Sego was a US meal replacement diet drink formally marketed by Pet, Inc., (at the time Pet Milk) as Sego Liquid Diet Food. Introduced in 1961[1] and selling for approximately US25¢ each,[2] Sego sales registered US$22 million to the company's Milk Products Division by 1965.[1]

The name Sego derived from a Salt Lake City-based company, Sego Milk Products Company, that Pet Milk had purchased in 1925.[1]

Sold in 10-ounce cans,[3] before the advent of aluminum cans or cans with pull tabs, the beverages were available in flavors including Chocolate, Chocolate Coconut, Chocolate Malt, Vanilla, Strawberry, Banana and Orange[3]—each providing 225 calories (four cans to be consumed daily, for a total of 900 calories).[4] Marketed under the taglines "See the pounds go with Sego" and "Sego, it's great for your ego," Pet advertised the drinks as being "thicker" and having 10% more protein and 2 more ounces than other 900-calorie foods—e.g., Metrecal, its predecessor in the market and the market leader—asserting that protein "helps control hunger."[3] In 1966, milk chocolate, caramel fudge and butter pecan flavors became available,[5] and Pet Milk subsequently offered Sego branded pudding and soup[6]—and, later still, diet bars.

By 1961, there were more than 100 meal replacement products on the U.S. market,[6] and Sego competed with such products as Metrecal, and Figurines from Pillsbury,[6] and was ultimately superseded in the market place by such liquid diet drinks as Slimfast.[citation needed]

In the 2010 book The Hundred Year Diet, author Susan Yager called Sego "baby formula mixed with water and a poor substitute for food."[6]

Actress Tippi Hedren was discovered by Alfred Hitchcock while shooting a television commercial for Sego on the Today Show.[7] Hedren later described the spot as "a story line; it wasn't just holding up a product and talking about it. It was a story and apparently he (Hitchcock) saw it."[8]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c "Pet Incorporated". Harvard University, Baker Library, Lehman Brothers Collection.
  2. ^ "Lucky Hiram's Grocery Store ad" (PDF). The Torrance Herald, November 1, 1962.
  3. ^ a b c 1962 Sego Advertisement, Pet Milk. Life Magazine, Feb 2, 1962. 2 February 1962.
  4. ^ 1962 Sego Advertisement, Pet Milk. Life Magazine, Jul 27, 1962. 27 July 1962.
  5. ^ "Supermarkets To Bulge With New Products". The Toledo Blade, April 25, 1966, p. 23.
  6. ^ a b c d The Hundred Year Diet: America's Voracious Appetite for Losing Weight, Susan Yager, p. 93. Rodale Books (May 11, 2010). 11 May 2010. ISBN 9781605290874.
  7. ^ "Tippi Hedren". Independent Film Quarterly, Briege McGarrity.
  8. ^ "The Birds (1963)". Joe Bob Briggs.
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