Giles Andreae an advertising campaign for the soft drink Vimto. Purple Ronnie was sold in April 2007 to Coolabi, the small UK company which manages the Hammer House of Horror brand, for £3.3m. Since then the company have tried to break the US market by adapting the designs and language to suit. Giles Andreae Giles Andreae (born 16 March 1966) is a British artist, poet and greeting card writer, creator of the "Purple Ronnie" and "Edward Monkton" series. As a child Andreae went to Eton College where he was best friends with David Cameron. He then went on to Oxford University (Worcester
Vimto 19 Granby Row in the centre of Manchester England, by (John) Noel Nichols of Blackburn, Lancashire (1883–1966), a wholesaler of herbs, spices and medicines. He saw the market opening for soft drinks due to the temperance movement and the passage of the 1908 Licensing Act. It was originally sold under the name Vim Tonic, which Nichols shortened to Vimto in 1912. Vimto was originally registered as a health tonic or medicine, which was then re-registered in 1913 as a cordial. In 1910, because the Granby Row premises had become too small, they moved to a warehouse at Chapel Street, Salford,