Zoom was launched first, in April to May 1963, to tie into the Andersons' space seriesFireball XL5. Fab followed in May 1967. Zoom wasrocket-themed and marketed at boys, leaving a niche for girls. This was filled by the development of Fab: a rounder, more feminine-shaped lolly. To appeal to the female target audience, early branding associated Fab with theThunderbirds characterLady Penelope,[2] who was featured on the wrapper with her butlerParker.[3][4] TheThunderbirds characters used the initialism "F-A-B" as an equivalent to"Roger" (communications jargon indicating that a message has been received).[5]
The brand's connection toThunderbirds has not been maintained, and was quietly dropped in the early 1970s.
The modern Fab lolly consists of strawberry fruit ice core, coated partly in vanilla ice, with the top dipped in chocolate and coated withhundreds and thousands. The description on the packaging reads "real strawberry and vanilla flavour ice lolly with chocolate flavour coating (5%) and sugar strands (5%)".
A limited-edition orange version has also been produced,[13] as have apple-and-blackcurrant and tropical varieties.[14] In 2017, a new limited edition was produced to celebrate the 50th birthday. This "Birthday Cake" version consisted of raspberry fruit ice, vanilla sponge flavoured ice, and icing with sprinkles on top.[15][16] 2019 saw the introduction of a "raspberry doughnut" variety containing raspberry ice and a raspberry sauce centre.[17]
1 Brand owned byGeneral Mills; Produced by General Mills in the U.S. and Canada. Produced byCereal Partners under the Nestlé brand elsewhere.2 Brand owned byGeneral Mills; U.S. and Canadian production rights controlled by Nestlé under license.3 U.S. production rights owned byThe Hershey Company.4 U.S. rights and production owned by theSmarties Candy Company with a different product.5 U.S. rights and specific trade dress owned by Nestlé; rights elsewhere owned byAssociated British Foods.6 Produced by Cereal Partners, branded as Nestlé.7 Brand owned byPost Foods; Produced by Cereal Partners and branded as Nestlé in the U.K. and Ireland.8 Philippine production rights owned byAlaska Milk Corporation.9 Singaporean, Malaysian and Thai production rights owned byFraser and Neave.10 Used only in Indonesia, Thailand, and Cambodia.11 Used only in the Philippines.12 U.S. production rights owned by theFerrara Candy Company.13NA rights and specific trade dress to all packaged coffee and other products under the Starbucks brand owned by Nestlé since 2019.14 Brand owned byMars, sold by Nestlé in Canada.15 Produced byFroneri in the U.S. since 2020.
