Everyone makes mistakes--unfortunately for a major company like Pepsico, the people will not forget one of its biggest blunders: Pepsi Blue. The product was supposed to be the unique berry-flavored (and colored) rival to Coca-Cola's successful Vanilla Coke, but it fell so far from that goal. Despite posting some sales gains for PepsiCo, the product ended up having a run of less than two years and causing quite a stir with its ingredients.
Initially, PepsiCo gave a good push to its one-of-a-kind soft drink. It appeared in everything from baseball game promotions to product placement in movies to an ad with Britney Spears to a music video for a since-forgotten alt-rock band. All the promotion in the world, however, could not make this product into more than what it was: a sickly-sweet, oddly-colored soda.
Commercial for the defunct cola, Pepsi Blue, which failed miserably. Featuring Sev performing Same Old Song (Pepsi Mix)
So then, one must wonder what went wrong? Many factors create a successful product, the first of which being that the product is something that people want. Soda-drinkers are notoriously attached to their favorites, so any old take on a classic (see: Crystal Pepsi, New Coke, etc) usually doesn't blow over so well. Furthermore, a company's advertisements must connect with the company's target audience. PepsiCo knew its target--teens and other young people--but I don't feel that it connected strongly enough with them as evidenced by the lack of Pepsi Blue in today's society. Pepsi's strongest commercial for the product was with a largely unheard of (at the time) band who is still largely unheard of outside of their participation in the promotion of Pepsi Blue. It just didn't stick.
On top of all this advertising disconnect, Pepsi managed to cause worry over their soda that wasn't related simply to its high sugar content. Blue 1 creates the candy blue color of Pepsi Blue. At the time, and in some cases to this day, many countries had the food additive banned, as it was known to induce allergic reactions in people with asthma. This negative press surely couldn't have helped the already ailing beverage.
After all this, though, Pepsi still remains the second largest foor & beverage business in the world. Pepsi Blue may have stained some minds, but a large company will rarely take a loss from a product flop. Had PepsiCo been a startup whose initial product was this shiny, blue travesty, we might be telling a different story today, but when it comes right down to it, Pepsi Blue was a strage twist on a popular product that couldn't quite stand the test of time.
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