Crystal Pepsi

Description

Crystal Pepsi is a soft drink made by PepsiCo. It was sold from 1992 to 1993 in the United States and Canada, with brief re-releases in both countries in 2015, 2016, and 2017; it was also sold for a short time in Australia. Crystal Pepsi was sold for a longer time in Europe during the early 1990s.

In the early 1990s, a marketing fad equating clarity with purity began with the remake of Ivory soap from its classic milky solution; the idea spread to many companies, including PepsiCo. Crystal Pepsi was marketed as a caffeine-free “clear alternative” to normal colas, equating clarity with purity and health. Its marketing slogan was “You’ve never seen a taste like this.”

In 1992, PepsiCo introduced Crystal Pepsi to test markets in Denver, Sacramento, Dallas, Providence, and Grand Rapids, and the product generated a positive response. Pleased with the results, PepsiCo launched the cola on April 12, 1992, and began to sell it nationwide in 1993. A large marketing campaign was launched, for which the company invented the world’s first photo-realistic, computer-generated bus wrap printing. A series of television advertisements featuring Van Halen’s hit song “Right Now” premiered on national television on January 31, 1993, during Super Bowl XXVII. Another marketing ploy was to give out full sized sample bottles with the Sunday paper deliveries such as the Boston Globe in Massachusetts. In its first year, Crystal Pepsi captured a full percentage point of U.S. soft drink sales, approximately $474 million. Coca-Cola followed suit by launching Tab Clear on December 14, 1992.