any deliberate imitation in the branding. Nine
"We know that soft drinks that have a strong brand and then have an alcoholic version, they really do attract young people," Bowden said.
The Halls brand experienced a high-profile comeback in 2023 and is considered a strong brand in South Australia.
Today, its owner, Cameron Ballard, told 9News he has no stake in the business that makes the alcoholic drinks – despite the label saying "Halls with a twist" and mentioning a "collaboration" with Halls.
"Halls is a family brand, and we have no intention of making 'Hard Halls'," Ballard said in a statement.
"For convenience, Higher Vision uses some of the Halls ingredients in their drinks, and we allowed them to acknowledge that on their labels."
However, Higher Vision did say it also uses the Halls bottling facility.
This article was produced with the assistance of 9ExPress.
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