"It’s your life. Make it extra." – While Jacob Schweppe, a German-born watchmaker and silversmith, was not the first to discover carbonation—that credit goes to the English chemist Joseph Priestley—he did develop the groundbreaking "Geneva System" starting in 1780. Using this compression pump, he succeeded in 1783 in bottling sparkling water on an industrial scale and ensuring its shelf stability for the first time. This marked the birth of Schweppes, so to speak.
For Schweppes Germany, Christian Lohfink created a wonderfully colorful showcase for the current product range—specifically, the bottles and drinks.
Incidentally, Johann Jacob Schweppe invented his artificial carbonation system and bottled his first soda water in Geneva, Switzerland. It was only a few years later, in 1792, that he moved to London, where his company began its triumphant global journey—one that continues to this day.
As the first person to produce and sell carbonated water on a large industrial scale, Schweppes is historically recognized as the world's oldest soft drink brand.
Along the way, he also revolutionized bar culture: before the advent of carbonated soda water, spirits were usually consumed neat. It was Schweppe’s invention that made diluting alcohol with sparkling water socially acceptable—thereby laying the foundation for modern mixology and long drinks. Since then, Schweppes has been making all our lives a little more "extra"... and sometimes a little extra fun, too.
The visuals were created in collaboration with the agency Philipp Keuntje. Hannes Rath served as Creative Director, Sebastian Naujoks as Art Director, and Johanna Merensky handled Art Buying. Styling and SFX were provided by Ulf Mülder.
Since 2006, the Krombacher Brewery has held the exclusive trademark and distribution rights for Schweppes in Germany and Austria. Operational business is managed by Schweppes Deutschland GmbH. And Jacob Schweppe? He moved back to Geneva with his daughter. Prior to that, between 1798 and 1799, he sold the majority of his shares in the company to three business partners. He died in 1821 at the age of 81.
Jacob Schweppe’s former estate still exists today and is known as Villa Dutoit; it is located at Chemin Gilbert-Troillet 5 in Geneva. The historic building and its grounds are now owned by the City of Geneva and serve as a cultural center.
Christian Lohfink is represented by the Hamburg-based agency UPFRONT Photo & Film.
GoSee : schweppes.de + villadutoit.ch
