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Dr Pepper is a popular caramel-colored, carbonatedsoft drink marketed in the United States by Dr Pepper/Seven Up, Inc., a unit of Cadbury-Schweppes. The headquarters of Dr Pepper are situated in Plano, Texas, a suburb of Dallas. The ownership of the trademark varies in other countries. There is also a no-calorie version, Diet Dr Pepper, as well as other flavors, such as Cherry Vanilla Dr Pepper, Diet Cherry Vanilla Dr Pepper, Dr Pepper Berries & Cream, and Diet Berries & Cream Dr Pepper. There is also a caffeine free version in both regular and diet varieties.
Dr Pepper can naming the original "Dr. Pepper" as Charles T. Pepper.
The drink was first sold in Waco (McLennan County), Texas, in 1885. It was introduced nationally in the United States at the 1904Louisiana Purchase Exposition. The exact date of Dr Pepper's conception is unknown, but the U.S. Patent Office recognizes December 1, 1885 as the first time Dr Pepper was served. It is the oldest widely sold soft drink in production today, although Hires Root Beer, Vernor'sGinger Ale, Moxie and several other regionally available soft drinks are actually older. It was formulated by pharmacist Charles Alderton in Morrison's Old Corner Drug Store in Waco, Texas. To test his new drink, he first offered it to store owner Morrison, who also found it to his liking. After repeated sample testing by the two, Alderton was ready to offer his new drink to some of the fountain customers. They liked it as well. Other patrons at Morrison's soda fountain soon learned of Alderton's new drink and began ordering a "Waco." Alderton gave the formula to Wade Morrison, the owner of the drug store. A popular belief is that the drink was named after Morrison's former employer in Texas, but this has been disputed by the Dr Pepper company itself. They state that before moving to Texas, Morrison lived in Virginia near a Dr. Charles T. Pepper, and may have been close to Pepper's daughter at the time. The name is also reinforced by being an obvious play on "pep", i.e. providing quick energy to its consumer.
Unlike Coca-Cola and Pepsi, Dr Pepper is not marketed as a cola. Dr Pepper's flavor is allegedly derived from a mixture of soda fountain flavors popular when the drink was first devised. A partial list of these flavors can be seen at the bottling plant in Dublin, Texas; although the formula itself (with its twenty-three ingredients) is a closely-guarded secret. Contrary to a popular urban legend, Dr Pepper does not and never has contained prune juice. [link] In Texas, Dr Pepper is extremely competitive in the soft drink market, regularly outselling Pepsi and Coca-Cola.
The Dr Pepper Museum, located in Waco, Texas
There is also a Dr Pepper Museum in DowntownWaco, Texas. It is located in the Artesian Manufacturing and Bottling Company building in downtown Waco, and opened to the public in 1991. The Artesian Manufacturing and Bottling Company building was the first building to be built specifically to bottle Dr Pepper. The building was completed in 1906 and Dr Pepper was bottled there until the 1960s. The museum has three floors of exhibits, a working old-fashioned soda fountain, and a gift store full of Dr Pepper memorabilia. You can visit the museum's website at [www.drpeppermuseum.com].
Dr Pepper New 2006 logo can.
Distribution
In the United States, Dr Pepper/Seven Up, Inc. does not have a complete network of bottlers and distributors, so it is sometimes bottled under contract by Coca-Cola or Pepsi bottlers. In about 30% of the country, the product is distributed by Pepsi bottlers, in about 30% of the country by Coca-Cola bottlers, and in the remainder it is distributed by bottlers that are not affiliated with either of those companies.
In Canada, Cadbury-Schweppes has licensed distribution rights to PepsiCo. In Mexico, Germany, France, Italy, Sweden, The Netherlands, Slovakia, Finland, Austria, Czech Republic, Belgium and Norway, Cadbury-Schweppes owns the trademark and distributes the product. In Spain and Greece it is almost impossible to find as it is usually imported from the United Kingdom in particular supermarkets. In almost all of the other countries of the world, The Coca-Cola Company purchased the trademark from Cadbury-Schweppes and distributes the product. This mixed worldwide ownership of the trademark is due to anti-trust regulations which prevented Coca-Cola from purchasing the rights everywhere.
Recently in Mexico, the name given for Dr Pepper is "Red Coala".
Dublin Dr Pepper
Glass bottle of Dr. Pepper
The oldest Dr Pepper bottling plant is in Dublin, Texas, a small town 80 miles southwest of Fort Worth. In the 1970s, plant owner Bill Kloster (1918–1999) refused to convert the plant from cane sugar to less expensive corn syrup. Today the plant is still in operation, making Dr Pepper with real cane sugar. Dr Pepper of this nature is called Dublin Dr Pepper. Contractual requirements long limited the plant's distribution range to a 40-mile radius of Dublin, an area encompassing Stephenville, Tolar, Comanche, and Hico; however, sales to individual customers in non-commercial quantities were (and still are) allowed, and the plant sells its product over the Internet. The popular Texas restaurant Chicken Express boasts serving Dublin Dr Pepper.
Recently (as of 2003), Dublin Dr Pepper has expanded their shipping and the product is now distributed over most of Texas, and apparently available for direct sales via the net. Originally, the drink came in 8 fl. oz. glass bottles. It is also available in 12 fl. oz. cans produced by the Temple Bottling Company in the nearby city of Temple. These cans can be distinguished from normal Dr Pepper by the "Imperial Cane Sugar" labels on the front (also included on the bottles) and a tribute to Bill Kloster on the back. This should not be confused with Dr Pepper from Dublin, Ireland, where the drink is bottled by Coca-Cola Bottlers Ireland.
Name formatting
The period after "Dr" was discarded for stylistic and legibility reasons in the 1950s. Dr Pepper's logo was redesigned and the text in this new logo was slanted. The period made "Dr." look like "Di:". After some debate, the period was removed for good (it had been used off and on in previous logos), as it would also help remove any medical connotation with the product.
Advertising and product placement
Screenshot from Short Circuit where Johnny 5 sends a picture of a Dr Pepper ad to a terminal at NOVA in response to a command.
The movie Short Circuit had many advertisements for Dr Pepper contained within it, including a notable slogan ("Wouldn't you like to be a pepper too?") used by the main protagonist Johnny 5. Dr Pepper was also featured in cross-promotion with several Marvel Comics movies, including X-Men 2, Spider-Man and Spider-Man 2. Likewise, characters from the respective movies appeared on Dr Pepper cans around the time of each film's release. Godzilla 1985 had new scenes shot in the US, and in one a Dr.Pepper machine can be seen very prominently at the end of a hallway. Also, Dr Pepper is featured in many of Tom Hanks' movies, most notably in Forrest Gump and Cast Away. Bottles of Dr Pepper are also shown on a table behind the characters in That Thing You Do! when they are examining their new Play-Tone record. In the Hate Plague story arc in the Transformers animated series, the character Wreck-Gar infects Rodimus Prime with the line "I'm a Pepper. Wouldn't you like to be a Pepper too?".
Dr Pepper was introduced to the Australian market in 1997 with TV adverts and low priced half-sized cans sold through supermarkets. Dr Pepper was sold in 1.25 litre plastic bottles until as recently as late 2004 (in some regions), it's only sold rarely in some regions now in Australia.
After withdrawing from most of the Australian market, Dr Pepper arrived without fanfare in New Zealand. As of 2005, Dr Pepper is available in 335ml cans either sold separately or in 6-packs across the country in most supermarkets. It is also available from specialty and convenience stores.
On the December 20, 2000 episode of The Late Show with David Letterman, Letterman jokingly referred to Dr Pepper as "liquid manure". After a representative of Dr. Pepper complained, CBS agreed not to rerun the Dec. 20 episode. Letterman repeatedly made assurances on the show that he was joking.[link]
A failed attempt to distribute Dr Pepper together with Squirt in Greece was made in the late 1980s and since then the only importer is the supermarket chain Thanopoulos.
Several ads for Diet Cherry Vanilla Dr. Pepper appeared on television in 2005. Both were different in tone, but one stood out. The ad featured a young woman on a blind date at a restaurant who sips into the beverage, suddenly making her date, restaurant patrons, and even a server all part of a musical sequence involving the Muppet song "Mahna Mahna". The ad single-handedly pushed the song back into popularity and created net buzz for the ad.
Sugar Free Dr Pepper was introduced in 1974, reformulated in 1990 and renamed Diet Dr Pepper. According to Cadbury-Schweppes, Diet Dr Pepper is the leading non-cola diet soda.
Cherry Vanilla Dr Pepper was released in some areas on October 15, 2004. The beverage tastes similar to Dr Pepper but has stronger cherry and vanilla flavors added. Cherry Vanilla Dr Pepper is the first drink in the planned "Fountain Classics" line of beverages from Dr Pepper, a range of drinks designed to taste similar to popular soda fountain drinks from the 1950s. It is now available in all areas of the U.S.
Diet Cherry Vanilla Dr Pepper
Diet Cherry Vanilla Dr Pepper, which has zero calories, is also available. It was the pilot and was on the shelves before the non-diet version. The Diet version of the drink is now a pilot in Canada. Although disappearing for a short period of time, it has resurfaced in Canada, with the new logo design.
Dr Pepper Berries & Cream was released in most locations in April 2006. It is the second beverage in Dr Pepper's "Fountain Classics" line of drinks. It is also available in a "Diet" form.
Diet Dr Pepper Berries & Cream was released in most locations in April 2006. It is the second beverage in Dr Pepper's "Fountain Classics" line of drinks.
United Kingdom's version of Dr Pepper has a different taste, very similar to Coca-Cola Cherry. Along with the Sprite and Fanta soft drinks, a 'Z' version was introduced, meaning Zero added sugar.
Imitations
Cherry Vanilla and Berries and Cream versions
Many imitations of Dr Pepper exist and can often be identified by the use of "Dr" in their name. One of the most well-known competitors is Pibb Xtra, formerly called "Mr. Pibb", which attempts to emulate Dr Pepper's flavor. Several other imitations include "Dr. Smooth" marketed by President's Choice, "Dr. Hy-Top" marketed by Federated Group, "Dr. Skipper" distributed in Safeway stores, "Dr. Chex" in Winn-Dixie supermarkets, and "Dr. Thunder" distributed in Wal-Mart stores.
Further reading
Rodengen, Jeffrey L. (1995). The Legend of Dr Pepper/Seven-Up (hardcover), Write Stuff Syndicate, Inc. ISBN 0945903499.
