Pepsi A.M. (1989-1990): Pepsi Cola with 28% more caffeine, marketed as a morning drink to replace coffee or tea. Available in regular or 1-calorie diet
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Pepsi had already dabbled with the idea of marketing pop for breakfast, partnering with both Wendy's and Dunkin Donuts in the mid-80's for small market testing to promote "Pepsi for Breakfast", but by 1989 they decide to actually change the formula to create a new product
Pepsi A.M. boasted 4.1 mg of caffeine per ounce, compared to the 3.2 in standard Pepsi. However, this was still significantly less than the 18mg per ounce found in coffee
Pepsi started conducting secretive testing in August 1989 "in select midwestern locations." In October, they rolled out larger scale testing and a media blitz in both Iowa (Waterloo and Cedar Falls) and Indiana (Fort Wayne), before small scale expansions into a smattering of other markets
In addition to the added caffeine, the formula for Pepsi A.M. featured significantly lower carbonation, to produce a smoother taste for easier morning drinking. However, consumers didn't bite. By October 1990 the experiment was deemed a massive failure, and the plug was pulled
There was, in that same era, an attempt (I do not recall which company) to sell something that was like a caffeinated Sunny D and they really need to bring that back
I'm not gonna tell people what they should or shouldn't drink for breakfast, but I really feel people who were already drinking coffee and decided to swap it out for pepsi of all things were not drinking good coffee.
Yup, Coca-Cola had been running that in various markets for a couple years at that point, and this product and campaign was a response to that, to a large degree
I didn't realize there was a predecessor to Pepsi Max. It was originally marketed as an alternative to energy drinks that contained more caffeine and ginseng. The US version was renamed Pepsi Zero & the formula was updated fairly recently to remove the ginseng. UK might still have the good version.
I love it when soda companies try to make Morning Sodas. It's such a weird swing at a market and it didn't work for years until energy drinks really took over.
I'm not sure if it was also available in the US but, in Canada, we had Jolt Cola. It's slogan was: "All the sugar and twice the caffeine." I guess that diabetes wasn't a worry in the 1980s.
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Instant & Folgers or similar (diner coffee) was all I had access to in the early 90’s.
Pre-ground drip was standard, vacuum packed if you were lucky.
Coffee shops didn’t really get going (in the midwest) until mid 90’s.
Jolt had them in a chokehold by keeping it super simple. The initial slogan was "All the sugar and twice the caffeine."
So, "all the sugar and twice the caffeine" vs "Pepsi AM". GTFOH!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coca-Cola_Bl%C4%81K
I miss VCZ.
it used to have 69mg of caffeine before they reformulated
according to wikipedia the old formula is still available in Canada apparently