The Nesbitt's brand debuted in 1927, initially as part of the company's line of soda fountain products.
[1] Nesbitt's became the US market leader of orange soda pop during the late 1940s and 1950s, with advertisements featuring an unknown model, Marilyn Monroe, in 1946, and proclaiming itself to be the "Largest selling bottled orange drink in the world".
In 1999, Big Red, Limited of Waco, Texas, the parent company that owns rights to the Big Red soft drink brand, bought the Nesbitt's USA trademark from the Monarch Beverage Company under its North American Beverages Products division, which also includes NuGrape.
[2] Retro soda producer Orca Beverage manufactures a bottled version of Nesbitt’s Orange made with cane sugar and natural flavoring.
The group Negativland put out the "Nesbitt's Lime Soda Song" on their 1987 release Escape From Noise; written and sung by Richard Lyons, it was about a man who lost his temper after "a bee flew into" his soda and "we had to throw it away".