PEPSI TAKES THE DIET OUT OF 7UP
By Adnews Staff
There's a four-letter word that Canadian soft drink buyers don't like, so Pepsi-Cola Canada Beverages has chucked it. The company has changed the name of its Diet 7Up to 7Up Light. The sweetener formula has also been changed to give the drink a new taste. The changes were made only in Canada because "our consumers are unique and have tastes and views that are clearly distinct form our friends south of the border," Pepsi Canada president Ron McEachern says in a release. For over 10 years people have been saying in surveys that they don't like the word "diet" associated with calorie reduced beverages, says McEachern; the word creates a perception of a thing that is less than satisfactory and implies consumers have to give something up. Diet 7Up drinkers have told Pepsi that the word "light" expresses the drink's personality better, says McEachern. Pepsi found in its research that six out of ten loyal Diet 7Up drinkers liked the taste of 7Up Light as well as or better than that of Diet 7Up. TV advertising for the renamed drink began last night during the American Music Awards. It will be supported by print and outdoor. The campaign was created by J. Walter Thompson of Toronto.