Pepsi rebranding?

Recently, in the Fall of 2008, Pepsi underwent a rebranding of many products such as Pepsi, Diet Pepsi, Pepsi Max, Sierra Mist, and Mountain Dew. Pepsi has not had this much of an identity change since 1987. The design firm responsible for this change is Arnell, whose clients include big names such as M&M's, McDonald's, Dodge, Chrysler, Bank of America, and many others. It took about 5 months for them to develop the new design.

The Vice President of PepsiCo.'s marketing, Frank Cooper, is positive in this new action. "We felt like, as we move out of this traditional mass marketing and mass distribution era into today's culture, there's an opportunity to bring humanity back, both in terms of the design but also in the way we engage consumers. By making the logo more dynamic and more alive ... [it is] absolutely a huge step in the right direction."

The new Pepsi logo includes a sequence of "smiles", according to the type of product. Diet Pepsi has a smile, Pepsi has a slightly larger grin, and Pepsi Max has a laugh. The design is simple, but with the added variation in the degree of the white shape. The font is reminiscent of Diet Pepsi in the 70's.

Mountain Dew, which is now being called "Mtn Dew", and Sierra Mist also changed their design. The new Mtn Dew is different on the bottle compared with the can, as if they couldn't make up their mind. The can looks dramatic and sharp, and has green icicle-looking shapes. Sierra Mist is set on a green background of trees. Sierra is the same typeface as the pepsi products, but mist is edged in blur, to create a mist look.

The general reaction to the new branding is disapproval, but there are mixed opinions, of course. Change at first can often bring uproar, but the public may settle down once they become more used to it. People have said that the new Pepsi logo is reminiscent of Obama's recent campaign.

Personally, I hate the new design. I don't like Pepsi, and I feel that they've always tried to be better than Coke, but this time is proving to be disastrous. Coca-Cola has changed their look a little bit over the years (I've especially noticed frequent changes in Cherry Coke) , but they have always had consistently great design. I think the new Pepsi look is going toward simplicity, but trying to appeal to a younger generation, using sleek, simple shapes and a more modern, but soft looking type treatment. I absolutely hate that Mountain Dew decided to abbreviate to Mtn. Maybe they were trying to appeal to all of the younger generation by tapping into the txt language? Is everything going to be shortened now, just because people are too lazy or busy to write an entire word? The can, on the other hand, looks angry to me. It's sharp and dramatic. Sierra Mist... ugh. The first thing I think of is urinating in the middle of the woods. I can't get past that. It also reminds me of some horrifying haunted woods.





























Bottom line: Pepsi can't top Coca-Cola.