Is Pepsi Clear the return of Crystal Pepsi?
Aug 11th, 2009 by Steve
Back in July, we were doing some trademark searches to see what might be found in the world of new beverages (much the same way we discovered Diet Mountain Dew Ultra Violet).
Pepsi Clear and Diet Pepsi Clear?
(Name Source: US Patent and Trademark Office)
Of interest were these two filings from PepsiCo:
Pepsi Clear (77553297)
Filing Date: August 22, 2008
Published for Opposition: December 30, 2008
Date of Status: March 24, 2009
Diet Pepsi Clear (77553299)
Filing Date: August 22, 2008
Published for Opposition: December 30, 2008
Date of Status: March 24, 2009
So what's the big deal, this is the old Crystal Pepsi from 1992-3, right? Actually, nope! What's different with the above trademark filings is that they are currently live in the USPTO database. The old Crystal Pepsi trademarks (74321835, 74321837) for "Clear Cola Crystal Pepsi" have been abandoned and are dead.
12-Pack cover of Crystal Pepsi
(Source: Wikipedia)
So what does this mean? Is this the return of Crystal Pepsi? Who knows. We're just presenting the information here… though the trademark filings and tweets from our friends at Salute To Soda might hint that direction (Emphasis ours):
We are working on a MAJOR development from one of the big soda companies. Let's just say things are about to get a little more clear.
Pepsi Clear logo used in Mexico
(Source: pepsi.com.mx)
Regarding the name Pepsi Clear, it's not entirely new. For a short time in 2005 or so, a product named Pepsi Clear was marketed in Mexico as a transparent cola, but that appears to no longer be available. However, it is a product that has the same name as what is currently showing up in the trademark searches.
Screenshot of Pepsi Clear contest website used in Mexico
(Source: pepsi.com.mx)
Click for larger image
Translation of website text via Google:
Win a kit Clear Pepsi … The only drink cola, transparent.All you have to do is answer simple trivia about Pepsi Clear, and if you are one of the first to answer correctly, be one of the winners!
To participate you must be registered at www.pepsi.com.mx. Even if you do not win, enter your data and participate in all our promotions.
Which leaves us not a lot to go on, so we might as well just remember the Crystal Pepsi era, whether or not it returns again. For those who don't remember, here's an excerpt from Wikipedia:
Crystal Pepsi was a soda made by PepsiCo from 1992 to 1993. It was marketed as a caffeine-free "clear alternative" to normal colas, equating clearness with purity and health. Its marketing tagline was "You've never seen a taste like this". However, the taste was not significantly different from other colas; unlike other colorless soft drinks, which usually have a lemon-lime flavor, Crystal Pepsi tasted much like the original Pepsi.In 1992, the product came to test markets in Denver, Colorado; Sacramento, California; Dallas, Texas; and Providence, Rhode Island and had a positive response. Pleased with the results, PepsiCo launched the cola on April 13, 1992, and began to sell it nationwide in 1993. A series of television advertisements featuring Van Halen's hit song "Right Now" premiered on national television on January 31, 1993, during Super Bowl XXVII. In its first year, Crystal Pepsi captured a full percentage point of U.S. soft drink sales, approximately $474 million. Coca-Cola followed suit by launching Tab Clear on December 14, 1992.
Initial sales were good but quickly fell. Pepsi pulled the drink off the market and returned several months later with a reformulated citrus drink titled "Crystal From Pepsi", but this was short-lived as well.
Crystal Pepsi Memories
Do you remember Crystal Pepsi? What are your memories of that uniquely clear drink? Post them in the comments and share them with others! Here's one to start things off from BevReview reader BJ Wanlund:
When I had that first Crystal Pepsi, it was unlike any other drink I have ever had before or since. I took one sip, and almost thought I was in heaven. This incredible clear cola was unlike any soda I'd ever tasted, either before or since that time.While it's been over 10 years since I last had a Crystal Pepsi, I can comment on the taste. The taste of Crystal Pepsi is very unique, and only two drinks since Crystal Pepsi shuffled off into the sunset have come even close to replicating the unique taste of Crystal Pepsi: Diet Rite Pure Zero Cola and the recent Pepsi Throwback. I daresay that the Pepsi Throwback actually got pretty close to the old Crystal Pepsi taste, what with the natural sugar blend they put in there.
What are your memories?
I'd be so happy to have Crystal Clear Pepsi Clear back. That stuff tasted soooo good. If this does come back, I'm gonna stockpile so much Crystal Pepsi, that it'll be my own house. Awwww yeah. Thirsty? Just grab a soda off the wall. +gulp gulp gulp+ Pepsi Clear bliss.
I got hooked on Crystal Pepsi in third grade when I was out of school for two weeks with pneumonia. I drank probably a 2-liter a day for fluids. It's return would be an amazing nostalgic experience!
I LOVED Crystal Pepsi. I was a sophomore in college at the time it came out. If Clear Pepsi shows up, I'm all over it! Now I want to scour ebay for any Crystal Pepsi….
that stuff was nasty! i took one sip and about puked my head off!
I definitely remember stacks of Crystal Pepsi in supermarkets though any recollection of its flavor eludes me. If it comes back I'd definitely be down to give it a try.
I was in the military stationed in Spain when Crystal Pepsi came out. It was available on base I loved it. The product return would definitely bring back great memories.
I certainly hope it makes a return, regardless of the name. As long as it's not that nasty lemon alternative (which was not Crystal Pepsi, but something with a similar name called "Crystal, from Pepsi") then we're good.
crystal pepsi was the best pepsi i ever tasted when are u brining it back.
I absolutely geeked out when I learned recently that Pepsi had registered a trademark for "Pepsi Clear." I'm a very highly nostalgic person who believes that everything was better in the 80's and 90's. Crystal Pepsi was one of my favorite drinks back when I was a kid and I've been hoping for something like this to come along.
any updates on this? if this is true, I can't wait.
My friends and I took a road trip in the summer of 92 to Dallas, Texas and in the hotel vending machine was Crystal Pepsi. I took a few cans home with me because I thought it was such an unusual drink; we didn't have it in my city. I found out later Dallas was a test market.
Anyway, I remember it looked like Sprite but tasted like Pepsi which was very weird because I guess I was conditioned to think clear=lemon/lime flavor.
I'm a Coke drinker so this really was just a fad type thing. When it became available at home I didn't make it a regular purchase.
Crystal Pepsi was like drinking syrup without the carbonation. yuck.
It would be awesome if this is the return of Crystal Pepsi. I never got to try it before, back in 1993. I notice how so many people all across the Internet say Crystal Pepsi had a bland Pepsi taste. I think I've solved that mystery: No Preservatives. The flavor probably slipped away during shipping and handling. Oh, and by the way, Jim, the soda you're talking about is Crystal (from the makers of Pepsi), it had a Citrus taste, and was around in 1994.
I actually happened to visit Mexico while Pepsi Clear was available and it brought back a flood of memories of Crystal Pepsi. I immediately bought some and it tasted as great as I remembered. One of the coolest things about it was making a rum and coke and ending up with a clear drink! I definitely didn't get to try that when I was 7.
I still have tje taste in my mouth from the last sip. Im 27 now i wish my kids can have that same memory of there favorite soda like i did of crystal pepsi i wish they would bring it back even for one year
I remember the day it came out, I was in the 3rd or 4th grade, I loved the taste and would purchase a case in a heart beat!! Bring it back with the same taste!!
I was a freshman in high school when Crystal Pepsi came out. I remember a friend of mine and I would walk to the local Mom and Pop market and purchase these. The machine was even a Crystal Pepsi edition. Then we'd walk around town with 2 or 3 and the other kids would be jealous because they didn't have change or we had bought the last ones. I too believe life was easier and better in the 80's and 90's. I wish similar times would make a come back. EVERYONE seemed happier then.
I was just starting a job in a grocery store in '92 (I was 14 and this was my first job) and I can absolutely remember Crystal Pepsi. I absolutely loved the stuff and had some for pretty much every break I had. I don't specifically know what it was about it, but I really enjoyed the flavour (but I do remember others absolutely hating it). Now I am a big fan of diet colas and I'd love to sample this stuff again.
Funny how a silly little drink can bring back memories!
Hi, I'm doing a project on Crystal Pepsi and i was wondering if you could inform me of any information about the product e.g. why do you like or dislike the product or what would make it better?
I had written to both Coke and Pepsi in the early 90s for a clear cola without the caramel color; since Pepsi obliged I had hoped the product was a success. I'm glad to hear some people still remember and like the Crystal Pepsi product. Clear colas (diet, regular, natural) may have a niche in the mixer category, i.e., white rum and clear cola. Then if that takes off, and we start buying clear cola mixers as our regular beverage we'll find clear colas back on the soda shelves. I can always add my own flavors, i.e., lemon or lime, to my cola; we still need a good clear cola though. Glad Pepsi listens to input. I wasn't too thrilled about Coca Cola Classis, or the way Bill Cosby touted New Coke; that's another story though; we weren't involved with that decision.
Nearly forgot a funny story I had heard about Crystal Pepsi; maybe someone can verify. Heard that Pepsi put a "Free" message on some of the bottle caps so that someone who knew and wanted a free beverage from a convenience store would turn the bottle up side down and look for a winner. I found out too late!
OMG I want that stuff sooo Bad. Please bring it back. CRYSTAL PEPSI ROCKED!
When I was a freshman in high school, Crystal Pepsi was ALL I would drink. Even as a prepubescent teen I knew about "brand loyalty" so when Crystal Pepsi was discontinued, I made absolute sure to avoid any and all sodas that fell under the Pepsi brand. No relapses, no desperate substitutions — if I went to someone's house and all they had was canned Pepsi or a sinkful of dirty dishes, I'd wash out one of the dirty glasses and drink water right out of the tap. If this isn't a rumor, if this is really real and really happening, Pepsi might actually win me back as a consumer.
Wow!!!!! Its been a while since I even heard the name Crystal Pepsi– I lived in Puerto Rico then and I was around 8 or 9 years old when I first tried it from a soda machine at a laundrymat. No lie I was instantly hooked and that was all i drank for lunch or dinner. I still have pictures of me on my myspace with cans of Crystal Pepsi from the ealy '90's.
I really hope Pepsi goes ahead with Clear because I LOVED Crystal Pepsi as a kid. The taste was SO refreshing and crisp, and I liked the way the carbonation would tickle my nose as I liked to drink it with the fizz still popping! When the regular variant was discontinued the Diet version was still around so I would ask my mom to get that for me (even thought the aspartame made me whiz like a race horse lol!), and my last memory of tasting a Diet Crystal Clear Pepsi was at a mechanic shop who still had a Crystal Pepsi vending machine. I must have gotten the last couple of cans because the next time we were there I went to get a Diet Crystal Pepsi and it dispensed regular Diet Pepsi.
The only real drawback to the product back then was it would go flat rather fast, but I know now that was due to it having no preservatives. Slap some Potassium Benzoate in that sucker and give us Pepsi Clear!
I'm a Coke Zero drinker, and don't care for the taste of regular Pepsi, so as someone mentioned above if PepsiCo releases Pepsi Clear with the fantastic memorable flavor they will surely gain me as another satisfied consumer!
pepsi needs to bring back crystal pepsi, pepsi blue,pepsi twist,pepsi lime and vanilla back.
You guys make me sick saying oh yeah i was so young like in elementry when crystal pepsi came out hahaha im still so young now haha im so cute too haha well aren't you so young and cute haha this aint about how young you are this is about what i like to call Clear Pepsi (bring it back)BRING CRYSTAL CLEAR PEPSI BACK AND TAKE THESE PEOPLE BRAGGING ABOUT BEING YOUNG BACK TO WHERE CRYSTAL PEPSI HAS BEEN HIDING ,i WAS 32 WHEN IT CAME OUT HOW THE HELL DO YOU LIKE THAT 32 YEAH
Yeah, I loved Crystal Pepsi and I haven't found a viable substitute since. I actually searched google for it hoping to find something similar and happened upon this site. Crystal Pepsi actually reminded me of cola Chupa Chups…very smooth cola flavor. For some reason, they are also very hard to find. It seems they are really hard to get in the US, but I check their site every now and again hoping they become available. Cola is completely underappreciated as a flavor.
PLLLEEEAAASSSEEE bring it back soon!!!!!!!!!!!!
I loved crystal pepsi, and am probably one of the rare few that have drank it in the past year or 2 (yes 15+ yr old soda in a can didnt go bad, fully carbonated). It sorta was like pepsi throwback, but not fully, there is no way to know if that is from HFCS or sugar, as Crystal Pepsi lists HFCS and/or Sugar, at least the cans I have. Found another clear cola, but never bought to try, its called Not-See cola…
Crystal Pepsi (from the bottler in Somers NY) Contains: Carbonated Water, HFCS and/or Sugar, Phosphoric Acid, Citric Acid, Natural Flavorings, and Modified Food Starch.
Interesting…
Upon Examining the empty I have, and the New full one I bought, the full one appears to have Kosher markings below the ingredients which reads: Carbonated Water, HFCS and/or Sugar, Phosphoric Acid, Natural Flavors and Citric Acid (for tartness).
Clearly 2 different formulas, but both were bottled in the same plant.
there are also differences in the marketing above the list, but i wont go into that
I loved it remember asking for some 4 my birthday…..haha great taste i would buy it again if it returns
I even remembered the theme song. It was liquid diamond bliss. Had one every day in 3rd grade for lunch. It was awesome. I hate Pepsi….but Crystal Pepsi and Wild Cherry Pepsi are tops! Incredible if it gets remarketted….hope some execs are reading. Send a couple thousand cases to KY! We want them back!
Oh, I hope this is actually true. I don't usually drink any sodas, but would love an original Crystal Pepsi. Sounds soooo good.
Crystal Pepsi was the undisputed shit!! Drank that shit when I was a kid. No soda can come close to it. I wondered why it got took off the market so early. That was before I knew about sales and all that shit. A great product that is ignored by the masses. Put this right beside all the underrated products. Taco Bell Doritos anyone?? Mountain Dew Livewire?? Huh?? What U know??
Pepsi really should do 'Throwback' editions of Pepsi Blue and Crystal Pepsi (original 1993 flavor; but not the citrus 're-formulation'). Obviously, the demand for the two godly drinks is still alive and strong. And if sales really do prove to be strong, they ought to wise up and keep them as permanent flavors.
If Pepsi made these (and other test-market) drinks available directly to the consumer by way of an official online ordering site, I'm absolutely certain that they'd be swamped with orders! Sure I understand that Pepsi wants to support the stores that already carry their products. But there's a huge untapped potential in selling less-popular drinks directly to the people that do want them and are willing to buy them online. And if demand for those less-popular products reaches a threshold of becoming as popular as the mainstream, well-known flavors of Pepsi already offerred at stores, they should make those flavors available in stores to match local demand.
Also, to Pepsi: On the topic of Mountain Dew Voltage…. NEVER, EVER GET RID OF IT.
Eight months after my original comment (#9 on the comment thread), I decided to try to get to the bottom of this. I sent an e-mail to Pepsi to ask about the trademarks and if it meant that they would be putting Crystal Pepsi/Pepsi Clear back on the market, either as a regular product or as part of their Throwback line.
I received a reply a few days later informing me that, sadly, there were no plans to reintroduce Crystal Pepsi. If this is the case, it's rather disappointing.
I don't want to read too much into it, and I don't want to get anybody's hopes up either, but there's always a very slight possibility that the customer service reps who answer the e-mails were asked to keep it under wraps. Or maybe they really aren't going to bring it back. Who knows? We'll just have to wait and see.
Crystal Pepsi RULES!!!!
My family has always been Coca Cola drinkers, My mom has EVERYTHING Coke, My dad used to work for Coca Cola. However…. I MISS Crystal Pepsi SO much, I loved it. I would get it from the vending machines in Highschool, or take my own money and buy it at the store…seeing as my parents were die-hard Coca Cola Fanatics they thought I was a weirdo. I loved it tho no other soda was like it, I would totally love to have it back. PLEASE bring it back.
**Also Josta was the Shit, bring that back to you fools!**
I loved Crystal Pepsi because it didn't leave stains if you spilled it on your clothes. Please bring it back!
I'M ABOUT TO TELL YOU; THERE WILL BE A RELEASE OF DIET CRYSTAL PEPSI BEFORE THE END OF THE YEAR, TRUST ME I KNOW BUT I'M NOT ABLE TO TELL YOU HOW I KNOW.
im not to sure if pepsi clear ever came to the uk but what did arrive back in the 90s was tab clear and that drink was awesome in fact i reckon it was better the pepsi or coke a cola even till this dayand i bet pepsi clear would also be a top soda to have in stead of coke i preffer diet coke than normal coke but them old sodas was back then the would be on my list with out adoubt.them kind ov drinks coke and pepsi should vanish of the suppermarket stores in stead
I never cared too much for regular Crystal Pepsi, but Diet Crystal Pepsi was the best tasting soda I ever had in my life! I think the reason it was discontinued was that most people just tried the sugar version, and never even bothered to try the far superior diet version. Diet Crystal Pepsi had a complex, spicy flavor, with that wonderful cinnamon element, and no soda since has come close to replicating it.
I would love to see Diet Crystal Pepsi return to store shelves! I would buy cases of the stuff!