Crystal Pepsi
From Free net encyclopedia
Current revision
{{Infobox Beverage |name=Crystal Pepsi |image=Image:Crystal-pepsi.jpg |type=Clear Cola |manufacturer=PepsiCo, Inc. |origin=USA |introduced=1992 |discontinued= 1993 |related= Pepsi Blue, New Coke, Tab Clear |variants= Diet Crystal Pepsi, PepsiClear }} Crystal Pepsi was a colorless, caffeine-free soft drink that was made by PepsiCo from 1992 to 1993 in the United States, Canada and for a short amount of time in Australia. In Europe, Crystal Pepsi was sold for a somewhat longer time. It is considered by some to be the company's equivalent of New Coke, as both were massive commercial failures.
Contents |
History
Healthy living had become a popular concept in the early 1990s, with some focus on a vague notion of purity. Due to this, Crystal Pepsi was marketed as a "clear alternative" to normal colas, equating clearness with purity. The marketing tagline for the new cola was "you've never seen a taste like this". The taste did not turn out to be much different from other colas, though; unlike many other colorless soft drinks, which usually have a lemon-lime flavor, Crystal Pepsi tasted much like original Pepsi.
Starting with test markets in April 1992, PepsiCo found that the new soda was approved by those who got to try it early on. Pleased with the results, the company began to sell it nationwide in 1993. A large marketing campaign was launched along with it, for which the company invented the world's first photo-realistic, computer-generated bus wrap printing. The most well known part of the campaign was the series of television advertisements that used Van Halen's hit song "Right Now," which premiered on nationwide television during Super Bowl XXVII on January 31 1993.
Initial sales were good, but they quickly fell to the point that the product was failing to generate a profit adequate to warrant continued marketing of it. This was due to the fact that many consumers did not like the taste of it and many others thought it was too similar to the regular Pepsi soda to merit being sold as a separate product. As a result, Pepsi pulled the drink off the market. It returned several months later as a reformulated citrus drink and retitled "Crystal by Pepsi", but this was short lived as well.
Despite all this, Crystal Pepsi still has a small following, particularly on the internet, where several web sites have been created in honor of it. Some of the few remaining cans and bottles of it can be found for auction on the commercial website eBay. In late 2005, some Mexican grocery stores started carrying "PepsiClear" which was a limited edition of a clear Pepsi.
Trivia
- The comedy show Saturday Night Live created a parody of Crystal Pepsi's "Right Now" advertisements. The spoof, broadcast in October 1993, featured cast members Kevin Nealon and Julia Sweeney enjoying a clear, viscous "Crystal Gravy", while a voiceover said, "finally you can see your meat" and ended with the superimposed text: "Crystal Gravy. You've never seen a gravy like this". It was also more broadly targeted at the then trend of clear foodstuffs, which included other beverages, such as Snapple and Clearly Canadian.
- On VH1's television programme I Love the 90s, Crystal Pepsi was on the 1993 episode, with the character Waldo from Where's Waldo? hidden with bottles of the drink. Mo Rocca commented that it looked like saliva.
- The domain name CrystalPepsi.com was registered by, and is still registered to, "Maddox", the webmaster of The Best Page in the Universe.
- In an episode of The Simpsons, Homer gets his hands stuck in a vending machine trying to get an "Invisible Cola", most likely a spoof of Crystal Pepsi.