PepsiCo launched a new product this week: The soda company's new 1893 Original Cola and 1893 Ginger Cola pay homage to its founding year and add to the growinglistof similar craft productson the rise in the U.S. The beverages will be available in 12-ounce cans at retail locations across the country, according to The Street.
The 1893 colas are meant to appeal to a source-conscious mindset. Ingredients include kola nut extract, certified fair trade sugar, and sparkling water. The rollout of the beverage sparked surpriseand curiosity on social media, where people posted their own reviews, with one user comparing it toPepsi's "real sugar" offering, and another recommending the ginger colafor any ginger beer fans.
This is not Pepsi's first foray into the trendy craft beverage realm. In 2014, the company introducedCaleb Kola, named after founderCaleb Bradham,and later launched itslineup of Stubborn Sodas, which embrace more offbeat flavors like agave vanilla cream, black cherry with tarragon, and lemon berry açai.
Pepsi is also working on plans for a restaurant in New York City. Kola House, slated for Manhattan's Chelsea neighborhood, does not have a menu nailed down, but will certainly feature the brand's craft sodas in any cocktails served.
Jeep has launched an authentic mud mask to give city-bound SUV owners that authentic off-road look. The tongue-in-cheek product, launched by the iconic automotive brand’s German team and GQ Man of the Year Elyas M’Barek this week, is limited to 75 beautifully packaged cans of 100% real dirt. Head toJeep.deto get your hands on a can of adventure.
Frozen Surge is an icy twist on the 90s cult favorite soda. (Burger King)
Surge, the citrus-flavored soda that disappeared from store shelves in 2002, is making a comeback by Burger King in a cool new way.
The burger chain is selling Frozen Surge, a slushy version of the bright green beverage that was pretty much Coca-Cola's version of Mountain Dew and which amassed a cult-like following.
“The popularity of Surge has stood the test of time, and the overwhelming demand from fans drove our decision to bring it back,” said Bobby Oliver, director citrus brands, Coca-Cola North America said in astatement.“We’re expanding the signature taste and distinctive color of Surge to frozen form and making it available to the masses.”
Surge was first introduced to the U.S. by Coke in 1996, but as sales started to slump in the early 2000s, the company pulled the green soda from stores.
In 2014, after a group of friends started The Surge Movement, a guerilla campaign dedicated to bringing back the soda, Coke brought it back.
The Movement’sFacebook pagedrew over 300,000 likes from Surge fans around the world and, after a successful reintroduction via Amazon.com, Coke began reintroducing the soda in limited markets across the U.S. earlier this year.
Frozen Surge went on sale Nov. 16 and will only be available at Burger King restaurants.
Coca-Cola has surely the most iconic packaging in the whole world. The shape of its bottles, the immediately recognizable logo and - on top of everything- the red of its brand are elements that are globally known and loved.
Red is not only the colour of the Coca-Cola brand but it is also the name of a non-profit organisation whose mission is to help eliminate transmission of HIV, (Red)®. The partnership has been ongoing for several years but it has now been brought to life on pack to celebrate the 100th year anniversary of the Coca-Cola bottle.
With $1.00 per tumbler going to the fight against AIDS this is not just a fantastic good cause but a beautiful celebration of the Coca-Cola pack. The design by Cool Gear International turns the iconic shape of the bottle upside-down on the tumbler and uses the colour red to link the charity to the brand. The secondary packaging is great at communicating the initiative and providing an educational framework for the promotion.
For those who thought ‘Do The Dew’ wasn’t hardcore enough,PepsiCohas announced that it will unveil ‘ a whole new side’ of Mountain Dew. And boy, is it dark!
Basically, the sweet neonsodathat at first all of us thought looked like you-know-what just hit adulthood. And one of those ‘puberty hit him/her like a truck’ meme is just what this drastic makeover calls for.
Black Label
The new “craft soda” will be labeled ‘Mtn Dew Black Label’. And no, to all you excited kids’ disappointment, despite the ‘black label’ tag, it does not contain even the slightest trace of alcohol. It’s actually just a classy, handcrafted soda made with real sugar and “crafted with dark berry flavor and herbal bitters.”
PepsiCo is marketing the product toward beverage enthusiasts who “want to unwind – but with a touch of class.”
Dew Date
Students are getting a taste of this brand new high-end Mountain Dew first. Black Label will appear on 600 college campuses this fall around the United States, with a national release planned for 2016.
The suggested retail price for each 16-ounce can is $1.99. It also comes with a brand new slogan: Boldly Refined.
Family Tree
If this venture into fancier sodas sounds familiar, that’s because Mountain Dew already has a craft soda. DewShine, also made with real sugar, was released this spring, “inspired by Dew’s home-brewed mountain roots.”
So how is Black Label any different from its cousin, Dew Shine? Apart from the obvious difference in their classy and roguish names, the two sodas differ in taste and appearance.
Citric in flavor, Dew Shine was introduced (now discontinued) to honor a clear liquor called moonshine. This because the liquor was also referred to as ‘Mountain Dew’ at times.
PepsiCo Hints That Its 1990s-era Clear Cola Is Returning
Crystal Pepsi appears headed for a comeback, that much is clear. But details on when and how the 1990s-era cola will return remain murky.
The clear cola was first introduced in 1992 but lasted only a few years. Despite its short lifespan, the drink apparently gained a loyal following of consumers who have lobbied PepsiCo to bring it back.
On Tuesday, the cola giant sent its strongest signal yet that Crystal might soon be available again by responding to one of its biggest fans, competitive eating star Kevin Strahle. Mr. Strahle, who goes by the nameL.A. Beaston Twitter, tweeted an image of a message he said he received from Pepsi that stated: "We definitely hear you and all your followers and we think you'll all be happy with what's in store."
A PepsiCo spokeswoman confirmed the authenticity of the message to Ad Age. She declined to provide other details, but said "we think Crystal Pepsi fans are going to be happy with what we have planned."
The apparently imminent launch could follow Coca-Cola's move late last year to bring back Surge, a 1990s-era citrus-flavored soda. The company in September made the brand available for sale on Amazon.com, pointing to lobbying from fan groups such as one called the "The Surge Movement," which has more than 200,000 Facebook fans.
It is unclear if Pepsi plans to make a similar e-commerce play, or if Crystal Pepsi will get wider distribution. In the early 1990s, the launch was backed with a $40 million ad budget and major hoopla, "only to fizzle among consumers who had grown disenchanted with clear sodas," Ad Age reported in 1994. At the time Pepsi sought to spark new interest by reformulating Crystal with a citrus taste.
Crystal's likely return comes after soda brand Zevia in May announced it was going "color-free" across its 17-flavor portfolio. Zevia -- which touts itself as a "zero calorie, naturally sweetened soda brand" -- had previously used caramel colors in its colas, ginger root beer, ginger ale, Dr. Zevia and cream varieties. Caramel coloring has fallen out of favor with some consumers.
Zevia also announced that it had received certification as being GMO-free. "Shoppers want four things from the sodas they drink: flavors, bubbles, sweetness and enjoyment," Zevia CEO Paddy Spence said in a statement. "But they don't want artificial sweeteners, artificial preservatives, artificial flavors, GMO ingredients and caramel color. We are the first brand to deliver on the core promise of the soda category, without the ingredients that consumers don't want."
Here's more evidence that the craft beer boom is spilling into soda: PepsiCo today confirmed that it will soon launch a new line of craft sodas called "Stubborn Soda," that will be sold at fountains at select foodservice accounts.
The launch follows the recent introduction of Pepsi's Caleb's Kola and Mountain Dew Dewshine, which are also meant to play in the burgeoning craft soda space. Stubborn will come in flavors including black cherry with tarragon, classic root beer, lemon berry acai, agave vanilla cream, orange hibiscus and pineapple cream, a PepsiCo spokeswoman confirmed in an email.
"Following our recent launches of Caleb's Kola and Mountain Dew Dewshine, we're continuing to explore the craft space with Stubborn Soda and its unique, contemporary flavor profiles," she said. "Introducing it on fountain with an engaging piece of innovative equipment offers consumers a new take on the traditional soft-drink experience while also creating value for customers."
PepsiCo did not disclose its marketing or ad plans for Stubborn, which is considered to be in an "incubation phase."
The launch was first reported by Beverage Digest, which noted that while craft beers have gained significant traction, interest in craft sodas is relatively new, and "there is no consensus, at least yet, as to exactly what 'craft' means in the [soda] world." However, the publication noted that the use of sugar as a sweetener and glass bottles "seem to be common."
Pepsi's Stubborn brand will be made with "fair trade certified cane sugar and natural flavors," according to PepsiCo. And in an apparent nod to beer, Pepsi has created a new fountain equipment for the brand that includes a "tap-like pouring ritual." Caleb's Kola, which was introduced in late 2014, will also be available in the new machines.
Caleb's is made from cane sugar, kola nuts from Africa, spices and a hint of citrus. PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi plugged the brand at a Beverage Digest conference last year saying that "I think there is actually a huge potential for craft cola." She added that "people still love the cola taste -- it's just lost some of its cool factor and I think products like Caleb's are bringing back some of the cool factor."
Still, it remains to be seen just how big of market there is for craft sodas. In the beer industry, crafts have gotten a ton of attention in recent years and have enjoyed consistently strong year-over-year growth. But traditional brands like Bud Light still dominate when it comes to market share. The Brewer's Association, which represents craft brewers, estimated that craft brews account for $19.6 billion of the $101.5 billion U.S. beer market.
Beverage Digest noted that Stubborn will likely supplement, not replace, mainstream brands in food service accounts, as outlets would "likely want to keep selling Pepsi, Diet Pepsi, Mtn Dew and other big brands."
Defunct retro soda company 'Original New York Seltzer' rallies to conquer carbonated drinks.
When beloved products are resurrected from the dead, those comebacks can be hit or miss. There’s always immense pressure to tap into a former fan base, all while updating the item and addressing the issues that led to its extinction in the first place.
Original New York Seltzer—the 1980s classic soft drink that was a favorite ofRamboactorSly Stallone—is making a triumphant return today after a two decade absence, beginning withonline salesand expanding to grocery stores and restaurants across the country in the coming days.
Founded in 1981 by the father and son team Alan and Randy Miller in Walnut, California, the brand's popularity soared in the 1980s, focusing on a "natural" approach to soft drinks using a preservative-free formula in an era when such a practice was largely unheralded. Bubbly, fizzy and sold in charming siphon-style glass bottles embellished with a New York City motif, ONYS was omnipresent, with flavors ranging from vanilla cream soda to orange. One of the company’s biggest points of differentiation quickly became the complete foregoing of artificial color, meaning that while raspberry tasted like raspberry, no unnecessary magenta hue bogged it down.
"ONYS was a genuine, start-up boutique brand with a mission," said freshly-minted ONYS President Ryan Marsh. A longtime leader in the beverage industry, Marsh sees almost limitless potential in a brand left dormant by its original owners for 20 years. "ONYS launched in the face of giant beverage companies and was distinctly different. I think people felt that independent spirit and rallied around the brand. Everyone roots for the little guy."
During the 1980s, the company’s original owners became well-known for their colorful, often over-the-top personalities and antics. During public appearances, the duo wore the kind ofMiami Viceinspired suits that would make Don Johnson blush, riding into events on roaring motorcycles with their flowing, David Lee Roth-style locks blowing in the breeze.
"They were little guys when they were here. The flamboyance grew as the brand took off," said Francisco Queseda, a longtime employee of the bottling company responsible for cranking out ONYS.
Original New York Seltzer was, perhaps, the 1980s in a bottle.
Their flamboyance quickly became the story almost as much as the seltzer. In one particularly notorious advertisement, a shredding guitar blares with ear-piercing wails as Randy Miller stands perched on the side of the Mondrian Hotel in West Hollywood, ready to take a flying leap for the sake of seltzer and stunt. A Tiffani Amber Thiessen look-a-like grabs a bottle (hair flip!) and—woosh!—Randy jumps from the building towards the ground below as a Whitesnake-sounding seltzer jingle blares in the background.
Smash cut! The paparazzi are swarming around Randy as he lands.
Smash cut! Randy is pouring seltzer triumphantly over his head.
Smash cut! Randy is walking a tiger on a leash.
Original New York Seltzer was, perhaps, the 1980s in a bottle. And of course, there’s that thing with the tigers. During a late-80s episode ofLifestyles of the Rich and Famousfeaturing the pair, a live tiger is paraded around the ONYS office like a gigantic lapdog—the utter and complete picture of terrifying chill.
"They did occasionally bring the tigers to the plant, but would leave them in the pickup with a cage over the back," said Queseda. "The crew was always trying to get glimpses. Not the usual day at work."
While the sparkling drink business didn’t quite work out for the Millers, wild animals remained. After the rapid decline of ONYS and ultimate demise of the company in the early 1990s, Randy launched a second business, Predators in Action, which "specializes in location and studio-trained exotic animals" for film and television. For two decades now, the company has raised an assortment of silver screen-suitable lions, tigers and bears (oh my!) that are more than ready for their close-up, having appeared in films includingGladiator,The Last SamuraiandTransformers 2.
"[There were] no bumps at all [with the re-launch of ONYS]," said Marsh, who is thrilled to revive a brand he watched his family enjoy so much during the 1980s. "Everything was smooth and a lot of fun. We believe the original owners have moved on to other interests. We didn’t have any interaction with them during the process."
It seems, perhaps, that everyone has found their true calling. The featured photo on the Predators in Action Facebook pageshows a smitten-looking Randy Miller (long locks still intact) in a warm, snuggling embrace with a lion.
Seltzer, on the other hand, is nowhere to be found.
When the brand folded in the early 1990s, ONYS quickly became one of the first true "cult" soft drinks. Enthusiasts staged letter writing campaigns for the drink’s revival and sought out leftover packs of the soda wherever available. (For some reason, a staggering amount of the product landed at the low-budget supermarket chain Big Lots.) The re-launch of the brand seeks to quench the thirst of nostalgic drinkers two decades on, all while tapping into the modern, health-conscious drink trend it helped to spearhead.
"Original New York Seltzer really was ahead of its time [with] no artificial flavors, colors or preservatives," said Marsh. "Adding color to drinks is just stupid. Everything made was crystal clear. I think that turned things upside down and made people think, ‘Wait a minute … you mean lemon and lime [flavor] isn’t really anti-freeze green?’"
The drink’s rebirth will see very little change from what made ONYS so popular in the first place, with all aesthetic choices—right down to the glass bottles—standing firm and an even greater focus on being a "natural" drink through the use of cane sugar as a sweetener. ONYS has an ambitious confidence in its decades-old product.
The plump, sparkplug-shaped glass bottles are twee enough, but have a heft (thick glass exterior, perforated tin cap) that is firmly reminiscent of their origins in a bygone era. The brand’s look is almost identical to its 1980s design, tapping into a sampler platter of neon-hued nostalgia that offers a little something for everyone.
"ONYS never has and never will make boring drinks. Sparkling waters were a fancy, indulgent thing. We’re making that happen all over again," said Marsh. "ONYS took off then for the same reasons it’s taking off now. And now, with health consciousness at an all-time high and rising, it’s perfect timing. The fact that people have a genuine emotional commitment to ONYS is just a whole separate unique advantage that we enjoy."
The company hopes to find a receptive audience and new era of fans with its six inaugural comeback flavors: peach, raspberry, cream soda, lemon & lime, root beer and black cherry.
For first time drinkers—who perhaps grew up faraway from the imagined glamour of Manhattan—it’s a welcome remembrance of a time when a cartoon skyline and art deco fonts captivated with big city allure. For original drinkers? It’s a top-to-bottom Proustian glug of the past with glimpse at a bottle.
Pepsiwill soon launch a new cola made with real sugar and lime juice that is aimed squarely at Hispanics. The line extension, called Pepsi Limon, will hit stores beginning May 18 in Chicago, California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas.
If it sounds familiar, that's because PepsiCo has tried similar products in the past around the world. A few years ago in the U.S., the marketer sold Pepsi Lime and Diet Pepsi Lime, but those versions have since been discontinued, according to a spokeswoman. Pepsi Twist is still available in Latin America. Diet Coke sells alime versionthat includes citric acid.
Pepsi Limon is made using real lime juice and cane sugar, unlike the previous U.S. version that was artificially flavored. The idea came from an internal Latino/Hispanic employee group called Adelante, whose mission is to create a diverse culture within PepsiCo.
"They told me we need lime," said Al Carey, CEO for PepsiCo Americas Beverages, who teased the launch at a beverage industry function in Chicago on Tuesday called The Beverage Forum. So, the company came up with a lime-flavored Pepsi that resembled other versions that have been previously tried, he said. But the Adelente group told him, "No, we need real lime juice in the product," he recalled.
The resulting product contains 2% real lime juice. The launch will be supported by in-store marketing, radio ads, PR, digital and sampling, according to the spokeswoman. The ad agency handling the line extension is SA Studios Global, whilePMKBMC is leading PR.
"I will not be surprised if this ends up becoming a very big success in those markets," Mr. Carey said.
Ideas from Adelente have a pretty good track record. According to a 2011 story posted onhispanicprblog.com, the group has played a role in bringing several PepsiCo products to the market, including Flamin' Hot Cheetos and Tapatio-flavored Doritos and Ruffles.
Mountain Dew mascot Willy the Hillbilly is making another comeback with DewShine, the brand's new soda.
To introduce the citrus-flavored beverage, which is made with real sugar and comes in clear glass bottles—the brand is calling it a "throwback"— the company is leaning on its Tennessee roots.
"This is kind of an homage to the Tennessee rebels who first developed Mountain Dew," said Greg Lyons, vp of marketing for Mountain Dew. "[We] have a really rich brand heritage—it was created about 75 years ago in 1940 in the backwoods of Tennessee—and it was because of this [heritage] that we were inspired to create Mountain Dew DewShine."
Created in Tennessee in the early 1940s, Mountain Dew's name was used as a euphemism for the illicitly created alcohol of the time, Moonshine. But while Mountain Dew is returning to its roots to an extent, the brand isn't producing an alcoholic beverage. According to Lyons, the only thing that DewShine and moonshine have in common is the "shine" being part of the name.
The beverage giant has been rolling out the new product slowly, and it should be available nationwide in the next few weeks.
To introduce DewShine, Mountain Dew has been conducting a sampling tour of the soda up the Dixie Highway, which will end in Bristol, Tenn., at Nascar's Bristol Motor Speedway race on April 19 and featuring Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Earnhardt's car will be decorated with DewShine branding, and the company plans to create content with the racer for DewShine. Mountain Dew has also tapped the country music group Florida Georgia Line for DewShine promotions.
According to Lyons, Mountain Dew hopes to grow DewShine over the next year and believes that its target audience—millennial males—will appreciate "authentic" messaging.
Check out the new spot, created by Motive and titled "Rebel Spirit," below:
Back when high fructose corn syrup hadn’t yet been invented, the phrase “Mountain Dew” meant something very different. While that name now reminds us of a highly caffeinated soft drink, originally it referred to homemade corn-based booze, or moonshine. Mountain Dew’s new limited-edition product is supposed to evoke moonshine while removing corn from the beverage altogether.
The beverage comes in four-packs of glass bottles, and is clear and vaguely citrus-flavored. So it’s malt liquor, then? No. It’s Mountain Dew. Its trademarked name is Mountain Dew Dew Shine, but it contains no alcohol despite being named after two different classic homemade intoxicants. (Yes. “Dew dew.” We had the same thought.)
What we don’t know yet is whether this sort of Mountain Dew will contain caffeine. If it follows the pattern ofthe previous Mountain Dew “heritage” flavor, Johnson City Gold, in 2012, it will be caffeinated. Dew Shine is packaged like a craft-style soda, and sues cane sugar instead of high fructose corn syrup.
The beverage goes on sale later this month. We do not know how it tastes mixed with whiskey, which was the original purpose of the soft drink invented in Johnson City, Tennessee that eventually became the Mountain Dew that we know and either love or hate today.
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