Sleep Well, Dear Soda: Pepsi Kills Off One Of Its Longstanding Soft Drinks

Two weeks into the new year and 2023 has already claimed a soft drink. CNN reports that Starry, a new lemon-lime soda, is hitting grocery stores this week. It’s replacing Sierra Mist, a 24-year-old brand that has failed to ever really compete with Sprite, owned by rival Coca-Cola.

“At a time when growth in traditional soda is sluggish and when the shelves are being flooded with new and innovative beverages being a tired second-tier player doesn’t really cut it,” A Pepsi spokesperson told CNN. He added that from 2016-2018 the company tried a rebrand dubbed “Mist Twist” and that the only thing it accomplished was leaving customers confused.

Starry is caffeine-free and is rolling out with two options: regular and sugar free. A Pepsi spokesperson told CNN that Starry has a “higher citrus flavors that are true to fruit and more aromatic” compared to Sierra Mist.

Sierra Mist debuted in 1999. The election of the name “Sierra Mist” was based on favorable research involving 2,000 people from over 1,000 possible names. “Sierra” had previously been a proposed name for what became the original (10% juice-formula, lemon-lime) Slice in 1984.

Sleep Well, Dear Soda: Pepsi Kills Off One Of Its Longstanding Soft Drinks  was originally published on theboxhouston.com