Crystal Pepsi was an experiment by the Pepsi Company to market Pepsi as a clear rather than a colored beverage. The idea was that health-conscious customers, concerned about caramel coloring or other food coloring, would appreciate the clear beverage and view it as healthier. Crystal Pepsi was sold for two years, from 1992 to 1994, with sporadic re-releases during the 2000s. This occurred during a ‘clear craze’ in the manufacturing of drinks, foods, and even cleaning products. Miller even released a colorless beer called Miller Clear.
Despite the fanfare around Crystal Pepsi and a dedicated group of fans, the soft drink was a huge flop. Many creative ideas have been put forth as to why it failed. Lack of a target audience, customers not associating clearly with health, etc.
Crystal Pepsi Tasted Bland?
The biggest factor is a psychological one, and is the reason why all such beverages failed: taste. People expect Pepsi to be the color of Pepsi, not Sprite or 7Up.
Many consumers, despite their knowledge to the contrary, found Crystal Pepsi to taste weak or even like a Lemon-Lime soda. Pepsi is brown. Strawberry is red. Grape is purple.
Oddly, Pepsi was aware that customers would find that the clear beverage had a different or ‘lighter’ taste. They thought that a lighter taste would also be associated with a healthier beverage. Instead, too many customers felt that it simply tasted flat, if not horrible. We cannot be certain how much the lack of color in the drink contributed to its failure and how much other formulation changes in the new drink contributed. But we can guess.
Coca-Cola’s Response
In 1992, the Coca-Cola Company also launched what many saw as a direct competitor to Crystal Pepsi, TAB Clear. The idea that Tab was related to Pepsi in any way is a bit of a stretch, as Tab had enjoyed only a cult following for decades and was a diet drink. Therefore, some speculated that Coca-Cola released TAB Clear as a strategy to destroy Crystal Pepsi.
The idea was that if consumers saw these two clear cola beverages on shelves near each other, they would be confused as to what category Crystal Pepsi was supposed to be, thinking it must be a diet drink, as if clear signified “diet.” And since TAB has long been associated with lower quality, it would drag down Crystal Pepsi.
Coca-Cola need not have bothered, as Crystal Pepsi’s fate was undoubtedly sealed. Tab Clear continued to be marketed until 1994, the same year that Crystal Pepsi met its demise.
The Launch of Zima
Many associate the alcoholic beverage Zima with these types of products. Zima was marketed as a beer alternative by Coors Brewing Company in 1993, after Crystal Pepsi left the market. Zima or Zima Clearmalt was a malt beverage drink with a lemon-lime flavor. It contained 4.7 to 5.4% alcohol by volume. Coors launched it as a response to the highly successful wine cooler market.
The drink was highly popular with women but failed with men due to its being seen as less than manly. A new version called Zima Gold was released to try to attract men. Zima Gold had an amber color and supposedly had the taste of Bourbon. It failed. Afterward, during the latter part of the 2000s, citrus, tangerine, and pineapple versions of Zima were released.
By 2008, the Zima line was discontinued, although MillerCoors re-released it in 2017 for a limited time. The product sold out, greatly exceeding all expectations. It was brought back again in May 2018, with more inventory available.
Zima was much more successful than Clear Pepsi. People don’t necessarily expect alcoholic beverages to be highly colored. Many people fail to note that the product was Lemon-Lime flavored, which consumers already associate with clear drinks like Sprite and 7Up. Zima may have been launched as a response to the clear craze (which had already failed), but it may not properly belong in the same category as Crystal Pepsi or TAB Clear.
