The Market works, or how Pepsi's Marketing people are incompetent

Welcome to thatwasrockandroll.

I drink a prodigious amount of diet soda.  Hell, I used to have Diet Dr. Pepper on hand for trade shows and education sessions.  I loved many different brands but probably none more than Diet Pepsi. 

Diet Coke has always had a "metallic" taste to it, especially in the early '80s when it was introduced.  I always preferred Diet Pepsi, almost to the point of being exclusive about it. 

Two-odd years ago the Geniuses at Pepsi decided that they would take this iconic brand and change the formulation.  It had been "sweetened" by aspartame for as long as the compound existed.  The Geniuses read too many articles authored by self-proclaimed "experts" and determined that aspartame had to go.  I think I remember the research--that if you drank 400 cans of diet soda a day for 10 years your chance of getting cancer went up 3%. 

They chose Sucralose, a poor substitute that rendered Diet Pepsi undrinkable.  I stopped buying it.  I even sent a note to Pepsi registering my disappointment.  Some areas of the country got a "Classic" version of Diet Pepsi, but the Carolinas did not. 

Flash forward to February.  Pepsi announces that it's going back to the aspartame version.  And there was rejoicing in all the land.  It appears that the "New Coke" debacle wasn't heeded by the Geniuses at Pepsi.  In the end, they got too much blowback and had to change the formulation. 

What does all this have to do with music, or rockandroll?  Nothing, really.  It does show that Pepsi cannot find its rear end with both hands, and do not learn from their mistakes.  I present to you Exhibit A in how not to choose a spokesperson. 

In the early '80s, Maddona happened.  From obscurity to the top of the heap in just a year or two.  Pepsi, seeking to appeal to younger drinkers (who preferred Pepsi to Coke in taste tests), spent an amount equal to the GDP of most Central American countries for Madonna to do commercials and be visible in Pepsi's marketing.

Madonna.  Lightning Rod.  Makes her own decisions about her image.  What could go wrong?

THIS is what could go wro ng:

"Like a Virgin".  writhing around on the stage singing "touched for the very first time".  After signing Madonna to a $10 million contract, Pepsi was besieged with complaints from parents who would prefer their daughters not to emulate the product spokesperson.  They pulled the plug on Madonna, probably incurring a very high "Pay or Play" clause.  I loved it. 

What were the executives thinking?  Didn't they know Madonna was the Poster Child for "Sex Sells"? Idiots.  You'll probably notice they aren't going out on the edge for endorsers anymore.  This adventure, coupled with the Diet Pepsi mess is what happens when you're #2---you get desperate and start taking risks.  Some blow up in your face.  I'm just glad they woke up and smelled the aspertame on Diet Pepsi.


Pete