Root Beer, son.

My wife came home the other night with a handful of "Store Brand" soda cans. You've seen them. No matter what store you shop at, the Lemon Lime can is light green. The Black Cherry can is dark purple. Cola is red. Creme Soda is a light brown.

Truthfully, I don't mind store brand soda. As a rule, I won't drink store brand Cola, but the Black Cherry is always good and the Lemon Lime is good enough. The Creme Soda is always yummy, although it's less carbonated than the other flavors and I always seem to finish the can w-a-a-a-a-y before i"m done with my meal!

So last night I pull a can of Creme Soda out of the fridge and take a gulp.

AUGHGHGH! This isn't Creme Soda! It's ROOT BEER!

Why did they color the Root Beer can the same ast he Creme Soda can??!?! Don't they know that I'm a 'visual' type and I count on these color-coding systems to make my life efficient and easy?!?!? BLEAUGHGH!

Pause...you see, it's not that I don't LIKE Root Beer. I do. Well, a little. I like STEWART's Root Beer. And A&W is nice and creamy. But generic Root Beer?! Not so much.

Worse still is that my taste buds are expecting Creme Soda, and here comes a flavor that is NOT Creme Soda. Brain and Taste Buds start to bicker...

So I'm throwing a mini tantrum (more confused than angry) and begrudgingly I sit down with the family to finish my meal. My 6 year old asks if HE can try the Root Beer.

Truthfully, I think he only asked becasue it has the word 'beer' in it. No, we don't let him try beer, but I think that was his motivation.

We also try to limit soda to an 'occassion' (like a party or a trip to a restraunt)...but here was an opportunity to allow him to try a new and somewhat uncommon flavor. (well, uncommon in MY neck of the woods. Maybe YOU drink Root Beer all the time? I didn't even TRY Root Beer until I was in my pre-teens).

Well...the boy takes a gulp and...HE LIKES IT!
He asks for MORE!
He asks if we'll BUY more!

Well, whaddaya know?
Anytime my son tries something new...and likes it!...I'm a proud papa.

Now, the next time we take a trip to the local Burger King or McDonald's, I'll check the soda machine for Root Beer. For the boy, of course.

Root Beer will be making an appearance at my Coke vs. Pepsi lens shortly.

Coke with Lime

While tooling around the internet looking for information on Pepsi A.M., I found a blog entry that discusses Coke with Lime.

I have to share it with you. Not so much because it's an in depth analysis of a cola beverage with a citrusy added flavour....but becasue it's a hilarious imitation of what my parents used to do when taking me and my brother on a trip somehwere. Today, my kids are 7 and 8, and I'm sure it won't be long before I'm doing it too!

If you've tried Coke with Lime...or if you just downright enjoyed the travel memories, be sure to comment me!

The blog entry is here

My Coke vs. Pepsi lens is here

You are here....

I Hate Peas...and Pepsi A.M. is no prize either.

A friend was telling me about a failed experiment in the 70's to get kids to eat Peas by shaping them like French Fries. The product was called "I Hate Peas" and it failed miserably.

He pointed me to an article on CNN.com that listed 8 failed foods. I Hate Peas was #2. (Reddi Bacon was #3, if you are curious).

Actually, you can find the page here.

As I scrolled down the list, I found:

"7. Pepsi A.M.
Creating a super-caffeinated soda worked well for the makers of Red Bull, but not for the folks at Pepsi. With 25 percent more caffeine than a cup of Joe, PepsiCo introduced the cola-flavored product in 1989, only to discover that most people just couldn't bring themselves to drink soda with their cornflakes. For those who wanted a Pepsi in the morning, regular Pepsi did just fine, thankyouverymuch.
Pepsi A.M., like the coffee-flavored Pepsi Kona before it, was scrapped after just a few months."

Where have I been? I used to get naseaus every morning that my brother cracked open a can of Coke...but to find out that Pepsi considered marketing it as a Coffee alternative?!?!?

Wikipedia defines Pepsi AM as "Contains more caffeine than a regular Pepsi and marketed as a morning drink. - No longer produced."

A Google search doesn't show too much else. There are a bunch of Blog posts that mention Pepsi AM, but none too kindly. (adn they usually make the same-breath comparison to Pepsi Kona - the Coffee-flavoured cola. I'll address THAT one in my next post).

Listen, really. How badly do you want to burp when you first get up in the morning? I don't drink Coffee, so I don't understand it's appeal as a Morning Beverage...but a COLA? Belaughghg.
I don't begin the process of teeth-rotting until lunch time.

Remember to keep up with the Cola Wars here.

Coke, Pepsi and 22 Immutable Laws

I read all kinds of books about Selling, Managing, Entrepeneurship and Goal Achieving.

At a family member's house last night, my eye caught a row of books on a shelf in his dining room (Which doubles as his home office). Just the kinds of books I read!

I picked up the one called 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing and flipped thru it. While the majority of the information was always stuff I knew, I WAS humoured to see a TON of references to the Cola Wars!

Each chapter, albeit small, has a drawing to 'summarize' the chapter...and many of the chapters featured a 'Coke vs. Pepsi' concept. The chapter about competition says that if you want to be #2 (Pepsi) you have to do what #1 does (Pepsi). Another one says there are really only 2 players in the field, and everyone else is forgotten. The picture they use says "Coke...Pepsi...Royal Crown WHO?!". The chapter on diversification uses 7-UP as an attempt to avoid the COLA wars.

Further within, there are references to the cola wars in the text. Much of it escapes me now as I went from 'reading for concepts' to 'counting Coke-and-Pepsi references'!

The Coke vs. Pepsi battles should (and likely will) appear in Marketing books and classes of all kinds, as they clearly demonstrate the 22 marketing principles and they feature brands and products that everyone knows and understands.

Perhaps one day my Coke vs. Pepsi lens will appear in those books and classes, too:
www.Squidoo.com/CokevsPepsi

I just got a Vault...Coca Cola

OK, so you already know that I eat fast food about 4 times a week, and you know I pay attention to the soda machine as I lug my empty 'medium sized' cup over to it. For the last few weeks, it's usually been the same thing: Coca Cola w/a dash of Dr. Pepper (when available) if I'm i a burger joint, and a hybrid of Mountain Dew and Sprite when I'm at Taco Bell or Arby's.

So yesterday I go to White Castle, and what's this new beverage on the line? Vault?! I heard of Vault..but isn't that like Red Bull or something? No? OK, let me give it a taste...

oooooh that's sweet! I don't sweet like "Wow, I got a $1,000 bonus! SWEET!" I mean more like "Wow! I can feel my teeth rotting! Sweet...."

Buutttt, I suppose if I cut it with Sprite It would be good, right? It works with Mountain Dew...

Mmmmm...much better!

Alright, so I figure that's my introduction to Vault.
But WAIT! Today I go to BK for lunch, and what's THIS on the soda machine?!
VAULT!
(Holy crap! This thing is everywhere!)

Well, not much to tink about today: 75% Sprite, 25% Vault, and I'm off to eat my Chicken Sandwich (garnished with Tomato and Onion Rings, thank you!)

Don't get me wrong...I can't honestly say that Vault has replaced Mountain Dew as my favorite Greenish-Yellowish Caffininated Beverage...but cutting it with Sprite is OK when offered!

This weekend, I'll have to remember to add Coca Cola's Vault to my lens:
www.Squidoo.com/CokevsPepsi

Go Shopping, buy Soda Stuff

Feeling that perhaps this blog leans towards Coca Cola, I thought I'd go to Google and look for something on the first page of a 'Pepsi' search that interested me.

I found this: http://www.pepsistore.com/
A place to shop for all things Pepsi.

But then I said "Hmmm...I wonder if there is the same thing based on Coca Cola products?"
And sure enough, there is this: http://www.coca-colastore.com/

Now, as much as I enjoy drinking Pepsi...I think the Coca Cola store is MUCH more professional looking. Just my opinion.

I looked around some more.
You can go to the Mountain Dew Store...but you won't see a big Green Can waiting for you. That's not so cool in my book.

There's a Dr. Pepper Store, too. See here: http://www.drpepperstore.com/
Now THAT looks pretty sharp!

OK, last one...RC Cola Store: BZZZZZZNT! No such luck.

Pepsi, Coca Cola and the Sopranos

Here is a link to a Pepsi commercial that should make you chuckle...especially if you are one of those Sopranos fans who is missing their Sunday Night fix of violence!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cESlroOE_pI



Don't forget to see all things 'cola' at www.Squidoo.com/CokevsPepsi