Crystal Pepsi was a short-lived, caffeine-free drink sold by Pepsi in the early 90’s.
Early History
Because of a purity fad in the early 90’s, Pepsi decided to cash-in by releasing a crystal-clear variant of their iconic drink. For one whole year, Pepsi released Crystal Pepsi, a caffeine-free version of their drink, and had a huge advertising campaign (most notably the launch ad, featuring Van Halen’s "Right Now)
Quick Decline
Although the initial sales of Crystal Pepsi were strong, the purity fad of the early 90’s was nearly dead. Due to the poor marketing of Crystal Pepsi, with claims of it being a diet alternative, consumers were confused of the drink itself, rationalizing that if they were on a diet, they would be drinking water instead of Pepsi. Crystal Pepsi was quietly discontinued in 1993, and bottles of the drink have become collectors items.
The “Bring Back Crystal Pepsi” Campaign
In 2013, Youtuber L.A. Beast posted a video of him consuming an unopened bottle of Crystal Pepsi, where he vomits it shortly after. The video became viral in a short time, reaching 12,000,000 views as of November 8, 2015.
Because of the popularity of the video, L.A. Beast started a campaign two years later, and was a massive success, with more than 30,000 signatures on his petition to bring back the cola. Later on June 8, L.A. Beast released a video, with the response of PepsiCo. planning to re-sell the drink by the end of 2015.
Because of the sudden success of his campaign, L.A. Beast, in conjunction with That’s Classic, released a Crystal Pepsi music video. It has over 500,000 views as of November 8.
On October 13, 2015, Rooster Teeth did a podcast, talking about the drink, indirectly referencing the consumption videos.
On November 5, 2015, L.A. Beast announced on Twitter that Crystal Pepsi will re-released worldwide on November 29, thus concluding the success of the Crystal Pepsi movement.
