| Revision as of 17:05, 7 September 2003 view source171.75.72.11 (talk)No edit summary← Previous edit | Revision as of 07:56, 13 September 2003 view source Saltine (talk | contribs)16,408 editsmNo edit summaryNext edit → | ||
| Line 3: | Line 3: | ||
| '''Pepsi''' ('''Pepsi-Cola''') is a carbonated ] and principal rival of ]. | '''Pepsi''' ('''Pepsi-Cola''') is a carbonated ] and principal rival of ]. | ||
| It was invented independently of Coca-cola, but spent many years as a peripheral ]. It first achieved success by selling its drink in recycled beer bottles. This allowed it to sell larger bottles for lower cost than Coke. Pepsi thus became viewed as the drink of the lower classes. In the ] |
It was invented independently of Coca-cola, but spent many years as a peripheral ]. It first achieved success by selling its drink in recycled beer bottles. This allowed it to sell larger bottles for lower cost than Coke. Pepsi thus became viewed as the drink of the lower classes. In the ], Pepsi was viewed as the drink of ] and in ] it was viewed as the drink for ]s. | ||
| In the ] Pepsi poured great resources into trying to improve its image. It bought many televison ads and began its long tradition of employing celebrities to sell its product. It grew and became a serious rival of the Coca-Cola corporation, but was still firmly in second place. | In the ] Pepsi poured great resources into trying to improve its image. It bought many televison ads and began its long tradition of employing celebrities to sell its product. It grew and became a serious rival of the Coca-Cola corporation, but was still firmly in second place. | ||
Revision as of 07:56, 13 September 2003
Pepsi (Pepsi-Cola) is a carbonated soft drink and principal rival of Coca-Cola.
It was invented independently of Coca-cola, but spent many years as a peripheral drink. It first achieved success by selling its drink in recycled beer bottles. This allowed it to sell larger bottles for lower cost than Coke. Pepsi thus became viewed as the drink of the lower classes. In the United States, Pepsi was viewed as the drink of blacks and in Canada it was viewed as the drink for francophones.
In the 1950s Pepsi poured great resources into trying to improve its image. It bought many televison ads and began its long tradition of employing celebrities to sell its product. It grew and became a serious rival of the Coca-Cola corporation, but was still firmly in second place.
In the 1970s, Pepsi originated the marketing strategy known as "The Pepsi Generation." This strategy was a constant repetitious advertising of Pepsi aimed at young people. It worked under the assumption that there are new consumers coming of age every day and if one stops marketing to the newest consumers, one will have a shrinking base of established consumers of one's product. With the aging of the baby boomer generation, the advertising of Pepsi changed into the drink that keeps your youth.
Pepsi may have derived its name from pepsin, an enzyme produced in the mucosal lining of the stomach that acts to degrade protein. (Similar inspiration may have led to the naming of Pepsin Gum, first produced by Dr. Edward E. Beeman, whose bookkeeper, Nellie Horton, suggested that he put pepsin into gum "since so many people buy pepsin for digestion and gum for no reason at all.")
Soft drinks produced by Pepsi include: Diet Pepsi, Mountain Dew, Pepsi Max, Slice, Sierra Mist and Mug Root Beer. Aquafina water is also a Pepsi product.
Run by PepsiCo, the company also owns and operates 7Up International (but not 7UP in the United States), Quaker Oats, Gatorade, Frito-Lay and Tropicana. Pepsico is a much larger corporation than the Coca-cola corporation, even if Coke still outsells Pepsi in almost all areas of the world.
Until 1997, it also owned Kentucky Fried Chicken, Pizza Hut, and Taco Bell, but these fast-food restaurants were spun off into Tricon Global Restaurants.
As with many soft drinks, Pepsi has had various celebrity spokespersons throughout its existence. Among them:
- Madonna (for less than two days; her contract was cut)
- Michael Jackson (who was badly burned while filming a commercial)
- Cindy Crawford (1989 Super Bowl ad)
- Britney Spears
- Faith Hill
- Hallie Kate Eisenberg
- Halle Berry
One of the only areas of the world where Pepsi outsells Coke is the Canadian province of Quebec. Pepsi had long been the drink of Francophones and it continues to hold its dominance by relying on local Québécois celebrities (essentially Claude Meunier, of La Petite Vie fame) to sell its product.