Fentimans pop features in Snoop Dog video

HIP hop stars are going POP . . . choosing a fizz brewed here in the North over expensive Champagne.

The latest star of a string of music videos is Fentimans, the botanical pop, after a top record boss became a fan.

And gangster rap superstar Snoop Dog is among those who have cast aside the Cristal in favour of a bottle of the pop from the Hexham-based drinks company.

Fentimans Cherrytree Cola features in the music video for his hit If I Was You with hip hop group Far East Movement.

The drink also won the approval of American pop duo LMFAO who necked a bottle of the cola in the video for their chart-topping hit single Party Rock Anthem.

Word spread about Fentimans, which has been producing botanical brews in the North East since1905, when record boss Martin Kierszenbaum became a fan.

Mr Kierszenbaum, CEO of American record label Cherrytree Records, which launched the career of multi-platinum artist Lady Gaga, then approached Fentimans to develop a drink for the label’s sell-out 2012 European tour. “This particular collaboration is rather different but I am delighted that Fentimans – a company with a distinguished provenance – was able to produce a Cherrytree Cola for our European tour,” he said.

“Like the music we strive to release on Cherrytree Records, Fentimans Cherrytree Cola is tasty, fun and innovative.”

Fentimans was founded in Gateshead in 1905 by Thomas Fentiman after he was given a recipe for ginger beer in exchange for an unpaid loan.

He went on to build a very successful business delivering ginger beer door-to-door from the back of wagons in stone jars.

Today his grandson, Eldon Robson, runs the multi-million pound business, sending consignments of the drink around the world.

Eldon said: “When we heard about the European tour, we decided to make the most of this following the success of LMFAO’s Party Rock Anthem.

“We are currently producing Fentimans Cherrytree Cola for UK and European countries including Sweden, Spain, Germany, France and Norway.

“Most of the tour dates have sold out, but Fentimans will be offering customers the opportunity to win tickets through various media channels and on our Facebook page.

“Obviously, this association with Cherrytree Records will also introduce Fentimans to a younger audience across Europe, who I hope will keep buying Fentimans long after the tour is finished.”