Pepsi
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| File:PepsiLogo.jpg | |
| Type | Cola |
|---|---|
| Manufacturer | PepsiCo, Inc. |
| Country of origin | USA |
| Introduced | 1903 |
| Related products | Coca-Cola |
| Website | www |
Pepsi-Cola, most commonly called Pepsi, is a soft drink produced by PepsiCo which is sold worldwide in stores, restaurants and vending machines. The brand was trademarked on June 16, 1903, though the drink was first made on August 28, 1898, by pharmacist Caleb Bradham.
There are many variants of Pepsi, including Diet Pepsi, Pepsi Max, Pepsi Samba, Pepsi Blue and Pepsi Gold.
History
Pepsi-Cola was first made in New Bern, North Carolina in the United States in the early 1890s by pharmacist Caleb Bradham. On August 28, 1898 , "Brad's drink" was changed to "Pepsi-Cola" and later trademarked on June 16, 1903. There are several theories on the origin of the word "pepsi".
The only two discussed within the current PepsiCo website are the following: 1) Caleb Bradham bought the name "Pep Kola" from a local competitor and changed it to Pepsi-Cola. 2) "Pepsi-Cola" is an anagram for "Episcopal" - a large church across the street from Bradham's drugstore. There is a plaque at the site of the original drugstore documenting this while PepsiCo has refuted this theory.
Another theory is that Caleb Bradham and his customers simply thought the name sounded good or the fact that the drink had some kind of "pep" in it because it was a carbonated drink, they gave it the name "Pepsi".
As Pepsi was initially intended to cure stomach pains, many believe Bradham coined the name Pepsi from either the condition dyspepsia (stomachache or indigestion) or the possible one-time use of pepsin root as an ingredient (often used to treat upset stomachs). It was made of carbonated water, sugar, vanilla, rare oils, and kola nuts. Whether the original recipe included the enzyme pepsin is disputed.[1][2]
In 1903, Bradham moved the bottling of Pepsi-Cola from his drugstore into a rented warehouse. That year, Bradham sold 7,968 gallons of syrup. The next year, Pepsi was sold in six-ounce bottles and sales increased to 19,848 gallons. In 1905, Pepsi received its first logo redesign since the original design of 1898. In 1906, the logo was changed again. In 1909, automobile race pioneer Barney Oldfield endorsed Pepsi-Cola in newspaper ads as "A bully drink...refreshing, invigorating, a fine bracer before a race".
In 1923, Pepsico went bankrupt due to high sugar prices as a result of World War I, assets were sold and Roy C. Megargel bought the Pepsi trademark.[3]Eight years later, the company went bankrupt again, resulting in a reformulation of the Pepsi-Cola syrup formula.
During The Great Depression, Pepsi gained popularity following the introduction in 1934 of a 12-ounce bottle. With twelve ounces a bottle instead of the six ounces Coca-Cola sold, PepsiCo turned the price difference to its advantage with a slick radio advertising campaign which was the first use of a jingle in advertising. "Pepsi cola hits the spot / Twelve full ounces, that's a lot / Twice as much for a nickel, too / Pepsi-Cola is the drink for you," encouraged price-watching consumers to switch to Pepsi, while obliquely referring to the Coca-Cola standard of six ounces a bottle for the price of five cents (a nickel), instead of the twelve ounces Pepsi sold at the same price. Coming at a time of economic crisis, the campaign succeeded in boosting Pepsi's status. From 1936 to 1938, PepsiCo's profits doubled.[4]
Introduced in 1964, Diet Pepsi was the United States's first national diet soft drink.
Marketing
In 1975, PepsiCo introduced the Pepsi Challenge marketing campaign where PepsiCo set up a blind tasting between Pepsi-Cola and rival Coca-Cola. During these blind taste tests the majority of participants picked Pepsi as the better tasting of the two soft drinks. PepsiCo took great advantage of the campaign with television commercials reporting the test results to the public.[5] This is mostly because Pepsi has a higher sugar content than Coca-Cola as seen in the book, "Big Secrets" by William Poundstone.
In 1996, PepsiCo launched the highly successful Pepsi Stuff marketing strategy. In 2002, the strategy was cited by Promo Magazine as one of 16 "Ageless Wonders" that "helped redefine promotion marketing."Source: Promo Magazine, 2002.
Celebrity endorsers
As with most popular soft drinks, Pepsi and its associated beverages have had various celebrity endorsers.
Types of Pepsi
- See also: List of Pepsi types
There are many types of Pepsi-Cola all differing in taste, price and appearance. Diet Pepsi is one of the most popular variations of the drink, containing no sugar and zero calories. Other popular low calorie variations of the drink include Pepsi Max, Pepsi ONE, Caffeine-Free Pepsi and Caffeine-Free Diet Pepsi.
PepsiCo has marketed many different fruit flavors of the drink including: Wild Cherry Pepsi (1988), Diet Wild Cherry Pepsi (2005), Pepsi Lime (2005) and Diet Pepsi Lime (2005) and Pepsi Jazz diet cola with two flavors, Strawberries & Cream (2006) and Black Cherry French Vanilla (2006). PepsiCo also rivaled Coca-Cola's lemon-flavored products with Pepsi Twist, which was a commercial failure due to criticism of the taste.[citation needed] Pepsi A-ha, with a lemon flavor was launched in India, in 2002, but was not successful either. Pepsi Twist has been successfully marketed in Brazil (with lime instead of lemon), where a limited-edition version is also sold, the Pepsi Twistão, with an even stronger lime flavor. Another type is Pepsi Samba which was released in Australia in the 3rd Quarter of 2005. It is Pepsi with a tropical taste of tamarind and mango.
PepsiCo has introduced many variant versions of Pepsi over the years that differ from the original version in either flavor, appearance or both. Crystal Pepsi, a clear cola free of caffeine, sodium and preservatives, was introduced in 1992 and phased out the following year. Due to the lukewarm reception it received, it is often compared to Coca-Cola's New Coke (which was also a failure). Similarly, the blue-colored berry cola Pepsi Blue was introduced in mid-2002 to a mixed response. PepsiCo withdrew it from the market in 2004. In 2006, Pepsi Gold was released in Romania, Poland, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Jamaica and Lebanon.
PepsiCo market tested coffee tasting variations of the drink with Pepsi Kona in Lehigh Valley and Pennsylvania areas between 1994 and 1996. In 2005, Pepsi Cappuccino was released in Romania and Bulgaria with another coffee flavored cola called Pepsi Tarik in Malaysia and Pepsi Cafechino in India. In late 2005/early 2006 in the UK PepsiCo released Pepsi Max Cino, a cappuccino flavoured variant of its popular Pepsi Max beverage.
Many types of the drink have only been produced or sold for a limited time, such as Pepsi Holiday Spice, a spicy Hanukkah/Christmas seasonal finish of ginger and cinnamon. Pepsi X is another variation which contains more caffeine than regular Pepsi-Cola and in addition also contains taurine and guaranine. It is similar to other energy drinks such as Red Bull.
Criticisms
- Main article: PepsiCo Criticisms
In 2003 and again in 2006[6], the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), a non-governmental organization in New Dehli, found that soda drinks produced by manufacturers in India, including both Pepsi and Coca-Cola, had dangerously high levels of pesticides in their drinks. Both PepsiCo and The Coca-Cola Company maintain that their drinks are safe for consumption and have published newpaper advertisements that say pesticide levels in their products are less than those in other foods such as tea, fruit and dairy products.[7] In the Indian state of Kerala, sale and production of Pepsi-Cola, along with other soft drinks, has been banned.[8] Five other Indian states have announced partial bans on the drinks in schools, colleges and hospitals.[9]
Rivalry with Coca-Cola
While some people claim that Pepsi tastes exactly the same as Coca-Cola, other people say they can tell a difference in the two soft drinks.
In 1985, The Coca-Cola Company, amid much publicity, changed the formula. Some authorities believe that New Coke, as the reformulated drink came to be known, was invented specifically to respond to Pepsi. Numerous blind taste tests suggested that more consumers preferred the taste of Pepsi (which is believed to have more lemon oil, less orange oil, and uses vanillin rather than vanilla) to Coke. In taste tests, drinkers were more likely to respond positively to sweeter drinks, and Pepsi had the advantage over Coca-Cola because it is much sweeter.[10]
Overall, Coca-Cola outsells Pepsi in almost all areas of the world. Saudi Arabia and the Canadian provinces of Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland and Labrador, Ontario and Quebec are some of the few exceptions.[citation needed]
By most accounts, Coca-Cola was India's leading soft drink until 1977 when it left India after a new government ordered The Coca-Cola Company to turn over its secret formula for Coca-Cola and dilute its stake in its Indian unit as required by the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act (FERA). In 1988, PepsiCo gained entry to India by creating a joint venture with the Punjab government-owned Punjab Agro Industrial Corporation (PAIC) and Voltas India Limited. This joint venture marketed and sold Lehar Pepsi until 1991 when the use of foreign brands was allowed; PepsiCo bought out its partners and ended the joint venture in 1994. In 1993, The Coca-Cola Company returned in pursuance of India's Liberalization policy. [11] In 2005, The Coca-Cola Company and PepsiCo together held 95% market share of soft-drink sales in India. Coca-Cola India's market share was 60.9%. [12]
Pepsi had long been the drink of Canadian Francophones and it continues to hold its dominance by relying on local Québécois celebrities (especially Claude Meunier, of La Petite Vie fame) to sell its product. "Pepsi" eventually became an offensive nickname for Francophones viewed as a lower class by Anglophones in the middle of the 20th century. The term is now used as a historical reference to French-English linguistic animosity (During the partitionist debate surrounding the 1995 referendum, a pundit wrote, "And a wall will be erected along St-Laurent street [the traditional divide between French and English in Montréal] because some people were throwing Coke bottle one way and Pepsi bottles the other way").
According to Consumer Reports, in the 1970's, the rivalry continued to heat up the market. Research proved that Pepsi is preferred over Coca-Cola. The way that they proved this was by blind taste tests that were conducted in stores. These tests were called "Challenge Booths." The sales of Pepsi started to climb, and Pepsi kicked off the "Challenge" across the nation.
In the U.S., Pepsi's total market share was about 31.7 percent in 2004, while Coke's was about 43.1 percent. [13]
In Russia, Pepsi once had a larger market share than Coca-Cola. However, Pepsi's dominance in Russia was undercut as the Cold War ended. PepsiCo had made a deal with the Soviet Union for scale production of Pepsi in 1972.[2] When the Soviet Union fell apart, Pepsi, was associated with the old Soviet system, and Coca Cola, just newly introduced to the Russian market in 1992, was associated with the new system. Thus, Coca-Cola rapidly captured a significant market share away from Pepsi that might otherwise have needed years to build up. By July 2005, Coca-Cola enjoyed a market share of 19.4 percent, followed by Pepsi with 13 percent. [14]
According to Consumer Reports, the overall advertising of the two companies still involve tv commercials that endorse the image of youth, beauty, family togetherness, fun, pleasure, celebrity and patriotism. These components are expected to bring positives to the company so that the rivalry will continue on.
Ingredients
| Amount 8 fluid ounces | |
|---|---|
| Calories | 100 |
| Fat | 0 g |
| Sodium | 30 mg |
| Potassium | 10 mg |
| Carbohydrates | 27 g |
| Sugar | 27 g |
| Protein | 0 g |
| Caffeine | 25 mg |
The Pepsi-Cola drink contains basic ingredients found in most other similar drinks including carbonated water, high fructose corn syrup, sugar, colorings, phosphoric acid, caffeine, citric acid and natural flavors. The caffeine free Pepsi-Cola contains the same ingredients but no caffeine.
See also
- Pepsico
- Pepsi Stuff
- Soft drink
- Cola wars
- Coca-Cola (drink)
- The Coca-Cola Company (Competitor)
- Pepsiman (Mascot for the Japanese division of Pepsi)
- List of Pepsi types
Notes
- ^ Mike Gange, Pop Culture Paraphernalia, The Encyclopedia of Pepsi-Cola Collectibles
- ^ "The History of Pepsi Cola", Mary Bellis, about.com
- ^ "The History of Pepsi-Cola", sodamuseum.bigstep.com paragraph 8
- ^ Jones, Eleanor & Ritzmann, Florian. "Coca-Cola at Home". Retrieved June 17, 2006.
- ^ SODAmuseum.com "The History of Pepsi-Cola", sodamuseum.bigstep.com, paragraph 31
- ^ [1]
- ^ Cola sales down 10% on state bans
- ^ Kerala bans Coke and Pepsi
- ^ Indian state bans Pepsi and Coke
- ^ Mikkelson, Barbara (1999). "Knew Coke". Retrieved June 14, 2006.
- ^ "India: Soft Drinks, Hard Cases", The Water Dossier, 14 March 2005
- ^ "Fizzical Facts: Coke claims 60% mkt share in India", Times News Network, August 5 2005
- ^ "Beverage Digest Press Release", Beverage Digest, March 4 2005 (PDF)
- ^ "Coke Versus Pepsi, Santa Versus Moroz", The Moscow Times, December 30 2005
References
- Beverage World Magazine, January 1998, "Celebrating a Century of Refreshment: Pepsi - The First 100 Years"
- Stoddard, Bob. Pepsi Cola - 100 Years (1997), General Publishing Group, Los Angeles, CA, USA
- "History & Milestones" (1996), Pepsi packet
External links
- Pepsi World
- 'Coke, Pepsi losing the fizz'
- 1987 Audio Interview with John Sculley by Don Swaim of CBS Radio - RealAudio
- The Annual Pepsi Independence Day Celebration (Tri-Cities, TN.)
- "Ode to Pepsi" music video
- The Pepsi Max Cappuccino Wire, a fan site to Pepsi Max Cappuccino.
