Speculation: Sierra Mist Natural / Diet Sierra Mist Natural
Mar 10th, 2010 by Steve
Update: Sierra Mist Natural is a reality as of August 2010! Learn more about this new drink and read our review!
When Pepsi Natural hit the market in March 2009, we started doing some research on trademarks to see if any follow-up beverages were also planned. At the time, we noted the following:
Oh, and just between you and me, back in 2006-7 there was also talk about another "sugar" beverage being delivered from Pepsi. Trademarks for the phrases Sierra Mist Essence and Sierra Mist Natural were filed December 18, 2006, with updates in status September 24, 2008. Might we see a sugar-sweetened Sierra Mist eventually? I bet sales of Pepsi Natural will answer that question…
It looks like Sierra Mist Natural is closer to becoming reality based on two recent trademark filings by PepsiCo.
Sierra Mist Natural and Diet Sierra Mist Natural
(Name Source: US Patent and Trademark Office)
Along with the original "Sierra Mist Natural" trademark (#77066208, December 18, 2006), there is an additional "Sierra Mist Natural" mark associated with a design (#77943694, February 2, 2010). The status on this trademark changed on March 1, 2010 to "New Application – Record Initialized Not Assigned to Examiner." Along with this application is the following artwork:
Sierra Mist Natural trademark design
(Name Source: US Patent and Trademark Office)
This description is used to in regards to the attached design: "The mark consists of a stylized drawing depicting a splash design with carbonation bubbles. The top of the design depicts stylizations of a cut green lime and a cut yellow lemon. The background blends from white with a gray outline at the top to light green at the bottom of the mark. The words SIERRA MIST NATURAL in green stylized letters are imposed over the center of the background. The shape of the bottle is shown in dotted lines and is not claimed as a feature of the mark. In addition, the shape and proportion of the label to the bottle is not claimed as a feature of the mark."
Comparison: New Sierra Mist logo vs. Sierra Mist Natural
Of course, this description and logo design might be irrelevant, given that Sierra Mist is going through yet another redesign, with the new look being completely different from the mockup of Sierra Mist Natural in the trademark filing.
Additionally, there's a filing for a "Diet Sierra Mist Natural" (#77927915, February 4, 2010), though not much additional information is available. One wonders how you could have a diet drink that is also natural if one of the elements of making a drink like Pepsi Natural is the use of cane/beet sugar.
Last time I checked, aspartame, sucralose, and acesulfame potassium weren't exactly natural. This could be an opportunity for Pepsi to rollout a stevia-sweetened beverage, given that Pepsi uses the PureVia brand with Sobe Lifewater that markets itself as a "natural sweetener."
Things are getting interesting here!
Sierra Mist Natural / Diet Sierra Mist Natural…
I came across two trademark filings today that had activity in February/March. They would seem to indicate that Sierra Mist Natural & Diet Sierra Mist Natural are closer to reality. Included was thi……
So… in other interesting news, Pepsi seems to be doing some research with several different product offerings, one of the new items is in fact Sierra Mist Natural (no mention of Diet Sierra Mist Natural, at least not in what I saw). Other items Pepsi seems to be interested in getting some feedback on include bottled beverages either in addition to or instead of the traditional fountain beverages. I'm really interested in Diet Sierra Mist Natural!
[...] 24th, 2010 by Steve Back in March, we wrote about Sierra Mist Natural and speculated on the future of the product, based on trademark filings by PepsiCo. John Sicher at [...]