Have you heard about “crispy” Diet Coke? I dismissed this TikTok driven trend until my daughter mentioned it the other day.
As readers of this newsletter know, my adult son and daughter, ages 27 and 22, are an important window for me. What I see and hear from them has been valuable to my understanding of how young consumers digest media and consider brands. My kids and their friends are an antidote to the skepticism that can infect a 53-year-old brain.
It turns out my daughter and her friends are fans of “crispy” Diet Coke. And there is ritual around the drink. First, a Diet Coke goes into the freezer to get near the tipping point to ice. Next, ice is added to a reusable cup. On top of the ice goes a sachet of True Lime, which is a crystallized Lime powder (that I hadn’t heard of). The near-frozen Diet Coke is then poured over the ice and lime powder, creating the desired “crispy” effect. As my daughter explains: “It’s cold, carbonated, and super refreshing. Lime makes it even more crispy.” So young people do drink Diet Coke?
That wasn’t all she surprised me with. I’ve often...
As previously reported by BD, Gatorade Water is now available nationally in the US. The alkaline bottled water is the brand’s first unflavored water. To mark the occasion, PepsiCo rented ...
The liquor store sure has changed. I popped into one last week to grab some Finnish Long Drink for our dog sitter. I left having seen the very embodiment of a trend.
A massive display of Svedka vodka sodas and teas greeted me at the door. Other floor displays throughout the store pitched bright-colored cans of premixed cocktails, like a gin and tonic from Bombay Sapphire. Newer canned spirits brands such as High Noon and Cutwater stacked the cases high and sold them – at a premium.
An entire section of shelves was permanently labeled “Ready-to-Drink.” An endcap display, big enough to incorporate a full-sized bicycle, marketed a product from craft beer trailblazer Dogfish Head (eventually acquired by Boston Beer). The display wasn’t for beer, however. It was for canned cocktails by Dogfish’s distilling unit. Even Dos Equis offered a blanco tequila ready-to-drink margarita.
I asked an alcohol distributor stocking a display about the transformation (spurred in part by consumers’ boredom with beer)...
Constellation Brands, under a new agreement with Coca-Cola, will launch a Fresca-branded canned alcoholic cocktail in the U.S. this year. Called Fresca Mixed, the ready-to-drink beverage will be spirit based, according ...
North America CEO Shares Post-Covid View of On-Premise, Discusses Brand Reach
June 23, 2021
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New Brand Pursues At-Home Drinkers in $850 Million Category
February 25, 2021
PepsiCo is entering the cocktail mixer category with a new brand called Neon Zebra. The canned product launches nationally in March to capitalize on demand by “21- to 30-year-old Gen Zs who are looking for ...