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Crystal Pepsi
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Crystal Pepsi | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Type | Clear Cola |
| Manufacturer | PepsiCo, Inc. |
| Country of Origin |  United States |
| Introduced | 1992 |
| Discontinued | 1993 |
| Variants | Diet Crystal Pepsi, PepsiClear |
| Related products | Pepsi Blue, New Coke, Tab Clear, Pepsi |
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 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.
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Healthy living had become a popular concept in the early 1990s, with some focus on a vague notion of purity. Accordingly, Crystal Pepsi was marketed as a "clear alternative" to normal colas, equating clearness with purity. This coincided with a trend for "clear" consumer liquids such as shampoos, soaps, and lotions. 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. Part of the failure was customer reaction in which they insisted there was a lemon lime taste added to the cola when in fact there was none. This placebo effect caused much confusion.
Starting with test markets in April 1992, PepsiCo found that the new soda received a positive response. 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 best-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, making the product fail to generate a profit adequate to warrant continued marketing, since many consumers did not like the taste of it while others thought it was too similar to regular Pepsi to merit sale as a separate product. Pepsi pulled the drink off the market, but returned several months later with a reformulated citrus drink and retitled "Crystal by Pepsi", but this was short lived as well.
However, Crystal Pepsi still has a small following, particularly on the Internet, where several websites have been created to honor it. Some remaining cans and bottles can be found for auction on the commercial website eBay. In late 2005, some grocery stores in Mexico started carrying "PepsiClear" which was a limited edition of a clear Pepsi.
- 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".
- Parodied as "Crystal Buzz Cola" in The Simpsons Season 5 episode Marge on the Lam (1993).
- The English dub of the anime FLCL, instead of using Cherio (a failed Japanese soft drink), uses Crystal Pepsi, while describing a store. Gaku says "that store that sells Crystal Pepsi...you know, the one Van Halen did those 'Right Now' commercials for!!", in episode 3 of the series, Marquis de Carabas.
- The Bloodhound Gang humorously reference Crystal Pepsi in the song "Lift Your Head up High (And Blow Your Brains Out)" on their album One Fierce Beer Coaster
- Bottles of Crystal Pepsi can be seen on the convenience store shelves in Kevin Smith's independent film Clerks.
- In the Family Guy episode "I Take Thee Quagmire", Peter pitches the idea of Crystal Pepsi, the main selling point being that you could see someone through the glass if they were coming at you with a knife