No, there is nothing wrong with your eyes

PepsiCo is making some changes in the looks of some of its drinks containers. Perhaps the most confusing is the new image of Sierra Mist. As is evident in the image at right, the word "Mist" has been blurred.

The Purchase, NY-based soft drink and snacks giant says it will invest $1.2 billion over the next three years to reinvigorate its line of carbonated soft drinks in the face of consumer demand falling off for virtually all brands in the past 36 months.

Initially, the campaign will include new logos and packages for PepsiCo beverages. The red, white and blue Pepsi logo began as a bottle-cap design, became the official logo in 1962, and was last changed in 2002. The new version will eliminate the wave look, which will be replaced by a diagonal slit the company says is supposed to represent a smile.

Among other brands to undergo a renewal are Mountain Dew's various iterations.

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FDA: Diet Coke Plus misbranded

From Advertising Age:

WASHINGTON -- The federal Food and Drug Administration is taking Coca-Cola to task for what it calls "misbranding" of Diet Coke Plus. The FDA said because there is no standard for nutrients in carbonated beverages, Coke can't market the beverage as 'plus.'

In a letter to Coca-Cola dated Dec. 10, the FDA said the marketing of Diet Coke Plus, which uses the "plus" to indicate the addition of vitamins and minerals, amounts to an illegal health claim. It said the word "plus" normally signals a food enriched with 10% more of the daily food intake for a particular nutrient than is standard. The FDA said because there is no standard for nutrients in carbonated beverages, Coke can't market the beverage as "plus."

"Your product is misbranded ... because it bears the nutrient-content claim 'plus' but does not comply with the regulations governing the use of this claim," said the letter. "The term 'plus' in 'Diet Coke Plus,' read in conjunction with the language 'Diet Coke with Vitamins & Minerals,' meets the definition of a nutrient-content claim because it characterizes the product's level of vitamins and minerals, which are nutrients of the type required to be in nutrition labeling."

In a March 2007 press release announcing the product launch, the company described it as "a sparkling, calorie-free beverage with vitamins and minerals," that is "a good source of vitamins B3, B6, and B12, and the minerals zinc and magnesium." Wieden & Kennedy is Diet Coke's agency.

Coca-Cola could not be reached for comment.

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NY raising the price of raising a glass

New York State is so strapped for cash, Gov. David Patterson is dusting off a lot of old ideas to raise money. Among his proposals for the new year, which still need to be debated and voted on by the state legislature, are numerous ones that will affect the beverage consuming habits of state residents.

Chief among them is his proposal to allow sales of wine in grocery stores, which would put New York on the same page as 35 other states that already allow it. Until now, strong lobbying by liquor store owners and their allies in state government has kept the lucrative slice of the market all to themselves. The usual posturing and debating now will ensue as the matter is debated.

Other beverage-related plans in Patterson's 2009-10 budget proposal:

• An increase in the excise tax on wine and beer from 18.9 cents a gallon for wine and 24 cents a gallon for beer to 51 cents a gallon for both.

• Increasing the tax on flavored malt liquors.

• Raising the sales tax on fruit drinks and non-diet sodas with less than 70% fruit juice by 18%.

Paterson delivered a balanced Executive Budget, more than one month prior to the State constitutional deadline, which would eliminate the largest budget deficit in state history -- a $1.7 billion current-year shortfall and a $13.7 billion 2009-10 deficit.

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WAT-AAH's the word

I have a friend who lives in San Francisco's Mission District, where Spanish is prominently spoken. Next door to his apartment building is a school playground, where groups of kids are let loose for a half-hour at a time to expend some energy.

"Kids today are so brainwashed about drinking water all the time that 15 minutes into their recess they start squawking 'Agua! Agua!'," he said. "They sound like a flock of Aflac ducks."

Don't look for the fad to slow anytime soon, even though more and more people are pointing out what an unnecessary gimmick bottled water is in most cases. The marketing efforts shall continue.

One such example is WAT-AAH. It's a bottled water aimed specifically at the kid market that its makers claim is free of sugar, artificial colors and artificial flavors and is fortified with vitamins and minerals. It also comes in four flavors, cutely called Bones, Brain, Energy, and Body.

The beverage is meant to target child obesity by providing kids with a healthy alternative to sugary drinks. To reach its ultimate consumers, the kids, WAT-AAH has a bouncy interactive Web site.

It also is playing to kids' tastes in participative enterianment, such as this video:



P.S. My aforementioned san Francisco friend e-mailed me this update:

"It's funny because as I read your blog entry they were actively screaming 'agua'."

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French toasting Obama

Barrack Obama is having an effect on commerce -- in France.

A young entrepreneur who is smitten with the President-elect has been handing out cans of energy drinks to low-income kids, cans emblazoned with Obama's likeness.



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