Pepsi: Right Now, Hey, It’s Your Tomorrow

In 2008, Pepsi rolled out the new logo (which you can see at right) to help usher in a new minimalist brand image for their product. And despite being the pinnacle of human achievement, people have their opinions on it, good or bad.

Personally, I like the logo they had in the early 80’s. For some reason, it always looked as though it was smiling at me. Strange, I know.

In any case, that is the logo introduced last year, which means that despite being used in the present, the change is in the past. What we need to do now is start looking to the future, and formulate our opinions now for when Pepsi changes their logo again in the year 2015.

These are the logos of Pepsi’s future, as per the 1989 movie Back to the Future Part II, starring Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd (in case for some reason you were not aware). I was reminded of the different branding thanks to a well-illustrated article on Retro Junk, and found the head-on versions of the logos you see above at Futurepedia.

As for what I think of the logo? To be perfectly honest, I’m not quite sure. Casting aside my love for the movie series from which it originated, it appears… well, strange. It’s somewhat futuristic, but appropriately enough, the kind of futuristic one might imagine in the 1980’s.

So while I like it, I’m not sure that I could imagine Pepsi actually using it. On the other hand, certain retro trends, brands, and more are in, and in that light, the logo would certainly fit in some way. Perhaps the company will even do us the courtesy of celebrating the 30th anniversary of Back to the Future by implementing such a logo, perhaps as a “collector’s” package.

But then again, unlike rival Coca-Cola, who has always managed to hold on to its unique “vintage” styles and designs, Pepsi always seems to be looking forward and attempting to appeal to a younger audience. And yet, that hasn’t stopped them from marketing Pepsi and Mountain Dew Throwback, versions of the respective drinks made with natural sugar instead of high-fructose corn syrup and packaged with retro style.

So, in short, it’s anyone’s guess as to whether or not they might use the logo in some capacity, though I’m guessing not, on the grounds of it being “too good to be true,” if nothing else.

Moving past whether we like the logo or not, or whether Pepsi will use it in about six years, there is something else interesting at work in the above images. Everyone knows about Pepsi and Diet Pepsi, but look at the third one: Pepsi Max.

Pepsi Max joined the beverage manufacturer’s family of soft drinks in 1993, a few years after Back to the Future Part II had been in and out of theaters, though it was released and chiefly sold in the UK and parts of Europe as a low-calorie, sugar-free cola alternative. More recently, North America received something slightly different in Diet Pepsi Max, which instead came to be the Pepsi version of an energy drink, offering ginseng and almost twice the caffeine of regular Diet Pepsi.

So, with tongue planted firmly in cheek here, I am left to wonder if perhaps PepsiCo will complete the quartet of drinks labeled above, and give us “Pepsi Perfect” by 2015. According to Futurepedia (who unfortunately does not enlighten us as to what sets the BTTF universe version of Pepsi Max apart), Pepsi Perfect is a vitamin-enriched version of Pepsi.

Come to think of it, that doesn’t sound terribly unfeasible, does it?

On the other hand, in the movie, Pepsi Perfect was also served in a bottle with a lid which contained a built-in straw. Plus, inflation saw to it that a bottle would run a thirsty consumer about fifty dollars. So while Pepsi Perfect coming to pass might not be a bad thing, the container seems questionable, unlikely at best. And they can keep the price.

Next time: Pizza Hut and its foil-wrapped dehydrated pizzas. Or maybe not.

–LBD “Nytetrayn”

David Oxford

David Oxford, or “LBD ‘Nytetrayn’,” as he is sometimes also known, is a freelance writer of many varied interests who resides in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. If you’re interested in hiring him, please drop him a line at david.oxford (at) nyteworks.net.

For a full list of places to find him online, click here.