BUZZ NEWS

Bare naked Pepsi

Posted on May 21, 2008
Reina Lee

Nature, health and environment are the keywords of marketing these days. Health freaks are not even considered freaks anymore. You can grab tons of products with “BIO”, “natural”, “healthy” and "organic" written all over them. Well-being is a positive trend, but not for everyone. Companies that produce "unhealthy" drinks are facing a critical situation. Think about it, most of them are making carbonated drinks which are obviously not good for you… Then try Super Size Me. Would you run to McDonalds right away?

Pepsi has always been the trendy one, and now the brand joins the ranks of this new trend: well-being. Ladies and Gentlemen, allow me to present the new Pepsi, Pepsi Raw!

The ingredients of Pepsi Raw are all natural. Sparkling water, cane sugar, apple extract, color based on plain caramel, natural plant extracts, tartaric acid from bunches of grapes, citric & lactic acid, gum arabic & xanthan gum. I don’t know all of them, however, it sounds reassuring. 100% natural. And only 117 kcal per 300 ml bottle, compared to ‘normal’ Pepsi which has 127 kcal.

Pepsi Raw is still in the testing stage. For the time being it’s available in 7 UK cities only. And Pepsi is hoping to extend its market all year.

Possible scenarios for Pepsi could be…
Coca-Cola consumers -> Pepsi Raw consumers
Health-conscious consumers -> Pepsi Raw consumers

But wait… what about these?

Regular Pepsi consumers -> Pepsi Raw consumers

I have always enjoyed Pepsi commercials, I have always found them amusing. Why would this be any different, and if the goal was to make people laugh, then Pepsi has done a good job.

Pepsi Raw is also a coke, and coke with natural ingredients is not a healthy drink. Pepsi explains that Pepsi Raw is not a healthy drink, but a drink with natural ingredients. So are they trying to say that Pepsi Raw is good for your health and hence, the Pepsi with the chemical ingredients is unhealthy? Or maybe coke is bad for you but Pepsi Raw is slightly better for you?

Is Pepsi trying to kill classic Pepsi? Or is this just an example of bad marketing? I’m a little puzzled; we’ll have to wait for the results.