Americans are slowly losing our taste for fizzy sugar water, but PepsiCo may have overestimated how quickly that’s happening. The company admits that it spent the third quarter stuffing shelves with more “healthy” products than the public was ready for. [More]
pepsico
Organic Doritos Are A Thing, But Would Whole Foods Sell Them?
By 8.30.17
PepsiCo, the snack corporation that has brought us simple culinary delights such as Flamin’ Hot Cheetos and Doritos Locos Tacos flavored Doritos, has a new product line geared to current consumers’ tastes. The Simply line consists of “natural” versions of 11 of the company’s main chip brands, including Lay’s, Cheetos, Doritos, and Tostitos. [More]
Customers Urged To Return 16.9-Ounce Bottles Of Pepsi Over Metallic Flecks
By 5.9.17
After more than a dozen consumers in Michigan reported tasting something more in their bottles of Pepsi than they bargained for, the state’s health department issued a warning that customers should return certain 16-ounce bottle of the soda that may contain flakes of metal. [More]
Major Mountain Dew Syrup Spill Creates “Huge Foaming Event” At Pepsi Plant
By 4.11.17
Maybe you find it hilarious when your friend’s can of Mountain Dew erupts all over their shirt and face (unless you’re left cleaning up the mess on the floor, negating all the hilarity). But a large-scale spill of Mountain Dew syrup — resulting in a “huge foaming event” — was a genuine cause for concern at one Pepsi bottling facility. [More]
PepsiCo To Revise Labels On Naked Juice Drinks Following Lawsuit
By 2.21.17 — Updated: 2.22.17
Last year, people who purchased Naked Juice drinks like “Kale Blazer” thinking that the main ingredient would be kale, or who bought Naked products labeled “no sugar added” believing the drinks were low in sugar, sued Naked’s parent company PepsiCo, alleging they were misled. Now comes news that PepsiCo has agreed to close the books on this dispute by using labels that more accurately reflect Naked’s ingredients. [More]
For Pepsi, “Guilt-Free” Means Diet Soda And Baked Chips
By 2.16.17 — Updated: 3.1.17
Like many other food companies these days, PepsiCo is trying to figure out how to appeal to consumers who have shifted toward healthier products. But while Pepsi is touting higher global sales, with 45% of the company’s revenue coming from “guilt-free” products — what exactly does that term mean? [More]
Pepsi: We’re Trying To Sell You Healthier Snacks, But You Keep Buying Cheetos
By 12.12.16
Pepsi, despite what you may think, really just wants to sell you health food. And it’s all ready and waiting to start putting less-fried, less-salty options in your hand. The problem, the company says? You just won’t stop buying chips. [More]
PepsiCo Announces Purchase Of Kombucha Company KeVita
By 11.22.16
For the second time today, a giant soda company has announced an acquisition of a smaller company that makes drinks that are a lot less sugary. Earlier today, it was Dr Pepper Snapple spending $1.7 billion on flavored water maker Bai Brands. Now comes news that PepsiCo is acquiring KeVita, a brand known for its kombucha offerings. [More]
Pepsi Plans To Cut Added Sugar In Majority Of Drinks By 2025
By 10.17.16
Pepsi’s seemingly endless experiments with sweeteners in its drinks is taking on yet another new chapter, as the beverage behemoth unveiled a plan to reduce added sugars and calories in dozens of products by 2025. [More]
Lawsuit: PepsiCo’s Naked Juice Drinks Mislead Shoppers About Ingredients, Sugar Content
By 10.4.16
Should a drink called “Kale Blazer” have kale as its primary ingredient? When something says “no sugar added” on the label, do you think that means the beverage is low in sugar? These and many other questions may eventually possibly be answered by a new lawsuit filed against PepsiCo. [More]
Twitter Thinks You Might Like To Slap Brands’ “Promoted” Stickers All Over Your Photos
By 8.15.16
If you looked at the last Twitter you shared on Twitter and thought, “You know, I could really use some more corporate branding on here,” you’re in luck: the social media platform says its teaming up with companies to offer “Promoted #Stickers.” [More]
17 Commercial Failures From Brands With Spectacularly Bad Ideas
By 6.30.16
While Keurig is surely hoping there will come a day when its failed KOLD soda-making machine is but a misty, sparkling memory, it’s not the first company to reach for the stars, to fly too close to the sun, to try to capture lightning in a bottle… and fail utterly and completely, thereby forever securing a spot in the brand failure hall of fame, never to be forgotten. [More]
It’s True: Crystal Pepsi Is Coming Back For All Those People Who Forgot They Hated It The First Time Around
By 6.29.16
For better or worse (mostly worse), I’ve always been a big fan of soda, so when I was a senior in high school in Florida in the early ’90s, I was over the moon that my area would get to try Crystal Pepsi before some other parts of the country. Then I tasted the underwhelming clear cola for myself. Now, more than 20 years later, Pepsi gets to introduce a new generation of cola lovers to that same unique disappointment, with a limited time re-release of Crystal Pepsi that we’re pretty sure the world could have done without. [More]
Pepsi To Bring Back Aspartame-Sweetened Diet Pepsi By September
By 6.27.16
Weeks after it was rumored that continued falling sales would propel PepsiCo to once again change the sweetener used in its main calorie-free beverage, Diet Pepsi, back to aspartame, the company announced plans to do just that Monday. [More]
Pepsi Cancels Its Meeting With Bottlers To Discuss Diet Pepsi Plans
By 6.10.16
In recent years, customers told Pepsi that they weren’t interested in drinking diet colas because of their concerns about the sweetener aspartame. Pepsi took the logical next step and changed out the sweetener in Diet Pepsi to a blend of sucralose and acesulfame potassium to prop up diet cola sales, and in response to the change, sales…. fell even faster. Now Pepsi has canceled a planned meeting with bottlers to discuss solutions to the crisis. [More]
Court Won’t Stop San Francisco’s Mandatory Warnings On Soda Ads
By 5.17.16
In 2015, San Francisco enacted a new city ordinance requiring warnings on ads for soda and other sugary drinks. With the new rules set to go into effect later this summer, a number of trade groups are suing the city to overturn the law. The plaintiffs had hoped to get an injunction preventing San Francisco from enforcing the warning label requirement, but today a federal court said the city can go ahead with the ordinance for now. [More]
Pepsi, Frito-Lay Quietly Adding GMO Ingredient Labels To Some Foods
By 5.11.16
Whether or not you agree with mandatory labeling for foods containing genetically modified or genetically engineered ingredients, the Vermont law requiring this information on food sold in that state will go into effect on the first of July. Some companies — including Mars, Campbell Soup, and General Mills — have announced decisions to implement these labels nationwide, while PepsiCo appears to be quietly putting labels on its products. [More]
Why Is An Old Billboard A Treasured Symbol But A New One Is An Eyesore?
By 5.3.16
If someone told you today that a new, brightly lit neon sign was going up across the street from where you live, you might react with disgust at the thought of such a commercial eyesore invading the skyline of your community. Yet when some older sign or billboard is threatened, everyone is suddenly up in arms, rushing to its defense. How does something as mundane as outdoor advertising grow to become considered an essential piece of the urban fabric? [More]
