Devil Shake: Why Pepsi’s Rival to Yoo-Hoo Ultimately Failed

Introduced in 1966, Devil Shake was Pepsi’s bold attempt to dethrone Yoo-hoo as the king of chocolate sodas. It was a simple blend of non-fat dry milk, chocolate, and sugar, backed by Pepsi’s massive national distribution network. Pepsi launched the product in New York City with high hopes and zero market testing.

But despite the corporate muscle behind it, the experiment was doomed from the start. The reason? A secret technology that Pepsi desperately needed, but simply couldn’t use.

Shake vs. Yoo-hoo: A Battle for Chocolate Dominance

Any discussion of the history of soda tends to center around the “cola wars” between Coca-Cola and Pepsi Cola. Yet, other sodas and beverages were more than just important competitors. These other sodas had a real chance to compete with either of the soda giants, including Royal Crown Cola, Dr Pepper, and others.

Then, there were the oddballs that sometimes attracted the attention of the major players. One of these was Yoo-hoo, the iconic milk-based non-carbonated chocolate drink made by the Yoo-Hoo Beverage Corporation. I have fond memories of Yoo-hoo, growing up in the 1970s, and it still has a certain appeal, just milk-chocolatey enough to taste good, but watery enough to be refreshing instead of heavy. Before my time, however, there was a competitor to Yoo-hoo, Pepsi’s Devil Shake, that wasn’t exactly competition.

It happened in 1966, just after Pepsi merged with Frito-Lay to become PepsiCo. Inc. (1965). Yoo-hoo caught the attention and the envy of Pepsi, which tried to market its own competing product.

The Shelf-Life Secret: Why Devil Shake Needed Yoo-hoo Tech

The problem, however, was the shelf-life. Pepsi soon discovered that Yoo-hoo owned the exclusive rights to the only technology, expensive pasteurization equipment, that could produce such a milk-based drink with a decent shelf life.

The solution was to enter into an agreement whereby the Yoo-hoo corporation itself produced Devil Shake, an arrangement that would pay the small company $1,000,000.

Although it may seem ridiculous, Pepsi argued that its superior marketing and distribution would benefit Yoo-hoo and that the Devil Shake formula and appearance were different enough from Yoo-hoo to exist in harmony with it, benefiting both companies. Therefore, Yoo-hoo would produce the drink and then offer it to Pepsi bottlers for distribution. Pepsi bottlers as well, presumably, would be able to set up and use the equipment to make the drink, at a cost.

⚔️ Battle of the Bubbles While Pepsi was trying to conquer the chocolate market with Devil Shake, they were also claiming victory in the legendary “Pepsi Challenge.” But did the results hold up in the real world? See How Pepsi Really Performed in Taste Tests

The Yoo-hoo Connection: Who Really Owned Devil Shake?

Most people who remember the drink would be surprised to learn that it was Yoo-hoo who filed for a trademark on “Devil Shake” on June 9, 1966, which was registered in October 1967, and both Yoo-hoo and Devil Shake appeared together in ads of the time.

In fact, some reports of the time stated that Pepsi would market and distribute “Yoo-hoo’s chocolate drink, Devil Shake,” as if it were Yoo-hoo’s product in the first place.

Subsequently, Pepsi was not able to make up the money lost on initial development costs, and Devil Shake never really took off. Even though Pepsi promoted it to the “swinging youth,” called it “glitzy,” and said it was for people who were “daringly difficult,” most kids liked Yoo-hoo better. Pepsi abandoned Devil Shake in 1967.

🧠 Why Our Brains Tricked Us with New Coke If New Coke beat the original formula in thousands of taste tests, why did the public revolt? It turns out, how we “feel” about a brand matters more than how it tastes. The Surprising Psychology Behind the New Coke Disaster

Why Did Crystal Pepsi Fail?

Coca-Cola Strikes Back: Saci and the Protein Drink Trend

While Pepsi was grappling with its shelf-life crisis, Coca-Cola was attempting its own nutritional experiment in Brazil called Saci. It was a high-protein, chocolate-soy drink designed to fight malnutrition, but it faced a hurdle even the world’s largest soda company couldn’t solve. Much like Devil Shake, Saci was a scientific marvel that failed the ultimate test: the public’s palate.

Saci was launched in Brazil because Coca-Cola could get the ingredients locally. This also helped to utilize Brazilian agricultural products. The ingredients were soybean protein, cocoa, sugar, and added vitamins.

After Devil Shake Came Pepsi’s Fresca Competitor

Pepsi had already acquired Mountain Dew, a decidedly citrusy drink, from the Tip Corporation in 1964. After Devil Shake failed to shake up the competition, the company set its sights on another citrus-based diet soda, Fresca, and in the summer of 1967, test-marketed Tropic Surf. This fruit-flavored diet soda went national in 1969.

Pepsi had previously marketed a lemon-lime soda called Teem, introduced in 1960 as a competitor to 7Up and Sprite. It never sold that well, either, although it was just as good as 7Up or Sprite. It lingered in some markets until well into the 1990s.

A better name may have made the difference for Team and many other Pepsi products. After all, its first diet cola was called Patio, before the company changed the name to Diet Pepsi.