Looking at this 1969 Florida orange juice commercial, it’s easy to forget just how famous Anita Bryant already was.
Before orange juice, she had been Miss Oklahoma, finished second runner-up for Miss America and had several hit records. “Paper Roses” reached No. 5 in 1960, and “My Little Corner of the World” made the Top Ten.
She toured with Bob Hope entertaining American troops, performed at both major political conventions in 1968 and sang the National Anthem at Super Bowl III in 1969.
Then came Florida orange juice.
“Breakfast without orange juice is like a day without sunshine.”
That line became so familiar that by the early ’70s the campaign reportedly had an 81-percent recall rate. Bryant became one of the most recognizable commercial spokespeople in America.
There’s even a Disney connection. The Florida Citrus Commission partnered with Disney on the Orange Bird, and Bryant later sang and narrated an Orange Bird record featuring songs written by the Sherman Brothers of Mary Poppins fame.
Of course, her public image changed dramatically in 1977 when she became the face of a campaign opposing gay-rights protections in Miami-Dade County. The ordinance was repealed, but the campaign also brought national protests, an orange juice boycott and lasting damage to her entertainment career.
Interestingly, the Florida citrus industry kept her as a spokesperson for several more years before the relationship ended in 1980.
She attempted several comebacks later in life but never returned to the level of fame she had during these commercials. Anita Bryant died in 2024 at age 84.
Do you remember Anita Bryant more for her songs, the orange juice commercials, or what came later?
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