Dr Pepper

Dr Pepper is a brand of carbonated soft drink created in the 1880s by pharmacist Charles Alderton in Waco, Texas and first served around 1885. Dr Pepper was first marketed nationally in the United States in 1904 and is now also sold in Europe, Asia, North and South America. In Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa, Dr Pepper is sold as an imported good. Variants include Diet Dr Pepper and, beginning in the 2000s, a line of additional flavors.

History

The name "Dr. Pepper" it was first used commercially in 1885. It was introduced nationally to the United States at the 1904 Louisiana Purchase Exposition as a new type of soft drink, made with 23 different flavors. Its introduction in 1885 preceded the introduction of Coca-Cola by a year.

The formula was invented by Brooklyn-born pharmacist Charles Alderton at Morrison's Old Corner Pharmacy in Waco, Texas. In order to try out his new drink, Alderton first offered it to the store's owner, Wade Morrison, who found it agreeable. Patrons of Morrison's soda fountain soon heard about Alderton's new drink and began ordering a 'Waco'. Alderton gave the formula to Morrison, who named it Dr. Pepper (later stylized as "Dr. Pepper").

Charles Alderton

Early advertisements for this soft drink made medical claims, stating that it "aids digestion and restores vitality, vigor and vitality".

As with Coca-Cola, the Dr Pepper formula is a trade secret and the recipe is supposedly kept in two halves in safe deposit boxes at two separate banks in Dallas. A persistent rumor since the 1930s is that the drink contains prune juice, but official Dr Pepper sources refute this by saying that 'Dr Pepper is a unique blend of natural and artificial flavors; does not contain prune juice". The origin of the rumor is unknown; some believe it was started by a competitor's delivery man trying to discredit the brand based on prune juice's laxative effects, but it may simply be because many people feel that Dr Pepper tastes similar to prune juice.

In 2009, Bill Waters discovered an old ledger book full of formulas and recipes while shopping in the "Texas Panhandle" Several sheets and letterheads hinted that it came from WB Morrison & Co. Old Corner Drug Store (the same store where Dr. Pepper was first served in 1885) and faded lettering on the book cover read 'Castles Formulas'. John Castles was a partner of Morrison's for a time, working at that location in the 1880s. A recipe in the book titled "Dr Peppers Pepsin Bitters" it was of particular interest, with some speculating that it might be an early recipe for Dr Pepper. However, Keurig Dr Pepper, the parent company, insists that it is not the Dr Pepper formula, but rather a prescription medicine to aid digestion. The book was put up for auction in May 2009, but no one bought it.

Name

Theories abound as to where the soft drink's name came from. One possible reason the name was chosen was practice, it was common at the time of the drink's creation to include the acronym Dr. in the names of the products to give the impression that they were healthy or recommended by doctors.

Dr. Cartel. Pepper of 1913

An often-cited theory is that the drink was named after an actual physician, one Charles T. Pepper of Rural Retreat, Virginia. Morrison may have named the drink after the doctor in gratitude to Pepper for giving Morrison his first job. However, Milly Walker, director of collections and curator at the Dr Pepper Bottling Co. Museum of Texas, has stated that US Census records show that the younger Morrison lived in Christiansburg, Virginia 40 miles (64 km) away. far from Rural Retreat, and that "there is not a single piece of evidence that Morrison worked for Charles T. Pepper at Rural Retreat". Another story goes that Morrison named the drink after Charles T. Pepper because the doctor gave Morrison permission to marry Pepper's daughter, but the girl in question was only eight years old when Morrison moved to Waco.

Dr. Bottle. Pepper of the 1970s

Dr. William Alexander Reed of Christiansburg is another possible inspiration for the soft drink's name. In the census showing Morrison living in Christiansburg and working as a pharmacy clerk, a Dr. Pepper is listed on a later page. Since census takers at this time were walking from door to door, and these census entries are close to each other on the record, it appears that Morrison and this Dr. Pepper lived close to each other. Additionally, Pepper is recorded as having a 16-year-old daughter, named Mary Ann "Minnie".

The period immediately followed by the abbreviation Dr was used intermittently in Dr Pepper logos until the 1950s, when, after some debate, it was permanently dropped for stylistic and of readability. A logo that debuted at the time featured slanted text, in which the abbreviation doctor looked like Say:.

Legal disputes

In 1951, Dr. Pepper sued the Coca-Cola Company for $750,000, claiming that Coca-Cola was being sold below cost and constituted unfair competition.

In 1969, due to the legal success of Dr Pepper being determined to be a "no cola," soft drink, the then-president and CEO of the WW company "Foots" Clements, managed to convince the Coca-Cola Bottling Company of New York, the largest Coca-Cola bottler and distributor in the world, to bottle and distribute Dr Pepper in the New York metropolitan area.

In 1972, Dr Pepper sued the Coca-Cola Company for trademark infringement based on a soft drink marketed by Coca-Cola called "Peppo". Coca-Cola changed the name of its drink to Dr. Pibb, which was also found to be in violation of the trademark. The soft drink was later renamed Mr. Pibb.

Dr Pepper became insolvent in the early 1980s, prompting an investment group to take control of the company. Several years later, Coca-Cola attempted to acquire Dr Pepper, but was prevented from doing so by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). Around the same time, Seven Up was acquired by Phillip Morris, the same investment company that rescued Dr Pepper. Following the failure of the Coca-Cola merger, Dr Pepper and Seven Up merged (creating Dr Pepper/Seven Up, Inc., or DPSU), relinquishing international trademark rights in the process. After the DPSU merger, Coca-Cola gained most of the non-US rights to the Dr Pepper name (with PepsiCo taking the rights to Seven Up).

Dr Pepper was a frequent player in United States antitrust history in the 1990s. As part of these activities, economists and courts have weighed in with the view that Dr Pepper is a flavored beverage & #34;pepper" and not a "tail". In 1995, the FTC blocked a merger between The Coca-Cola Company and Dr Pepper for reasons including monopoly concerns over the 'pepper' flavor category; of soft drinks. In 1996, Dr Pepper was involved in an antitrust case involving Jerry Jones, the Dallas Cowboys, NFL Properties, Nike, and other business assets such as Texas Stadium in Irving, Texas. Jones had made deals with Dr Pepper and the other companies that the league claimed violated his exclusive marketing contracts with Coca-Cola and other companies. The NFL has agreed to allow Jones and other teams to pursue their own deals.

In 1998, the "pepper" was an important part of the analysis supporting an antitrust case between Coca-Cola and Pepsi.

Varieties

Dietary versions

• Dietetic Dr Pepperwas introduced in 1962 (latas) and 1963 (bottles). The sales were slow in part due to the misconception of the public that the drink was for diabetics and in 1966, the company changed the product name by "Sugar Free Dr Pepper". The name was changed to "Diet Dr Pepper" in 1987. Diet Dr Pepper, after registering an increase of 6.4% in sales volume, became the tenth best-selling soda in 2006, according to the magazine Beverage Digest. From 1991 to 2006, the drink was traded with the slogan "Diet Dr Pepper knows better than regular Dr Pepper". In 2006, a new marketing campaign was launched that compares Diet Dr Pepper's flavor to desserts instead of regular Dr Pepper's motto "Nothing to do with diet."
• Pepper Free (1982-1985) was first introduced to test markets in 1982 as a caffeine-free version of Diet Dr Pepper, citing company research that indicated the need for a product to fill a niche for the health-conscious consumer. Originally introduced in only six states, the Pepper Free brand lasted only three years and gradually eliminated until 1985. While a dietary product without caffeine with varieties of names is still produced, the reason for launching the Pepper Free is unknown, but it could be due to confusion with the rival brand "Pepsi Free" (currently "Pepsi without caffeine").
• Dr. Pepper without caffeine (non-dietic) was first launched in 1983.
• Dr Pepper TEN a low calorie version of Dr Pepper was released in 2011. This version retained the taste of regular Dr Pepper but with 10 calories per serving. It was commercialized for men, with a metallic grey scheme, industrial rivets and black font, and the motto "It is not for women".

Flavor versions

• Dr Pepper Red Fusion (2002-2004) was only available in the US. U.S. The Red Fusion, predominantly red and cherry-flavored, was the first new flavor added to the Dr Pepper beverage family in the 122 years of company history. Their production was cancelled less than a year later, although in certain areas it was available until the end of 2004.
• Dr. Pepper Cherry Vanilla (launched in 2004) was launched in some areas on 15 October 2004. The drink has a taste similar to Dr Pepper but with stronger cherry and vanilla notes. Cherry Vanilla Dr Pepper was the first drink of Dr Pepper's "Soda Fountain Classics" beverage line, a range of drinks designed to have a taste similar to the popular soda beverages of the 1950s. It is now only available in selected areas of the US. U.S. It was available in Canada for a short time, but it stopped occurring in mid-2007. It was again available in mid-2008 after Dr Pepper Diet Cherry Chocolate stopped producing. It is also available as a flavor variant on the "Freestyle" Coke machines offered by Dr Pepper instead of Pibb Xtra
• Dr Pepper Berries and Cream (2006–2007) and its dietary version were launched in most states of the USA. in April 2006. It is the second drink of Dr Pepper's Soda Fountain Classics beverage line. In Canada, the dietary version of the drink was available from May to August and the normal version was available from September to December 2007. Berries and Cream and Diet Berries and Cream have also been discontinued.
• Dr Pepper Cream Soda it was introduced in 2020 and is the version of the original Dr Pepper's "creamfresh". The drink also comes in a diet version.
• Diet Cherry Chocolate Dr Pepper (2007–2008) was introduced as a limited edition flavor on 21 October 2007. It was suspended on 12 April 2008. It was available in Canada in early January 2008. A non-dietic version was never created. The flavor is similar to that of Diet Cherry Chocolate Fudge Soda from Canfield, but with the distinctive Dr Pepper flavor. He appeared in the song "Cherry Chocolate Rain" of YouTube celebrity Tay Zonday. When the production ceased, it was replaced by Cherry Vanilla Dr Pepper.
• Dr Pepper Cherry (started in 2009) was launched in some areas of the United States around February 2009. The drink has a similar flavor to Dr Pepper, but it has a stronger cherry flavor. The variety comes in regular and dietary versions. Gene Simmons of the Kiss band was chosen to be the spokesman of the variation, with a commercial that circulated on television in March-April 2009 with the Kiss song " Calling Dr. Love " ("Believe me, I am a doctor" says Simmons in the commercial. It is also available as a flavor variant on the Coca-Cola Freestyle machines offered by Dr Pepper instead of Pibb Xtra.
• Heritage Dr Pepper (o) Dr Pepper Heritage; started in 2009) was available around November 2009 at several United States sales points. As its name indicates, it is a kind of "relationship" of Dr Pepper's original formula, which uses sugar instead of corn syrup with high fructose content, Dr Pepper and other soft drinks brands began to use in the early 1970s. Heritage Dr Pepper and Dublin Dr Pepper are supposed to be one and the same, but Heritage Dr Pepper is a larger-scale national launch aimed at capturing the same essence of the "return marketing" that had adopted brands like Pepsi and Mountain Dew.
• Dr Pepper "Made with Real Sugar" was launched to commemorate the 125th anniversary of the drink during the summer of 2010. It presented the use of "real" sugar, which was probably a mixture of sugar cane and beetroot instead of its usual corn syrup with high fructose content. This version of the soda featured six 12-ounce collectible cans and a 20-ounce plastic bottle decorated with the old Dr Pepper slogans and images of the 1960s.
• Dr Pepper Vanilla Float (started in 2014) is a limited summer edition of Dr Pepper with vanilla ice cream flavor, available in bottles of 20 ounces, bottles of 2 liters and 12 ounce packages.
• Dr Pepper Dark Berry was a limited edition of Dr Pepper with red fruit flavor, to promote the release of the film Spider-Man: Far From Home. It was launched in stores in May 2019, but officially suspended in July 2019.
• UK version The UK version of Dr Pepper, along with several other countries, is made with sugar instead of high fructose corn syrup (like Heritage Dr Pepper in the USA, as mentioned above). Since August 2014, a "revised" flavor is marketed in the UK that reduces the amount of sugar from 10.3 g per 100 ml to 7.2 g while adding artificial sweeteners (aspartame and acesulfame K).
• Dr. Pepper Zero (started in 2013): As Coca-Cola distributed Dr Pepper in the UK, a "Zero" version was introduced, which means that it has no added sugar and is low in calories, but maintains a taste more consistent with the regular Dr Pepper than its diet variant.
• German version the German version of Dr Pepper, similar to its version of the UK, is also manufactured with a reduced amount of sugar and artificial sweeteners (also aspartame and acesulfame K). However, sugar is reduced to 6.8 g per 100 ml, slightly less than in the UK.

Features

In the United States, Dr Pepper Snapple Group Inc. does not have a network of bottlers and distributors, so it is frequently bottled under contract with independent Coca-Cola or Pepsi bottlers, although independent distributors exist in certain areas. In other countries, Cadbury-Schweppes has licensed distribution rights to Coca-Cola. The point that follows "Dr" it was discarded for stylistic reasons in the 1950s. It is marketed in countries outside the United States.

Sweeteners

Much of the soft drink industry in the United States stopped using sugar in the 1980s, in response to a series of price supports and import quotas beginning in 1982, which increased the price of sugar above the world market price. As a result, more American soft drinks, including Dr Pepper, now use high fructose corn syrup instead of sugar. Those made in the UK continue to be made with sugar.

Other products

• The Jelly Belly company has a line of candy flavored to Dr Pepper.

• The Hubba Bubba brand has gums of that flavor.

• Bonne Bell Cosmetics Company includes Dr Pepper among its "Smackers Lips" we soft-flavored liquored lipstick.

• Brach's has a hard candy line that features Dr Pepper, Orange Crush, A & W Root Beer, and 7 Up hard candies flavored in Brach's Soda Poppers.

• Dr Pepper has an ice-cream demoche syrup also manufactured by Vita Food Products in 2009 called "Dr Pepper cherry dessert filler".