Pepsi getting more colorful PepsiCo Pepsi hopes to make a tall splash with a colorful new soft drink. NEW YORK (AP) — In its thirst for more of the sales generated by a cherry-red version of its Mountain Dew, PepsiCo. will introduce a blue variation of its flagship Pepsi drink this summer. The company said Tuesday it will begin selling Pepsi Blue, a berry-flavored cola, in August, in a bid to reach more teens, the biggest consumers of soft drinks. Pepsi announced its new drink a day before Coca-Cola is to showcase a new vanilla version of its namesake beverage. The moves show how both soft drink makers are working to revive sales of carbonated drinks, an enormous but largely static market. "This could well be the answers that these companies have sought in returning their cola businesses to stronger growth," said John Sicher, publisher of industry magazine Beverage Digest. "The carbonated soft drink market is over 10 times as big as the next largest category, bottled water, so achieving healthy growth in such a big category has a huge leverage effect." One of the few drinks to draw new consumers recently was Mountain Dew Code Red, a cherry-flavored drink introduced by Pepsi last spring that has proven a quick success with teens. Both Code Red and Pepsi Blue have 16-year-old males as their target consumer. This year, Pepsi said it expects to sell about 100 million cases of Code Red, out of total Mountain Dew sales of 850 million cases. A case is a standard industry measure equivalent to 192 ounces of a drink. "Code Red is a great success model for us to follow," said Dave Burwick, senior vice president of marketing for Pepsi-Cola North America. "We basically hope Pepsi Blue can do for the (Pepsi) trademark what Code Red has done for the Mountain Dew trademark." The new blue soda is the product of nine months of testing and market research, during which Pepsi asked teen consumers about more than 100 possible cola variations including banana and several citrus-blends. Initially, a berry-flavored soda was not among the options offered, but teens in focus groups suggested the color and flavor, a blend of cola and something akin to raspberry, Burwick said. Like Code Red, the new flavor will be introduced first in a 20-ounce bottle sold mostly in convenience stores and vending machines, with relatively limited marketing at first. The idea is to let teen consumers discover the drink for themselves, Burwick said. "We see this innovation as something that will continue to fuel the growth and really restore the category (of carbonated beverages) to growth," he said.
I'm getting Crystal Pepsi flashbacks... Also, has anybody noticed that Code Red is cherry flavored, yet orange juice is listed on the ingredients list?
If Britney and Pepsi Twist couldn't revive Pepsi among the 16 year old male age group, I doubt a blue "cola" is going to work. Code Red worked because it never tried to be a "spinoff" (for lack of a better word) of green Mountain Dew. It was a new product and it tastes good. Pepsi Twist is nasty and I can only imagine how bad Pepsi Blue is going to taste. Message to Pepsi: In the end its all about taste. Vanilla Coca-Cola? You can make that at 7-11. Just press the button for vanilla flavoring. Never tried it though.
I don't know if it was nationwide, but I know Mountain Dew had a lot of success hooking people on 'Code Red' with their 2 for 1 deal on all mountain dew. 2 twenty ounce bottles for 1 buck. Thats a damn good deal considering it usually costs more than that for 1 bottle.
Damn pepsi! Bleh, it's too syrupy, now Coke, it has a nice strong taste... Vanilla Coke, m'mmmmmmmmmm.........
Hmmm...maybe if I drank Mountain Dew, I might have known that! It's weird how Code Red can be so addicting, yet Mountain Dew can be so....so...well, I guess Homer Simpson said it perfectly... "EWWWWW!! I'll take the crab juice!" <b>EDIT:</b> Thanks, Moestavern19...you just inspired my new sig!
Code Red (and what was that other one--Big Red) tastes like club soda with a shot of Robotussin. I'd try the berry Pepsi and Vanilla Coke though.
I am drinking a vanilla coke right now. It tastes kinda like a coke float wher ethe icecream has melted into the drink. They just put them in the machines here at work. We made our own when I worked at DQ back in H.S. We also had cherry flavoring. It was used so seldom that after a couple of months it would ferment. Now that was some good cherry cokes
If you see a Town and Country convenience store (more common in West Texas), stop in. They have vanilla and cherry syrup by the fountain drinks and you can make your own vanilla or cherry Coke. Keep the cup and get cheap "refills". I love Code Red, though I'd drink these flavored drinks more often if they made them in Diet. (I'm probably one of the few people who drink Pepsi Twist and Diet Coke with Lemon... the lemon seems to work well with diet drinks, but only if you keep them ice cold. Room temperature lemon drinks are nasty. I've even started putting lemons in my Diet Coke at restaurants if they are available.) Anyway, those of us who prefer diet drinks usually don't get a lot of flavor choices. The flavors that work well with them tend to be different (remember Diet Cherry Coke? tasted like bug spray). Oh well... the blue thing sounds worth a try. If only they made a diet blue thing... but I'm not a 16-year-old male.
