Pepsi Max (known as
Diet Pepsi Max until early 2009), not to be confused with the separate
overseas formulation of the same namePepsi Max, similar to its forerunner Pepsi Edge, is a low-calorie, sugar-free cola, marketed by PepsiCo as an alternative to regular Pepsi and Diet Pepsi.-History:...
, is a zero-
calorieThe calorie is a pre-SI metric unit of energy. The unit was first defined by Professor Nicolas Clément in 1824 as a unit of heat. This definition entered French and English dictionaries between 1841 and 1867. In most fields its use is archaic, having been replaced by the SI unit of energy, the joule...
,
sugarSugar is a class of edible crystalline substances, mainly sucrose, lactose, and fructose. Human taste buds interpret its flavor as sweet. Sugar as a basic food carbohydrate primarily comes from sugar cane and from sugar beet, but also appears in fruit, honey, sorghum, sugar maple , and in many...
-free,
carbohydrateCarbohydrates
[Means "hydrates of carbon"] or saccharides
[The word comes from the Greek σάκχαρον, sákcharon, meaning "sugar").] are the most abundant of the four major classes of biomolecules...
-free,
ginsengGinseng is any one of eleven distinct species of slow-growing perennial plants with fleshy roots, in the Panax genus, in the family Araliaceae. It grows in the Northern Hemisphere in eastern Asia , typically in cooler climates; Panax vietnamensis, discovered in Vietnam, is the southernmost ginseng...
-infused
colaCola is a beverage usually containing caramel coloring, caffeine, and a sweetener such as sugar or high fructose corn syrup.Originally invented by the druggist John Pemberton, it has become popular worldwide. Coca-Cola has become the major international brand, leading to the drink often being seen...
, marketed by PepsiCo. It has nearly twice the caffeine of Pepsi's other cola beverages. Pepsi used airtime during the 2008 Super bowl to advertise the beverage; the commercial featured the song What is Love by
HaddawayAlexander Nestor Haddaway better known by his stage name Haddaway is a Trinidadian singer. He is most famous for his worldwide 1993 hit "What Is Love ".- Early life :...
, and showed people sleeping in inappropriate places and at inappropriate times, while bobbing their heads to the rhythm of the song.
Pepsi Max (known as
Diet Pepsi Max until early 2009), not to be confused with the separate
overseas formulation of the same namePepsi Max, similar to its forerunner Pepsi Edge, is a low-calorie, sugar-free cola, marketed by PepsiCo as an alternative to regular Pepsi and Diet Pepsi.-History:...
, is a zero-
calorieThe calorie is a pre-SI metric unit of energy. The unit was first defined by Professor Nicolas Clément in 1824 as a unit of heat. This definition entered French and English dictionaries between 1841 and 1867. In most fields its use is archaic, having been replaced by the SI unit of energy, the joule...
,
sugarSugar is a class of edible crystalline substances, mainly sucrose, lactose, and fructose. Human taste buds interpret its flavor as sweet. Sugar as a basic food carbohydrate primarily comes from sugar cane and from sugar beet, but also appears in fruit, honey, sorghum, sugar maple , and in many...
-free,
carbohydrateCarbohydrates
[Means "hydrates of carbon"] or saccharides
[The word comes from the Greek σάκχαρον, sákcharon, meaning "sugar").] are the most abundant of the four major classes of biomolecules...
-free,
ginsengGinseng is any one of eleven distinct species of slow-growing perennial plants with fleshy roots, in the Panax genus, in the family Araliaceae. It grows in the Northern Hemisphere in eastern Asia , typically in cooler climates; Panax vietnamensis, discovered in Vietnam, is the southernmost ginseng...
-infused
colaCola is a beverage usually containing caramel coloring, caffeine, and a sweetener such as sugar or high fructose corn syrup.Originally invented by the druggist John Pemberton, it has become popular worldwide. Coca-Cola has become the major international brand, leading to the drink often being seen...
, marketed by PepsiCo. It has nearly twice the caffeine of Pepsi's other cola beverages. Pepsi used airtime during the 2008 Super bowl to advertise the beverage; the commercial featured the song What is Love by
HaddawayAlexander Nestor Haddaway better known by his stage name Haddaway is a Trinidadian singer. He is most famous for his worldwide 1993 hit "What Is Love ".- Early life :...
, and showed people sleeping in inappropriate places and at inappropriate times, while bobbing their heads to the rhythm of the song. Pepsi Max's current slogan is "Your World Gone Max"
Product information
Pepsi Max contains 46 milligrams of
caffeineCaffeine is a bitter, white crystalline xanthine alkaloid that is a psychoactive stimulant drug. Caffeine was discovered by a German chemist, Friedrich Ferdinand Runge, in 1819. He coined the term kaffein, a chemical compound in coffee, which in English became caffeine...
per 8 fluid ounces.
Diet PepsiDiet Pepsi is a low-calorie carbonated cola, introduced in 1964 as a variant of Pepsi-Cola with no sugar. Its current formula in the United States contains only the artificial sweetener aspartame. The current Canadian formulation contains both aspartame and acesulfame potassium...
contains 24 milligrams of caffeine per 8 fluid ounces.
History
Diet Pepsi Max was introduced in the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
on June 1, 2007 and in
CanadaCanada is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
in March, 2008. "Diet" was dropped from the name in early 2009.
Marketing
Pepsi Max competes in the energy drink market. Compared with other common energy drinks, Pepsi Max gives the consumer a relatively low dose of caffeine. Pepsi Max provides 5.75 mg caffeine per fluid ounce, while
Red BullRed Bull is an energy drink which is produced and sold by the Austrian company Red Bull GmbH. In 2006, more than 3 billion cans were sold in over 130 countries.The beverage's slogan is "It gives you Wings."- History :...
provides 9.64 mg/fl oz, AMP Energy provides 8.93 mg/fl oz,
Monster Energy-Distribution :Marketed and distributed by Hansen Natural Corporation, a NASDAQ listed company of Corona, California. Though Monster Energy is not widely advertised in the media it receives a large amount of recognition from its sponsorship of various sporting events. Hansen Natural Corporation...
provides 10 mg/fl oz and
Cocaine (drink)Cocaine is a highly caffeinated energy drink distributed by hot topic burning down productions. It contains three and a half times the caffeine of a more popular energy drink, Red Bull, symbolized by three and a half steer heads on the label...
provides 33.14 mg/fl oz.
The product is marketed as an 'Invigorating Cola' implying it is meant to compete in the
energy drinkEnergy drinks are soft drinks advertised as providing energy to improve physical activity of the drinker, as compared to a typical drink. Rather than providing food energy , these drinks are designed to increase a user's mental alertness and physical performance by the addition of caffeine,...
market. The official marketing website for Pepsi Max, contains an 'odd cast' featuring a spoofed
telethonalign="right" | |}A telethon is a fundraising event broadcast on television that lasts many hours or even days, the purpose of which is to raise money for a charitable, political, or other allegedly worthy cause...
urging viewers to donate yawns and uses the slogan 'WAKE UP PEOPLE'.
Also, there was a featured commercial of a spoof on the
Dallas CowboysThe Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team that plays in the Eastern Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . They are headquartered in suburban Irving, Texas, which lies between Fort Worth and Dallas...
offensive coordinator yawning, when calling a play, thus, causing
Tony RomoAntonio Ramiro Romo is an American football quarterback. He currently plays for the Dallas Cowboys.-Early years:...
to receive a sack, he was then replaced by Cowboys' owner
Jerry JonesJerral "Jerry" Jones is the owner and general manager of the Dallas Cowboys NFL franchise and the Dallas Desperados Arena Football League franchise.-Early life:...
who gives him a Diet Pepsi Max. The scene then cuts away to the words "WAKE UP PEOPLE" while a voiceover shouts the slogan.
Although technically a competitor in the energy drink market, Pepsi Max commercials present the beverage as an alternative to Diet Pepsi.
After the 2009 Super Bowl commercial aired, another, more recent campaign (including television and radio advertisements) has emphasized that the product is intended to be a mens' diet cola. In one commercial, entitled "I'm Good," men are shown in various dangerous and painful situations, and after each brief sequence, the "injured" actor states, "I'm good!" The take-away message is that men can handle anything, except for the taste of the average diet cola. Pepsi Max is intended to be the diet cola that men will enjoy. Another commercial entitled "Ingredients" shows men in various situations listing fictitious ingredients that essentially make Pepsi Max seem "tough." The fictitious ingredients include pepper spray (as a sweetener), scorpion venom, crushed Viking bones, and the saliva of a rabid wolverine. The actors also state that the can is made from the hull of a nuclear submarine, and subsequently crush the cans in their bare hands, stating, "I just crushed the hull of a nuclear submarine." This commercial ends with "Maximum Taste, No Sugar, and Maybe Scorpion Venom. Pepsi Max, the First Diet Cola for Men," signaling a definitively different message than the one used in the "WAKE UP PEOPLE" advertisements. These more recent commercials have portrayed Pepsi Max consumers as unremarkable, average, and heavy men, explicitly identifying the target market.
Coca Cola produces Pepsi Max's primary competing product, Coke Zero, another zero calorie soda.