Pop art: Edmonton photographer's work to feature on Jones Soda bottles

An Edmonton photographer's work will soon be a part of pop culture — soda pop culture that is.

Peggy Fulcher combined her love of photography and cars, entering a photo of classic Volkswagen cars into a Jones Soda contest.

"I take all sorts of pictures, I like printing them… I make them into greeting cards, give them to my friends and possibly sell them, if there's interest," Fulcher said.

"People are always laughing because I'm always stopping and taking pictures of the things I find interesting."

Fulcher, who does photography as a hobby, enjoys taking pictures of cars in particular.

In 2022, she went to a Volkswagen festival at Queen Mary Park in Edmonton, snapping plenty of photos, but one in particular of several vintage cars in a line. Later, she entered the photo into a Jones Soda contest, which picks amateur pictures to be on its soda bottles.

"I actually submitted it and completely forgot that I had submitted it, and then about a month ago, I got an email from them saying that they had chosen my picture to go on their pop up," said Fulcher. "Very cool, I was over the top.

"It's on their strawberry lime pop and they sent me a label and a letter congratulating me saying that I was in the one per cent of photos that were chosen."

Not every bottle of the strawberry lime flavour will have the same photo on it, but Jones will make sure that plenty with Fulcher's photo will make it to Canada, according to the company.

"It's super exciting for a photographer to have their picture put on something," said Fulcher.

"I'm super excited, it's the first time I've had anything recognized."

Peggy Fulcher with the framed letter and label she got after her photo was chosen to be on Jones Soda bottles. April 12, 2024 (David Ewasuk/CTV News Edmonton)

"Peggy had a few submissions that caught our eye, but the one that the Jones team chose stood out because it made us curious: Who was the community behind these cars? Do they gather often? What's their story," said Jones Soda in a statement.

"We actually make sure to feature Canadian photographers on our Canadian labels because perhaps someone knows the answer and feels an automatic connection, or they're inspired to seek out the answer."

The company also liked the parallels between the vintage cars and their soda, calling both nostalgic.

"When you see a Bug, your mind automatically goes to family road trips trying to call out 'Slug Bug!' before your sibling and not getting hit," the statement read.

The bottles featuring Fulcher's photo are expected to be available in the next two months, the company added.

With files from CTV News Edmonton's David Ewasuk