Coca-Cola and PepsiCo. have borrowed heavily from the fast food chains they partner with. Both companies have made limited-time offers a major part of their business model using them to get media attention and to spread on social media.
Many of these flavors have bordered on the ridiculous. Coke has partnered with celebrities including Marshmello, the electronic music artist who wears a marshmallow head and has released a flavor created by artificial intelligence (AI).
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PepsiCo (PEP) has perhaps been a little less gimmicky, but it did offer Pineapple Pepsi exclusively with the Little Caesars pizza chain. It's hard to know when either company releases a product designed to sell and when they're just trolling influencers.
Both companies have been innovating at a much faster rate than they traditionally have. In addition, both Pepsi and Coke have been willing to cut unsuccessful brands in order to make room for something new.
Pepsi did this most shockingly last year when it dropped its Sierra Mist line to replace it with Starry, a fairly similar lemon-lime beverage with a different marketing message. Coca-Cola (KO) literally cut its beverage offering almost in half but has also added new flavors for some of its biggest brands.
PepsiCo Beverages North America
Pepsi adds two new flavors, cancels another
Offering a new brand like Starry comes with significant risk and major expense. Consumers might get excited by the new product, but they need to be educated as to what it is.
Both Coke and Pepsi often use a different tactic that's a lot safer. They leverage their namesake brands by adding a new flavor. It's hard to market Starry to consumers, compared to selling them on Lemon Pepsi or Vanilla Coke.
That's why PepsiCo has released two new versions of its signature soda that should get immediate attention from its fans.
"Pepsi just dropped TWO new flavors for the summer and they're starting to arrive in stores now. You can get Lime and Peach @pepsi for the summer in both 12 packs of cans or 20 oz bottles (no zero sugar, unfortunately) at retailers nationwide," the Snackolator Instagram page reported.
The soda brand, however, has dropped another planned flavor.
"Originally there was going to be a watermelon Pepsi but it got canceled...I definitely wonder what that would've tasted like," Snackolator wrote.
Coca-Cola adds a new Sprite
Coca-Cola has generally stuck to its signature brands for its recent innovation. Some of these, like Coca-Cola Y3000 Zero Sugar, push into previously uncharted territory.
"Coca‑Cola Y3000 Zero Sugar was co-created with human and artificial intelligence by understanding how fans envision the future through emotions, aspirations, colors, flavors, and more. Fans’ perspectives from around the world, combined with insights gathered from artificial intelligence, helped inspire Coca‑Cola to create the unique taste of Y3000," the company shared on its website.
That seems a bit ridiculous, but people likely tried it simply because it carries the Coca-Cola brand. The company's newest soda, an extension of the Sprite brand, seems like a more earnest effort to create something consumers actually want.
Sprite Chill is a Cherry Lime version of the classic soda.
"Introducing the new limited-edition Sprite Chill, the coldest-est lemon-lime flavored soda in the game featuring a cherry lime taste and a unique cooling effect," Coca-Cola posted on its website.
There's also a no-sugar version.
"Zero sugar. All the chill. Introducing the new limited-edition Sprite Chill Zero Sugar, the coldest-est lemon-lime flavored soda in the game featuring a cherry lime taste with zero sugar," the company added.
The Sprite line currently includes the classic flavor, Sprite Cherry, Sprite Lymonade, and Sprite Tropical Mix.
