Fanta Berry Takes the Edge off Pepsi Blue
As PepsiCo Inc.’s new blue cola hits store shelves this week, Coca-Cola is planning to launch a blue soda of its own, Fanta Berry, reports The Wall Street Journal. The berry-flavored version of its Fanta brand is due to appear in regional markets in August.
The apparent coincidence of the launches is a familiar scenario in the cola wars. However, Scott Williamson, a Coke spokesman, denied that Fanta Berry is being launched in the spirit of one-upmanship. “Fanta Berry is a logical extension for the Fanta brand,” he says, adding that the variation will be a darker blue than Pepsi’s new cola.
Larry Jabbonsky, a Pepsi spokesperson doesn’t appear to be buying it. “It seems our idea ‘blue’ them away.”
Moderator Comment: Will Fanta Berry and Pepsi Blue be a hit with consumers or a redux of the clear cola miss of the 1990s?
Not having the benefit of a taste test, we’re not ready
to pass judgement one way or the other. That said, we can’t help wondering how
many sales of Fanta Berry and Pepsi Blue are simply going to substitute for
sales that would probably being going to one of the big two anyway. [George
Anderson – Moderator]