SNUGGIE MOMENT

This was from last night but look at that cute little face

I CAME AS SOON AS I HEARD—

SERIOUSLY YOU GUYS WHAT EVEN

My gf and I were just ordering from KFC and found out that they don't have Sierra Mist anymore but there's a new drink called Starry. When I looked it up I found out that Starry is apparently the successor to Sierra Mist, but now I've fallen down a big rabbit hole of the weird history of lemon lime drinks at PepsiCo and I need to share this information

As mentioned, Starry is the successor to Sierra Mist. PepsiCo discontinued Sierra Mist in January 2023 and introduced Starry, their new lemon lime drink, at the same time. The main difference is that they've replaced the real cane sugar of Sierra Mist with high fructose corn syrup, apparently as part of their attempt to try to market to gen z? Bad move imo, but anyways...

It turns out that this wasn't the first time PepsiCo has made changes regarding Sierra Mist; they've changed their formula and rebranded several different times. (Which is different from just being succeeded by a similar product somehow?) When Sierra Mist was created in 2000, it used a mix of high fructose corn syrup and cane sugar, until it switched to only using corn syrup in 2006. In 2010 PepsiCo switched to exclusively using cane sugar and renamed the drink Sierra Mist Natural to reflect this... Until 2013 when they dropped the "Natural" part and started using Stevia instead. (Everyone disliked that.) In 2015 PepsiCo changed the drink's name to Mist Twst (does anyone remember this?? I don't) and switched back to a cane sugar/corn syrup combination, before finally switching back to Sierra Mist in 2018. As of this year, the drink has been permanently discontinued and replaced by Starry

But that's not all. Apparently this isn't the first time PepsiCo has discontinued their lemon lime drink and replaced it with a new product either. Sierra Mist was actually the successor to another lemon lime drink called Slice, which was introduced in 1984 and discontinued in the 2000s. The drink was made as a competitor for Sprite (fun fact: their logos during this time were very similar but it looks like the brands took turns ripping each other off), with the main sell being that Slice contained 10% real fruit juice—although they later had to rebrand as just "made with fruit juice" after they lowered the juice content, and then had to drop it altogether when they stopped using juice entirely. They may have spread themselves too thin by expanding the Slice line to include other fruit flavors as well, because that meant PepsiCo was now also competing with other fruit sodas like Sunkist and Crush. They even made a "Dr. Slice" flavor to try to compete with Dr. Pepper, but—shocker—that didn't help. By the year 2000 the disgraced Slice brand had been fully replaced by Sierra Mist, with the only exception being some sort of promotional revival stunt with Walmart from 2006-2009

But that's STILL not all. Apparently Slice was the successor to a previous lemon lime drink called Teem, which ran from 1959 to 1984 and was created to compete with the original lemon lime drink 7Up. It was eventually discontinued and replaced with Slice due to declining sales, presumably because Sprite had entered the market by this point and was outcompeting them

So altogether, PepsiCo has discontinued their lemon lime drink only to replace it with an almost identical product three separate times, and has specifically rebranded Sierra Mist and changed its formula more times than I want to count. This all seems a bit excessive and I'm baffled here. I don't understand this marketing strategy. Wouldn't it make more sense to stick with one product and build your brand under it like 7Up and Sprite have done, rather than having to start fresh every few years? Nevertheless, PepsiCo has discontinued Sierra Mist and replaced it with Starry to try to "market to gen z." Only time will tell how stupid/pointless this move was

UPDATE: The Starry drink got here before I finished writing this out and I was able to try it. I would like to report that it tastes exactly like a flat Sierra Mist. It's just watered down and less fizzy... Cheers 🍋

Bad Batch Favourite Soda-Pop Headcanon

Most (excluding Wrecker & Cross) prefer Water, but if it's supper-time, they need something tasty and fizzy.

If you’re wondering why suddenly Sierra Mist has been replaced with Starry, I think I know why now

This influencer (?) somehow won rights to Sierra Mist after Pepsi sued her, and now she is the only one allowed usage rights.

And that’s what happened

Pov you disrespect our lord and savior Sierra Mist in front of me

ROUND 2, MATCH 1g, BEGIN!

To our left we have the one surviving fusion of the tournament, Sierra Mist! They are not about to let the rot take over the tournament. Tha war between love and rot begins.

And standing awkwardly to the right is The Plagued! They literally have no idea why they are apparently at war with this random scug abomination. Please help them.

SIERRA MIST - @shatteredstarss, @lilly-dust

(Tournament Art) - @sillycryptid

THE PLAGUED - @mothwingedmyths

(Tournament Art) - @sillycryptid

She is so manly just look at how handsome she is lol

Sierra Mist (Sodas as people) https://www.reddit.com/r/midjourney/comments/13m4qbd/sodas_as_people_not_sure_why_most_of_them/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=ioscss&utm_content=1&utm_term=1

RIP Sierra Mist