Pepsi was originally called something else and it's bamboozled fans
Kerri-Ann Roper
Featured Image Credit: Illustration by Igor Golovniov/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images
If you’re getting ready to attend a pub quiz or you’re writing one up, here’s a nifty bit of trivia to keep in mind.
The did-you-know in question is all about Pepsi, the underdog in the century-long battle for cola supremacy.
While Coca-Cola is the undisputed king in terms of sales, getting a Pepsi is rarely a disappointment. This town is big enough for the two of them.
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That said, conversations around preferences have long been blocking us off from a titbit of interesting information: Pepsi, composed of sugar, water, caramel, and various secret spices, was born under another name.
Cast your mind back to 1893, when coca beverages were about as new and exciting as the internal combustion engine, and you’ll find Caleb D. Bradham of North Carolina.
Fresh out of university, he had patented and begun to sell his own cola drink at local pharmacies, unaware of the global phenomenon he was slowly beginning to unleash.
As side hustles go, it’s turned out to be a pretty successful one.
An early problem faced by Bradham’s beverage was a marketing one: he hadn’t come up with a particularly exciting name for what would later be known as Pepsi.
Pepsi was, at the time, simply called ‘Brad’s Drink’.
But it wasn’t enough for Caleb D. Bradham, who five years later bought the name ‘Pep Kola’ from a local competitor and adapted it into the Pepsi-Cola we know and love today.
Along with the drink lending you a certain amount of ‘pep’, there’s a linguistic reason for choosing this name.
‘Pepsi’ is supposedly rooted in the Greek word for ‘digestion’ and back in 1904, the core of Pepsi-Cola’s branding was the message: ‘Exhilarating, Invigorating, Aids Digestion’.
Stunned by the revelation that Pepsi once had an altogether-less-exciting name, people have taken to X to air their consternation.
“I just learned that Pepsi was originally called Brad's Drink,” said one user. “So anyway, I'm going to be reeling from that for a week or so.”
“Brad's Drink sounds like the name of a 90s alt-rock album,” said another.
Thankfully for these X users, the Pepsi shocks mostly stop there. Despite its name change, its logo has been pretty consistent over the years, althought there was a gentle revision in March 2023.
According to PepsiCo’s first-ever Chief Design Officer, Mauro Porcini, consumers couldn’t easily or accurately remember the details of Pepsi’s iconic logo.
"We couldn’t ignore that kind of insight,” said Porcini. "Instead of rejecting it, we decided to embrace it."
Where ‘Pepsi’ used to be written in the centre of the logo’s white stripe, it’s now been removed and placed under it.