"Drink our garbage!"

[vakkotaur]

The new Pepsi logo is drawing some attention. I'm even writing about it and I don't care for Pepsi. No, I don't believe that it's a stylized version of the Obama "O" thing. Pepsi has used variations on the theme of red, white, and blue in a circle for some time. Those who really track these things noticed that the new logo isn't all that new anyway. The coincidence, which is all I expect it is, does mean there are folks talking about Pepsi who otherwise would not be. So it's an advertising bonus for them in the "There's no bad publicity, just spell the name right" way. This bit of Pepsi advertising reminded me of another.

Advertising does at times amuse me, and not always when the advertiser wishes it to. Ours was a Coca-Cola household, but there was a Pepsi item around. It was a trash can. It was a smallish thing, like might be found in a kitchen or bedroom. I remember it not being big around enough to seem like a enlarged can of Pepsi. Nowadays I could say that it looked more like an enlarged Red Bull can wearing Pepsi colors. This can amused me in a way, or perhaps confused me. Pepsi was getting their name and logo out and visible in daily life even away from their product. But a trash can? What does that say about their product? "Hi. Drink our cola. It's garbage."

Comments

[jcw-da-dmg.livejournal.com]

Drink our cola. It's garbage.

Yeah. Pretty much. Certainly if it's Pepsi.

[thecanuckguy.livejournal.com]

I seem like the only one who doesn't really care (or notice a difference) between Pepsi and Coke. (I also seem like the only one on Facebook who isn't joining a group saying "Bring Back the Old Faceboook!" as I don't really care. Why is everyone taking sides without me?)

I *do* have a preference between diet and regular cola, though. Diet cola always seems way too watery for my liking. Even Coke Zero, ostensibly a diet cola but "tastes just like Coke" seems a little watery and I can easily tell it apart from regular Coke (not as watery as Diet Coke though.)

Interesting that the two links that you provide have different years for the adoption of the various Pepsi logos (I'm more apt to agree with bnet.com's date for the adoption of the pre-2008 logo, as I was around back then and can remember when I first started seeing the "new" one. Heck, I still see the logo introduced in the 1970s in several places, primarily really small local, mom and pop restaurants (both inside and outside Winnipeg), and in small towns (either in said restaurants or in their arenas). I always feel a deep sense of nostalgia whenever I see it and hope it never goes away (even though now it's two logos behind!)

[vakkotaur.livejournal.com]

Diet soda feels thinner because it is. Artificial sweeteners are generally much sweeter per volume (and weight) than sugar or corn syrup so to get the same sweetness there will be less used. The result is that the diet drinks are thinner and lighter than the sugared (or corn syruped) drinks. This shows up also when many cans are put into tub of icewater: the cans of diet drinks float, the other cans sink.

The thinness really shows up when a diet cola doesn't have caffeine and then without the bitterness of the caffeine there is even less need for sweetener.

I've experienced the opposite of what you have. I had gotten very used to diet drinks so that regular seems very thick and heavy to me. It comes across as sort of like drinking syrup. And for the record, when I have Diet Pepsi (rarer and rare that that happens now) I can't help but wonder: Do they really intend it to taste this bad?