Naming a generic version of Dr. Pepper requires a special dose of imagination of the supermarket brand specialist not required by other fizzy drinks. You can’t just get away with “Cola” or “Orange.” There are innumerable variations and several websites have cropped up to document and catalog them. Check out postmyportfolio.com/Generic_Dr_Pepper.htm and Dr Kenton’s Generic Dr Peppers Page to get a pretty comprehensive overview. I think my favorite version is “Dr. Radical.”
(Thanks to Amanda!)







I chuckled at Doc Holiday.
Walmart/Sam’s club has Dr THunder. which sounds like a cheesy pro wrestler or chippendale dancer
Or it could describe the…effect…drinking too much Dr Pepper (or reasonable knockoff) might have on you…
If you are not chugging a Dr. Pepper at 10, 2, and 4 every day, then you are not a true fan.
Which of these doctors have the PHD?
You rang? (no, not really)
Not sure, but I believe Mr. aaaah! dropped out of med school after the first year.
So he never completed his degree in sodacology? Disappoint, son.
I always thought Mr. Pibb was a separate brand, not a “Dr. Pepper clone.”
I mean would someone call sprite a 7-up clone or the other way around?
I wouldn’t call something manufactured by Coca-Cola to be generic!
Mr. Pibb has always been a clone. You can tell a Dr Pepper clone because they usually have some form of honorific in their name.
After researching this a bit, it appears the Coca-Cola created Mr. Pibb in response to Dr. Pepper. When I lived in Florida, Mr. Pibb was everywhere, not so much Dr. Pepper.
It doesn’t matter because I would pass up the Mr. Pibb for “Tahitian Treat” any day of the week.
I remember visiting Florida in the 90′s and not being able to get Dr. Pepper and settling for Pibb. It’s just not as good!
From what i read years ago, its also the fact that often Coke or Pepsi will be bottling Dr Pepper under license, which means they have to share the money they make selling it. Mr Pibb was designed to allow them to sell Dr Pepper without having to share the money, simple as that.
I’d call the inferior Mr. Pibb a clone of DP, just as I would call the old HFCS-Sierra Mist a Sprite clone. 7Up is too distinct from Sprite and SM to have cloniness called into question (plus I believe that 7Up is pretty old). I would be hesitant to make assertions regarding the clone-like nature of Lemon-Lime Slice versus Sprite, as I don’t know their creation dates and am too lazy to research it. Same for Orange Slice, Orange Fanta and Crush.
Nevertheless, nothing is better than hot DP with a slice of lemon except for a cold Dublin DP in a glass bottle.
Oh God, the perfection that is a Dublin Dr. Pepper. The PX on post near me had “throwback” Dr. Pepper about a month ago. Never in my life would I pay $6.79 for a 12-pack of canned anything but beer, but to taste any likeness to a Dublin Dr. Pepper is an exception. I think I’d pay that price for a 6-pack of Dublin if I could get it.
(And using DP as an acronym for Dr. Pepper makes me giggle like a 7th grader. I can’t do it.)
Finding something people like and then creating something similar to compete isn’t exactly a clone. Being brown and bubbly isn’t exactly being a clone. It is just being competitivie. Look at how many root beers there are out there. Who is copying who? (or whom or whatever) “Dr” is just a flavor like “Cola” is a flavor I guess. Many people will find ways to imitate that flavor to get a piece of the market. I wouldn’t call it a clone unless it was exactly the same. All of these have a different flavor just like the generic Colas have a different flavor. Mr. Pibb isn’t exactly the same as Dr. Pepper, but when you go to a place which only serves one major brand and not the other, it is nice to still be able to get something similar to the flavor you are looking for.
Cola is an actual flavor. It refers to the cola nut.
I mean would someone call sprite a 7-up clone or the other way around?
Depends which came out first.
Although Mr. Pibb is not generic, I definitely prefer it to Dr. Pepper
Heretic.
“I had a Mr. Pibb. Mr. Pibb is a replica of Dr. Pepper, but it’s the bullshit replica because the dude didn’t even get his degree. Why’d you have to drop out and start making pop so soon?” -Mitch Hedberg
So you’re one of them! I was just asking at my mom’s store yesterday if there were people who, when given a choice between Pibb and DP, choose the former.
PS: Heretic.
I’m with you! Love the Mr., not the Dr.
What’s fascinating to me is that all of the cans have some variation of red or maroon and white lettering, and as root beer is a cousin of Dr. Pepper, generic root beer also has red or maroon cans. So the only way to differentiate the generic Dr. Pepper and generic root beer is usually the “Dr.” part.
I’m surprised they never made the leap into MD. If I was going to rip off Dr. Pepper I would have went with Pepper, MD.
You’d have gotten sued.
it’s ok, I would have also made Pepper L.L.C.
So long as these generic brands don’t have commercials featuring Michael Strahan committing assault and battery on Donovan McNabb at his private residence, all good with me.
Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.
“Paging Dr. Howard, Dr. Fine, Dr. Howard”
Nyuk nyuk nyuk.
I just watched that episode 2 days ago.
Classics, that’s why they’re called that.
The new “Antenna TV” network did a full day of stooges for it’s first day on the air, on New Years Day.
The Dr. Publix can is from like 20 years ago. There’s a new one and they got the actual name of the soda wrong.
What? “Dr. Pubix”
Surprised there isn’t a ‘Dr. Doctor’.
Give me the news. I’ve got a bad case of loving you.
Maybe some Mr. Mister too.
There is a Dr. Lowes but not a Dr. Home Depot!
Preumably from Lowe’s Foods ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lowes_Foods )
The Dr. Pepper clone I’ve drank that most closely resembles the original? Dr. Duck, a generic not even mentioned at the above link. Check out your local ALCO for this fine rendition…
Seriously, it’s good.
PepsiCo used to make (and maybe the still do) one called Dr. Slice… It was great!
The perfect flavor, as good as Dr. Pepper, maybe better in some ways.
I remember my local small town Pizza Hut used to carry Dr. Slice. Actually, I think it used to be a bit more widely available in general. Shame that they don’t have it anywhere around me anymore. It was pretty good stuff. As you said, tasted a lot like Dr Pepper, but I think Dr. Slice maybe had a bit more bite. My favorite was and still is Dr Pepper, but I wasn’t all that disappointed if I had to have Dr. Slice instead.
Sodas I would not drink:
Dr. Phil
Dr. Laura
Dr. Oz
Dr. Dre
Dr. Ruth
Dr. Octopus is still good, though, right?
Definitely not Dr. Denton or Dr. Kavorkian.
I would drink the hell of out Dr. Dre.
Dr. Doom – it eliminates your thirst!
give me some of that Dr. Travis Stork!
My personal favorite is “Dr. Perfect” which we always envisioned as some sort of psychotic Nazi doctor.
Or another ill-fated business venture of Curt Hennig.
No Dr Detroit?
Wow – that is the WORST webpage design I’ve seen since. . . well, since I discovered that the Space Jam webpage was still up ( http://www2.warnerbros.com/spacejam/movie/jam.htm if you’re wondering what 1998 looked like).
Seriously – I thought Geocities took down all their webpages?
Trip back to the 90′s?
Here ya go:
http://www.webhamster.com/
This will make your eyes and brain bleed: http://concretecanoe.org/
The pain! The paaaaaiiiiinnnnnn!
Not even joking, the Space Jam one actually caused physical pain due to eyestrain or something.
You can get to them by doing oocities.com/(rest of url).
There are some atrocities still viewable. Worse, I contributed to them back when I was an HTML-learning teen.
Never fell to the level of using brightly colored text on a rainbow-patterned background. Saw it done, though.
No Dr. W? Or as I like to call it, Dr. Woo? Woo is way more fun to say than “W”.
I was very surprised there wasn’t a “Mr Dr” (Mister Doctor) or vice versa
“Dr. Pibb” or “Mr. Pepper”
I wonder where Mr. Sparkle got his doctorate from? Is Matsumura Fishworks and Tamaribuchi Heavy Manufacturing Concern an educational entity now?
Well, he is disrespectful to dirt.
I am pretty sure Dr. Sparkle got his MD from Cullen College
my favorite generic is Moutain Dew’s SaveALot generic Moutain Holler. With the yelling sun.
Patch
When you mentioned a yelling sun, I had to do a Google Image Search. It was TOTALLY worth it!
I’m surprised K-Mart doesn’t have a Dr. K. K for Kevorkian. lol
Actually, Kroger food stores sell a generic version of Dr Pepper called Dr. K. It’s pretty good.
Their Mtn Dew clone is called Citrus Drop and has the slogan “Pop the Drop” on all of the packaging. It also comes in an “Extreme” variety that tastes slightly different, and I’m guessing maybe has more caffeine or something.
I was glad to see my old favorite Dr. Riffic from Eckerd Drugs.
I do have a favorite generic drink name. For those of you not from the east coast, from PA to FL there’s a chain of grocery stores called Food Lion. Of course, they carry generics of various sodas. Their Dr. Pepper clone is called Dr. Perky, which is pretty good, but their best naming job is for their clone of the Dew. It’s called Mountain Lion.
I LOVE Food Lion’s generic soda names. Yes, Mr. Perky is fantastic. I didn’t know about Mountain Lion, though. I haven’t been in a Food Lion for some time.
I named my kitten Dr. Rocket.
Supervalu’s brand is Super Chill (used to be something else, but I can’t remember what now), and I think theirs is Dr. Chill.
I wonder if Ted Danson was the spokesman for Dr. Becker?
Wouldn’t you like to be a Pepper too?
Seriously, Dr Thunder is awesome. Even better than Dr Pepper. Pretty much the only reason I ever go to Walmart is for the Dr Thunder. If I was marketing my own brand of fake Dr Pepper, I think I’d call it “Pepper, PhD”
H-E-B —-> Texas grocery store chain named for the founder, H.E. Butt.
I wish that H-E-B would go ahead and name theirs Dr. Butt, instead of Dr. B.
Because I am, in fact, nine years old.
Excellent!
I just visited the Dr Pepper Museum in Waco, TX last Friday. There was a display of this very topic there.
I like Dr Radical, it’s so radical! Dr Lynn sounds like a talk show, Dr Fizz sounds like a porn star, and Dr IGA just sounds like garbage.
H-E-B’s Dr B with real sugar is the best! I have serious addiction issues with that stuff.
My inner 12-year-old giggles because H-E-B was founded by Howard Butt, so when you’re drinking Dr B, you’re drinking “Dr Butt”.
Hey bro, beatcha to it ^^^
But I’m glad I am not alone in my childish amusement!
We have Dr. Wham here http://www.buffalorock.com/products/dr_wham.html
Drink a 2-liter…It’ll wake you up, then you’ll have to go-go.
I didn’t see my favorite clone version, from Safeway. Anyone else like Dr. Skipper?
This reminds me of the generic I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butters.
link
Oh, Dr. Thirst, how I have missed thee.
What has it been, 10 years? 12, maybe?
There used to be a great site called fakedrpepper.com, which I think is now recreated here: http://fakedrpepper.wordpress.com/
Very, very comprehensive, with taste rankings.
How about : “Doctor? I hardly know ‘er!”
Probably all made by Cott, and all with the same formula. Bleah.
No Dr Who? I’m disappointed.
Pibb :S
Drank a lotta Dr Schnee in field school.
Actually, the correct spelling is Dr Pepper (no period after the Dr), not “Dr. Pepper”. See the Dr Pepper website (www.drpepper.com) for the correct image.
This is an old list; many of the “Doctors” long since passed away:
* Dr R – Now owned by Safeway, Dr. Select has taken over residency at Randall’s stores.
* Dr Delight – Choked to death on debt when Jitney Jungle/Delchamps went bankrupt and shut down about eight years ago.
* Dr Riffic – Stopped being ‘riffic when CVS ate Eckerd’s.
They didn’t list the Shasta version…. Dr Diablo, which is my favorite rip off.
DR. SKIPPER!
http://skintigh.tripod.com/drpepper/drskipper.html