Over the course of the next ten days we’ll be bringing you a short history of a uniquely South African advertising phenomenon: Liqui-Fruit television ads. Perched high up in the fondly-curated South African Television Advertising Hall of Fame, the Liqui-Fruit ads are up there with greatest hits like the scottish Lunch Bar, and the “Ja Boet” Castrol ads of yore. You’ll remember the ads from your childhood, your adolescence, and your adulthood. More likely, you’ll remember the lovely ladies that starred in them.

Without further ado, we present Liqui-Fruits televisual face of the 2000s, Rue Essop.

This Liqui-Fruit ad doesn’t feature a bikini, or a beach montage scene, so it couldn’t possibly be sexy, right? Wrong.

Three words, my friend: Desert Oasis Fantasy. Here’s the ad synopsis:

 The ad is about a girl waiting for a bus somewhere far away from the city. The camera then pans up and we see our hero girl standing on her own, surrounded by dry desert. It starts to rain fruit and she quenches her thirst. Water starts to shoot out of the earth and fruit flowers start to bloom. She quenches her thirst once again. The camera pans up and this time she runs into a pool of water, also in the desert. In the water she sees fruit swimming like fish around her. She grabs a pear. The camera pans up again and we now see that she is drinking Liqui-Fruit and every time she lifts the pack to take a sip, she experiences another new fruit fantasy.

Wowsers. More fruit, please. In case you were wondering, here’s what Rue looks like in a swimsuit.

More than any other South African brand, Liqui-Fruit TV ads have been synonymous with the classic, beautiful female icon. And you can read about how that came to pass in Part 1 and Part 2.

From young Lushano Kuhn in the original fantasy commercial and Tanya Eloff on the isolated Namibian beach in her famous golden bikini, to Tracy McGregor on the fruit island and Rue Essop in the desert fantasy – the tradition continues. And you’ll get to see them in the coming days.

But it’s a new decade, and a new face needs to be found.

On the 29th of October the 2012 Liqui-Fruit Girl will be revealed with the first airing of the new TV advert.

To keep abreast of the developments, follow the #LiquiFruitgirl hashtag on Twitter, and visit the Facebook page!