Pepsi's campaign of insane and self-destructive rebranding continues...

[Hawkmoon]

Remember the new logo? The changing of Tropicana from the wonderfully distinctive branding to something that looks like the store generic, complete with a stock photo of a glass of juice and tiny reverse-bookshelf font, no logo?

...

Seriously. What the hell?

I think I found out what the WTH was all about.

Went grocery shopping last week. I drink orange juice, but I'm not very brand loyal. The supermarket chain I shop always has one of the three major brands of OJ on sale. I'm not independently (or any other kind of) wealthy, so I buy the brand that's on sale. Last week it was Tropicana. The carton looked the same ... or at least almost the same, except it seemed a bit taller and skinnier than I remembered. Then I got it home, and I had trouble getting it into the fridge. It really IS taller. And skinnier.

And it doesn't hold 64 ounces. It's now 59 ounces.

And I am just enough of a conspiracy theorist to believe that they didn't change the packaging a few months ago, and then change it again, just by accident. I think if they had kept the old design but changed the capacity, people would have noticed instantly. This way, we're still adjusting to the "bleecchh" new design, so a little thing like changing the proportions of the box doesn't raise suspicions.

Shame on me for having fallen into their trap.

[jackdanson]

Yes.  Drinking Kool-Aid, or Gatorade, whatever they want to call it, to quench a serious thirst is Big Fail.

Sort of.. the key is to "cut" it.  Mix 1/3 to 1/2 gatorade with 2/3 to 1/2 ice water and you have a perfect combo for something long range.  When I used to bike for 5 or 6 hours at a time this worked great, especially in the heat... you don't want to eat, but at least your are getting some calories/electrolytes from the gatorade.

[RevDisk]

Sort of.. the key is to "cut" it.  Mix 1/3 to 1/2 gatorade with 2/3 to 1/2 ice water and you have a perfect combo for something long range.  When I used to bike for 5 or 6 hours at a time this worked great, especially in the heat... you don't want to eat, but at least your are getting some calories/electrolytes from the gatorade.

I use the powder stuff.   Same thing, I 'water down the mix' quite a bit over what you're supposed to put in.   

[Balog]

We were doing a range in summer one day. Full flak and kevlar, lotta running around. One of the line company ssgt's drank a couple gallons of water without eating, and flushed so much salt etc out of his body they had to take him to the hospital.

[BryanP]

I worked for Pepsi for 15 years.  Great place to work, and they have had some great marketing success, but they do go through some oddball stuff in the process.

Remember Pepsi Blue?  When that was rolled out we employees got to try it out early.  When one of the higher ups asked me what I thought of it I said "Do you want my Good Employee opinion or do you want to know what I really think?"

"Tell me what you really think?"

"By the end of the year we'll have many pallets of this stuff going out-of-date in the warehouse."

He didn't like that answer.  But he had to eat it by the end of the year.   

[lee n. field]

It's new, it's "Gaaak!"

[lee n. field]

And it doesn't hold 64 ounces. It's now 59 ounces.

Ice cream, in the fancy new roundish boxes.  Smaller.

Canned tuna, smaller cans.

Pay attention.

[Gowen]

I work in a grocery store, everything is getting smaller for more money.  At the very least, they make a much smaller product, charge less, but the cost per ounce is higher.  Thus a win for them.

[Jocassee]

I think I found out what the WTH was all about.

Went grocery shopping last week. I drink orange juice, but I'm not very brand loyal. The supermarket chain I shop always has one of the three major brands of OJ on sale. I'm not independently (or any other kind of) wealthy, so I buy the brand that's on sale. Last week it was Tropicana. The carton looked the same ... or at least almost the same, except it seemed a bit taller and skinnier than I remembered. Then I got it home, and I had trouble getting it into the fridge. It really IS taller. And skinnier.

And it doesn't hold 64 ounces. It's now 59 ounces.

And I am just enough of a conspiracy theorist to believe that they didn't change the packaging a few months ago, and then change it again, just by accident. I think if they had kept the old design but changed the capacity, people would have noticed instantly. This way, we're still adjusting to the "bleecchh" new design, so a little thing like changing the proportions of the box doesn't raise suspicions.

Shame on me for having fallen into their trap.

Newsweek had an interview/article on a guy named Arnell who was the fake genius behind all the rebranding. According to that article Pepsi reverted the Tropicana box because it was hated so. So they do listen to us sometimes. The smaller box is dishonest to be sure, but not part of a nefarious plot.

[seeker_two]

The smaller box is dishonest to be sure, but not part of a nefarious plot.

You know.....the most successful nefarious plots tend to be the ones that no one thinks are nefarious plots....