pepsi-blueRemember Pepsi Blue? I sure do. The summer after I graduated college, I was visiting my then girlfriend in NYC and stumbled across a free Pepsi Blue giveaway a full 6 weeks before the product officially hit the market. As a soda freak, I was still in a months long state of euphoria after the release of Mountain Dew Livewire, or as I refer to it, the best orange soda ever.

I had heard about Pepsi Blue and was eagerly awaiting its official arrival in stores. Discovering this giveaway virtually guaranteed that for the next 3 weeks I wouldn’t shut up about how I had tried Pepsi Blue. Here’s a typical conversation during that 3 week time period between me and anyone I was meeting for the first time:

New Person: Hey how’s it going, I’m (insert name here).

Me: Oh what’s up, I’m Jon.  Did you just order a soda from the bar?

New Person: Uhhh, no I just ordered a beer.

Me: Oh, I thought maybe it was a soda.  Just asking, because I got to try Pepsi Blue last week. Not that you’d even be able to order that if you wanted, it doesn’t come out for 6 more weeks.

New Person: Um, ok. What’s Pepsi Blue?

Me: Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god. What’s Pepsi Blue? You haven’t HEARD of it yet? Oh man, I wish you had been there when I tried it. It’s so, so, so good.

New Person: Ok. Well maybe I’ll keep an eye out for it when it comes out.  So did you hear about that water main that broke in Brooklyn last night?

Me: Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. MAYBE you’ll keep an eye out for it? No you HAVE to keep an eye out for it! It’s like Pepsi but it’s berry infused! It’s like a blueberry soda! It’s soooooo good.

New Person: Yeah ok, well I’ll try it sometime I guess. I’m not a big soda drinker.

Me: Not trying it would be the BIGGEST mistake of your life. Did I mention I got to try it and it still hasn’t even been released yet?

Now imagine that conversation being repeated about two-dozen times in a two week period.  Yeah, I wasn’t at all obnoxious about Pepsi Blue. Anyways, Pepsi Blue was a spectacular failure, and was pulled from U.S. shelves in 2004.  X-Entertainment’s Dead Soda’s tribute explains their thoughts on why it failed:

Had Pepsi opted to release the drink as its own brand and not as some kind of mutated, alien blue version of its primary offering, maybe it would’ve caught on….I hated the stuff. You know how certain hard candies contain a liquid center, and how that liquid center is always excessively tangy and causes your face to contort into all kinds of sourpusses? Pepsi Blue was a whole bottle of that.

For the record, I actually liked Pepsi Blue. Or what I remember of it. I think it was good, but maybe I was just in a state of euphoria and wouldn’t like it if I tried it again today.  Although I will say that after a little cruising through YouTube to watch Pepsi Blue ads, I have my own opinion on why the soda failed: their ads absolutely suck. I mean horrible, just horrible.  Check out this Papa Roach Pepsi Blue ad to see what I’m talking about:

19 Responses

  1. Kevin

    I remember Blue….it was okay.

    What I do miss however, is Orbitz! It’s in the link you put up for the dead sodas. That was like a whitepersons bubbletea… heh.

    Reply
  4. amanda

    i gree pepsi blue was awesome and they need to take a vote and bring it back and live wire to

    Reply
  5. Chef_Sean

    Get mountain dew voltage while it’s still available it taste almost exactly like pepsi blue but with a mountain dew taste instead of pepsi, I loved pepsi blue & was sad to see it go but mountain dew voltage is a good no, Great replacement for it try it as soon as possible.

    Reply
  6. Terry

    Pepsi Blue ROCKED! It replaced Big Red as my favorite “flavored” drink. Wish they would bring it back now and then as a seasonal thing.

    When the grocery stores in our area carried it, it got gobbled up off the shelves. Reminded me of the old Cabbage Patch Doll days when fights would ensue when a shipment was put on the shelves.

    Reply
  7. Bailey

    I have to say. I remember it so well. It. Was. The Best. Drink. EVER. I have a craving for it right now, and all I can do is type it into Google and read this blog. I was little when it came out, so whenever I got good grades my mom would by me one. I was devastated when it was discontinued. God! I only wish I had save a bottle so I could at least smell it again, but the taste remains forever pasted in the album of my memory. I have to settle for Mountain Dew Voltage, but it’s not the same OH NO. Not the same at all. I grieve for you, Pepsi Blue.

    Reply
  8. K.

    Pepsi Blue was my favorite. I remember the bittersweet moment seeing stores trying to clear it out at like two for seventy-five cents. I got as much as I could carry and the plastic bag ripped on the way to the car.

    A year or two later, I was in Japan and shocked to see Pepsi Blue show up in Seven Eleven. It didn’t last long. I remember only getting one and the store being totally out when I returned. It was probably less dramatic than that.

    Reply
  10. Tyler

    Yeah I loved Pepsi Blue when it was out, but sadly was little so i could only get some when my mom would let me. Wish they would start making that stuff again is was SO GOOD.

    Reply
  13. Parker

    Pepsi Blue changed my life as a 4th grader. To this day, I have never had anything as obnoxiously sweet. Bring it back!!!

    Reply
  14. Joshua Davis

    Hey everyone and anyone who misses the soft drink Pepsi Blue. I am staring a petition that I’m going to send to the Pepsi Corporation to see if they will bring back Pepsi Blue If anybody is intersted in signing it please email me at [email protected]

    Reply
  16. bob

    i mmiss pepsi blue tooooo sooooooooooooooo baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaad to bad we cant call them and say bring it back or we can by it off of them accpted stores

    Reply
  17. Lucas

    I remember it well. It is my favorite soda of all time, and I would love to find a way to get my hands on some more of it. I used to get one after every home game on my way back to my apartment. Good stuff.

    Reply

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