Pepsi Next: 60-calorie Soda With 60% Less Sugar

With a tagline reading “Drink it to believe it,” Pepsi is prepping the national launch of their latest mid-calorie product: Pepsi Next.

Come March 26th, Pepsi Max will tread similar ground of several mid-calorie sodas that have failed in the past, but Pepsi urges on that this is the “right product at the right time.” The mid-1990s saw PepsiCo push the 70-calorie Pepsi Edge, and Coca-Cola pushed C2, both of which are no longer on store shelves.

It’s a hard segment of beverages to market for. Take for example Dr Pepper Ten, a soft drink released last year that tried so hard to differentiate itself from the ‘diet’ and ‘feminine’ segment that it ended up resorting to a machismo marketing strategy.

Pepsi Next hopes to capture a market of drinkers who may want to cut back on sugar, but don’t necessarily feel comfortable with “diet” or “zero calorie” sodas.

The first commercial to air in support of the Pepsi Next campaign is entitled “Baby.” The 30-second spot features two parents so mesmerized by the lack of sugar and steadfast taste that they completely miss their baby shredding on a guitar, doing the worm, and doing a headstand in the living room.