PepsiCo is to bring back early-2000s CSD Pepsi Blue in the US.
The berry-flavoured Pepsi, which first launched in 2002, will return to shelves from 3 May, PepsiCo said late last week. According to the company, the limited relaunch – for an undisclosed period – is down to consumers “clamouring” for a Pepsi Blue comeback.
PepsiCo said the return comes in time for the warming weather and the return of summer-time activities “from marathon barbecues to afternoons by the pool or binge-watching comfortably in the AC”.
Pepsi Blue will be available in 20oz (59cl) bottles and multi-packs.
The beverage, which is blue in colour, was first rolled out in August 2002, a few months after Coca-Cola launched Vanilla Coke. PepsiCo’s North American management said at the time the soda had the “potential to reinvigorate the cola category”.
Pepsi Blue was discontinued in 2004.
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By GlobalDataThe move follows other attempts to play on consumer nostalgia for past beverages. In 2019, Coca-Cola briefly revived New Coke as part of a marketing campaign with Netflix show Stranger Things while, in 2016, PepsiCo returned the 1990s-era Crystal Pepsi to its North America portfolio for a limited time.
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