Pepsi-Cola
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Image:Pepsi Logo.JPG 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, in 1898, by pharmacist Caleb Bradham. Similar to Coca-Cola, its major rival, Pepsi was originally intended to cure stomach pains. There are several types of Pepsi, including Pepsi Vanilla, Diet Pepsi (the most popular variant), and, outside the United States, Pepsi Max.
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History
Image:Pepsivintagelogo.jpg Image:Pepsi Logo.png Image:Pepsico.JPG Image:Pepsi diet.jpg
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. As Pepsi was initially intended to cure stomach pains, Bradham coined the name Pepsi from the condition dyspepsia (stomachache or indigestion). It was made of carbonated water, sugar, vanilla, rare oils, and kola nuts. Whether the original recipe included the enzyme pepsin is disputed.<ref>Mike Gange, Pop Culture Paraphernalia, The Encyclopedia of Pepsi-Cola Collectibles</ref><ref>"The History of Pepsi Cola", Mary Bellis, about.com</ref>
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. That same year, the US federal government passed the Pure Food and Drug Act, banning substances such as arsenic, lead, barium, and uranium from food and beverages. This forced Coca-Cola to change their formula; however, Pepsi-Cola was already free of these substances, and thus claimed they already met federal requirements.
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.<ref>"The History of Pepsi-Cola", sodamuseum.bigstep.com paragraph 8</ref>Eight years later, the company went bankrupt again, resulting in a reformulation of the Pepsi-Cola syrup formula. In the following years, the drink gained in popularity and in 1934, debuted the 12-ounce drink. In 1964, the Diet Pepsi variation of the drink debuted, being the United States's first national diet soft drink.
In 1980, Pepsi 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. Pepsi took great advantage of the campaign with television commercials reporting the test results to the public.<ref>SODAmuseum.com "The History of Pepsi-Cola", sodamuseum.bigstep.com, paragraph 31</ref>
While some claim that Pepsi tastes identical to Coca-Cola, others say they can detect a difference. In the past, the difference in taste between Pepsi and Coca-Cola's Coke was even greater than it is today. When the Pepsi taste became more popular, Coca-Cola adapted their drink to be closer to the American taste of Pepsi (New Coke).<ref>snopes.com "Knew Coke", snopes.com, 2 May 1999</ref> Although Pepsi claimed this a victory for their brand of cola, Coca-Cola soon reverted because, while testing showed the taste of the new Coke was better, consumers preferred Coca-Cola to stay the same. Coke remains the more popular of the two.
Ingredients
| Amount 8 fluid ounces | |
|---|---|
| Calories | 100 |
| Fat | 0 g |
| Sodium | 25 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 does not include any caffeine.
Spokespersons
Template:Main As with most popular soft drinks, Pepsi and its associated beverages have had various celebrity spokespersons. Hundreds of celebrities have advertised for Pepsi products, for instance NASCAR driver Jeff Gordon who runs a Pepsi paint scheme at Talladega Superspeedway and Daytona International Speedway. In Europe and the UK celebrities such as footballer David Beckham and pop stars that include Britney Spears, Jennifer Lopez, Janet Jackson, Five, the Spice Girls, S Club 7, Gary Glitter, and Beyoncé Knowles have featured in campaigns for the drink. Other spokespersons have included Halle Barry, Jackie Chan, Sean Combs, and Cindy Crawford and Fred Savage.
In Latin America, both Colombian artists Shakira and Juanes have successfully promoted the soft drink. As for Asia, celebrity and singers Jay Chou, Aaron Kwok, as well as the popular girl's group S.H.E. have appeared in several different advertisements. In India, Pepsi first used Aamir Khan, model turned actress Mahima Chaudhary and model and ex-Miss World Aishwariya Rai to promote its product. Later it used celebrities like Amitabh Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan, Kajol Mukherjee, Saif Ali Khan, Preity Zinta, Priyanka Chopra, and Kareena Kapoor as well as the national cricket team. The most famous may be little Hallie Kate Eisenberg who started the infamous commercials at age five.
In addition, Joan Crawford was married to Pepsi president Alfred Steele, and was advertising executive and board of directors member for several years. Singer-songwriter Michael Jackson boosted the sales of Pepsi in the 1980s when he became spokesperson for the company. He was infamously burned during the filming of a Pepsi commercial in 1984. Also in the 1980's and early 1990's Ray Charles brought another campaign to the table which was "You got the right one Baby? Uh-huh." Recently, Pepsi got a new spokesperson, the pop artist Christina Aguilera, a former spokesperson of Pepsi's rival Coke. Pepsi said in a recent interview that Christina Aguilera has that 'dare for more' approach. Aretha Franklin was also a spokesperson in 1998. And also in 1999 Janet Jackson signed on to the original "Ask For More" campaign which featured a song of the same name written and sung by Jackson.
According to Rolling Stone magazine, "Britney Spears inked a global sponsorship agreement with Pepsi on February 6th. Though the terms of the deal have not been disclosed, it is reported to be worth tens of thousands of dollars."
Pepsi are rumored to have paid Britney Spears in excess of $80m for her promotional run with the brand, but Spears was dropped when she was spotted drinking arch rival brand Coke. Pepsi resumed Spears' contract briefly for an advertisement with Pink,Beyonce and Enrique. All the stars reportedly received salaries of over $2m for the promotion. Template:Citationneeded
Types of Pepsi
- See also: List of Pepsi types
Image:Crystal-pepsi.jpg Image:72507367 752fa0f64f.jpg 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 variations of the drink are Pepsi Max and Pepsi ONE, both sugar-free colas. A caffeine-free cola called Pepsi Free was introduced in 1982 by PepsiCo as the first major-brand caffeine-free cola and is today sold as Caffeine-Free Pepsi and Caffeine-Free Diet Pepsi.
In 1988, the company launched Wild Cherry Pepsi as a response to the popularity of Cherry Coke. Though rarely marketed, the drink remains widely available. Although there has always been a diet variation of the drink since it came out, Diet Wild Cherry Pepsi didn't become widely available until 2005, when Wild Cherry Pepsi was reformulated. As of 2006, the product has not been released to the UK market, where Cherry Coke continues to enjoy near 100% domination following Cherry 7-Up's withdrawal from the market.
Pepsico has attempted marketing many different flavors of the drink, however many were quickly discontinued amidst poor sales. Crystal Pepsi was introduced in 1992 and sold until 1993 as a rival to New Coke (which was also a failure). Many found the clear drink to be disconcerting, though it tasted similar to the original soda. Pepsico attempted the drink again with the Pepsi Blue in mid-2002 and later withdrew it from the market in 2004.
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 Pepsi 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. PepsiCo also rivaled Coca-Cola's lemon-flavored products with Pepsi Twist, which was a commercial failure due to criticism of the taste. 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. 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. 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.
Criticisms
Long-term health effects
Some nutritionists assert that the phosphoric acid component of Pepsi-Cola, and other similar soft drinks, may be deleterious to bone health in both men and women, with some studies finding the effects to be more notably pronounced in female subjects. In children soft drink consumption plays a significant risk factor for calcification of growing bones. See phosphoric acid in food.
Pepsi and other similar products contain a lot of sugar. An excessive intake of sugar has been suspected as a contributing factor in certain kinds of diabetes. Sugar is also a leading contributor to tooth decay. In addition, both 'diet' and non-diet variants are highly acidic, which is a cause of degradation of tooth enamel, making decay due to subsequent sugar intake more likely. This is particularly exacerbated when a drink is sipped at frequent intervals throughout the day. Heavy soft drink consumption interferes with metabolism and ruins nerve impulse transmissions.Template:Citationneeded
Pepsi in India
By most accounts, Pepsi gained entry to India in 1988 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; Pepsi bought out its partners and ended the joint venture in 1994. <ref>"Coca-Cola India", Jennifer Kaye, Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth, 2004 (PDF)</ref> Others claim that firstly Pepsi was banned from import in India, in 1970, for having refused to release the list of its ingredients and in 1993, the ban was lifted, with Pepsi arriving on the market shortly afterwards. These controversies are a reminder of "India's sometimes acrimonious relationship with huge multinational companies." Indeed, some argue that Coke and Pepsi have "been major targets in part because they are well-known foreign companies that draw plenty of attention." <ref>"Coke, Pepsi lose fight over labels", Knight Ridder News, 9 December 2004</ref>
In 2003, the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), a non-governmental organization in New Dehli, said aerated waters produced by soft drinks manufacturers in India, including multinational giants Pepsico and Coca-Cola, contained toxins including lindane, DDT, malathion and chlorpyrifos — pesticides that can contribute to cancer, a breakdown of the immune system and cause birth defects. Tested products included Coke, Pepsi, Seven Up, Mirinda, Fanta, Thumbs Up, Limca, Sprite. CSE found that the Indian produced Pepsi's soft drink products had 36 times the level of pesticide residues permitted under European Union regulations; Coca Cola's 30 times. <ref>"Indian Coke, Pepsi Laced with Pesticides, Says NGO", Inter Press Service, August 5, 2003</ref>CSE said it had tested the same products in the US and found no such residues. However, this was the European standard for water, not for other drinks. No law bans the presence of pesticides in drinks in India.
Coca Cola and PepsiCo angrily denied allegations that their products manufactured in India contained toxin levels far above the norms permitted in the developed world. But an Indian parliamentary committee, in 2004, backed up CSE's findings and a government-appointed committee is now trying to develop the world's first pesticide standards for soft drinks. Coke and PepsiCo opposed the move, arguing that lab tests aren't reliable enough to detect minute traces of pesticides in complex drinks like soda. On December 7, 2004, India's Supreme Court ruled that both Pepsi and competitor Coca-Cola must label all cans and bottles of the respective soft drinks with a consumer warning after tests showed unacceptable levels of residual pesticides.Template:Citationneeded
Both companies continue to maintain that their products meet all international safety standards without yet implementing the Supreme Court ruling.Template:Citationneeded As of 2005, Coke and Pepsi together hold 95% market share of soft-drink sales in India. <ref>"How a Global Web of Activists Gives Coke Problems in India", Wall Street Journal, July 7 2005</ref> Pepsi has also been alleged to practice "water piracy" due to its role in exploitation of ground water resources resulting in scarcity of drinking water for the natives of Pudussery panchayat in the Palakkad distict in Kerala, India. Local residents have been pressuring the government to close down the Pepsi unit in the village.
Pepsi in Burma
From 1991 until 1997 Pepsi invested in the Burmese military regime which is responsible for some of the worst human rights violations in the world. Pepsi's involvement saw one of the biggest Burma-related boycotts in history -on a par with those against Texaco, running around the same time, and currently against Total Oil. Pepsi formally began their investment in Burma in November 1991 when they opened a bottling plant in the then-capital Rangoon, in direct contradiction to Aung San Suu Kyi's and the National League for Democracy's requests for no foreign investment in Burma until it returned to democracy. The campaign against Pepsi was initiated by the Asian-based Burma Rights Movement for Action, but was not taken up seriously in the West as Burmese human rights groups at the time were focused on Texaco, Amaco and Petro-Canada. When Petro-Canada left Burma, however Canadian and U.S. based Burmese demcoracy groups took up the campaign with huge dedication-it received a massive boost when, in 1996, the Free Burma Coalition took the lead in forcing Pepsi out of American Universities including the scrapping of a $1 million deal at Harvard. The campaign then began to spread to Europe where a huge boycott took hold. In response, in 1996, Pepsi attempted to step out of the spotlight by selling their Burmese investment to their sister company and making it a franchise. Aung Sung Suu Kyi responded "As far as we are concerned, Pepsi has not divested from Burma" and both human rights and environmental groups continued the pressure on Pepsi. Eventually, with the Burmese regime holding violent anti-democracy rallies and pressure from around the world mounting, Pepsi cut all ties with Burma, on 31, May 1997, but would never, as other companies have upon leaving the country, admit that it was morally wrong to invest in Burma. External link: Pepsi boycott history
Rivalry with Coca-Cola
Coke still outsells Pepsi in almost all areas of the world. Saudi Arabia and the Canadian provinces of Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland and Labrador, Quebec are some of the few exceptions.Template: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 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, Pepsi 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; Pepsi bought out its partners and ended the joint venture in 1994. In 1993, Coca-Cola returned in pursuance of India's Liberalization policy. <ref>"India: Soft Drinks, Hard Cases", The Water Dossier, 14 March 2005</ref> In 2005, Coca-Cola and Pepsi together held 95% market share of soft-drink sales in India. Coca-Cola India's market share was 60.9%. <ref>"Fizzical Facts: Coke claims 60% mkt share in India", Times News Network, August 5 2005</ref> Others claim that due to rumors of the use of cocaine, Coke was banned for a long time in India and recently the ban was lifted, however, Pepsi had maintained a commanding market share.
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 Coke. 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.
More importantly, Pepsi outsells its rival in grocery and convenience stores in the U.S. (regarded as an indicator of consumer preference), with Coca-Cola's dominance in exclusive restaurant, movie theater, amusement park, college, and stadium deals giving Coke the overall sales advantage.Template:Citationneeded In the U.S., Pepsi's total market share was about 31.7 percent in 2004, while Coke's was about 43.1 percent. <ref>"Beverage Digest Press Release", Beverage Digest, March 4 2005 (PDF)</ref>
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. Pepsi had made a deal with the Soviet Union for scale production of Pepsi in 1974. 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, Coke 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. <ref>"Coke Versus Pepsi, Santa Versus Moroz", The Moscow Times, December 30 2005</ref>
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.
Troubled Popstar Endorsements
Pepsi has had a notorious association with popstars promoting the product over the last 25 years. The first international popstar to become a spokesperson for the drink was Michael Jackson, who along with his brothers (The Jackson 5) advertised Pepsi for "the new generation" in an advertisement featuring a reworking of his song Billie Jean. However, when filming a second advertisement, in 1984, a pyrotechnics stunt went wrong and badly burnt Jackson. Although he continued to be associated with the drink, the company dropped him, in 1993, after charges of child molestation were brought forward.Template:Citationneeded
In 1987, David Bowie and Tina Turner joined forces to advertise the soft drink, in an advertisement featuring a reworking of Bowie's hit "Modern Love." The company also agreed to sponsor Bowie's 1987 Glass Spider World Tour. Bowie was accused of sexual assault shortly afterwards, and the company dropped the advertisements immediately. A year later Pepsi's attempts to make Madonna a new Pepsi spokesperson ended with the infamous "Like a Prayer" incident when Madonna's video brought charges of anti-Catholicism to the company. Pepsi promptly dropped her, although she kept her five million dollars for the ads.Template:Citationneeded
In 1999, Britney Spears became the new spokesperson for the chain, but was dropped 3 years later when she was caught drinking its rival Coca-Cola in public.Template:Citationneeded Spears was eventually replaced by Beyonce Knowles, but ironically Spears would rejoin Pepsi's ad campaign again in a gladiator-spoof commercial in 2003, alongside Knowles, Pink and Enrique Iglesias. All the stars reportedly received salaries of over two million dollars for the promotion.Template:Citationneeded Beyonce Knowles was dropped, in 2004, when Pepsi announced that they felt celebrity names were overpowering the brand, but the break from celebrities was short lived, with P. Diddy being one of the brands current big name staples.Template:Citationneeded
According to allhiphop.com, in 2005, a rumor spread that the newest spokesperson for Pepsi, Kanye West, was dropped after a comment made against President Bush. Nicole Bradley, public relations manager of Pepsi, clarified that the companies relationship with Kanye has not changed and their marketing will continue as planned.
See also
- Pepsico
- Soft drink
- Cola wars
- Coca-Cola (Competitor)
- Pepsiman (Mascot for the Japanese division of Pepsi)
- List of Pepsi types
Notes
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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
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