Crystal Pepsi

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Crystal Pepsi
Type Clear cola
Manufacturer PepsiCo
Country of origin  United States
Introduced 1992-1993; 2015; 2016-present
Variants Diet Crystal Pepsi, Crystal From Pepsi, Pepsi Clear
Related products Pepsi, Diet Crystal Pepsi, Pepsi Blue, Tab Clear

Crystal Pepsi is a soft drink made by PepsiCo from 1992-1993, and briefly in December 2015 in the United States, it was also sold for a short time in Canada and Australia. Crystal Pepsi was sold for a longer time in Europe during the early 1990s. The drink will be back in stores in 2016.

History

In the early 1990s, a marketing fad equating clarity with purity began with the remake of Ivory soap from its classic milky solution;[1] the idea spread to many companies, including PepsiCo. Crystal Pepsi was marketed as a caffeine-free "clear alternative" to normal colas, equating clearness with purity and health.[2] Its marketing slogan was "You've never seen a taste like this".[1]

In 1992, PepsiCo introduced Crystal Pepsi to test markets in Denver, Sacramento, Dallas, and Providence,[3] and the product generated a positive response.[2] Pleased with the results, PepsiCo launched the cola on April 12, 1992,[4] and began to sell it nationwide in 1993. A large marketing campaign was launched, for which the company invented the world's first photo-realistic, computer-generated bus wrap printing. A series of television advertisements featuring Van Halen's hit song "Right Now" premiered on national television on January 31, 1993, during Super Bowl XXVII.[2] Another marketing ploy was to give out full sized sample bottles with the Sunday paper deliveries such as the Boston Globe in Massachusetts. In its first year, Crystal Pepsi captured a full percentage point of U.S. soft drink sales, approximately $474 million.[5] Coca-Cola followed suit by launching Tab Clear on December 14, 1992.[6]

Initial sales were good but quickly fell.[citation needed] By fall 1993, Pepsi pulled the drink off the market, and the final batches were delivered to retailers during the first few months of 1994. Pepsi returned several months later with a reformulated citrus drink titled Crystal From Pepsi, but that was short-lived as well.[7]

According to Coca-Cola Chief Marketing Officer Sergio Zyman, Tab Clear was an intentionally "suicidal", "kamikaze" effort to create an unpopular beverage that was positioned as an analogue of Crystal Pepsi in order to "kill both in the process". The "born to die" strategy included using the poor-performing Tab brand rather than Coke, labeling the product as a "sugar free" diet drink to confuse consumers into thinking Crystal Pepsi had no sugar, and marketing the product as if it were "medicinal". Zyman said "Pepsi spent an enormous amount of money on the brand and, regardless, we killed it. Both of them were dead within six months."[8][9]

Pepsi Clear

In 2005, a new clear Pepsi was sold in Mexico as Pepsi Clear for a limited time. On August 22, 2008, PepsiCo filed for trademarks on the product names "Pepsi Clear" and "Diet Pepsi Clear".[10]

Marketing

Yum! Brands Chairman David C. Novak is credited with introducing the Crystal Pepsi concept. In a December 2007 interview,[11] he stated:

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It was a tremendous learning experience. I still think it's the best idea I ever had, and the worst executed. A lot of times as a leader you think, "They don't get it; they don't see my vision." People were saying we should stop and address some issues along the way, and they were right. It would have been nice if I'd made sure the product tasted good. Once you have a great idea and you blow it, you don't get a chance to resurrect it.

Revival and release

In September 2014 The Coca-Cola Company re-introduced the soft drink Surge, leading to speculation in the public and amongst media about the return of Crystal Pepsi.[12]

In March 2015, an online campaign to bring back Crystal Pepsi began. The following month, a second petition spearheaded by the online eating challenge personality the Kevin "L.A. Beast" Strahle generated enough interest for a call-in and email campaign, circa 37,000 Change.org petition signatures,[13] tens of thousands of Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram tagged comments, 15 billboards erected around the Los Angeles area, and a commitment to ride a mobile billboard truck at Pepsi's Purchase, New York headquarters with a gathering of supporters at a park nearby[14] on June 15 and 16, 2015.[15][16][17][18][19][20][21] The interest from this campaign led to an official response by Pepsi Co. on June 8, 2015, which indicated that Crystal Pepsi may be making a comeback.[22]

In November 2015, Pepsi hinted on their Twitter page that the beverage would make a comeback. In December 2015, Pepsi announced that fans of the drink could win one of 13,000 six-packs of the beverage by entering a sweepstakes via a mobile application or online at Pepsipass.com between December 10 and 11. Winners selected during the following week would receive the beverage in time for Christmas.[23] There are plans to release the drink and it could be on store shelves beginning in July.[24]

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Garber Jr, Lawrence L. Color as a Tool for Visual Persuasion, p313. Essay included in Persuasive Imagery ed. by Linda M Scott. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2003. ISBN 0-8058-4202-0
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Zyman, Sergio. The End of Marketing as We Know It. Harper-Collins, 1999. ISBN 0-88730-983-6
  3. ↑ Business Digest and Bloomington, Illinois. The Washington Post, April 14, 1992
  4. ↑ "Business Digest". New York Times, April 13, 1992
  5. ↑ Janofsky, Michael. "Pepsi Tries New Diet Cola Abroad". New York Times, 2 March 1993.
  6. ↑ Bryant, Adam. "Coke Adds a Clear Cola To Its New Age Stable". New York Times, December 15, 1992
  7. ↑ Brody, Aaron L and John B Lord. Developing New Foods for a Changing Marketplace, p62. CRC Press, 2000. ISBN 1-56676-778-4
  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ Kate Bonamici Flaim, Winging It, 19 Dec. 2007, Fast Company (magazine) at http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/119/winging-it.html accessed 29 Sept. 2009
  12. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. ↑ "Bring Back Crystal Pepsi!", at change.org
  14. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  16. ↑ http://m.nydailynews.com/crystal-pepsi-return-response-online-campaign-article-1.2251877
  17. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  18. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  19. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  20. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  21. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  22. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  23. ↑ Whitten, Sarah (December 9, 2015). "A six-pack of Crystal Pepsi could be yours...if you win this sweepstakes". CNBC.
  24. ↑ http://www.ign.com/articles/2015/12/09/crystal-pepsi-is-back-now-with-caffeine

External links

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