Cola Confusion 2: Pepsi One v.2 vs. Pepsi Edge

[jhlurie]

As Jason Perlow has pointed out in the original Cola Confusion topic (about Diet Coke vs. Diet Coke w. Splenda vs. Coke Zero vs. Coke C2), Pepsi has recently introduced a reformulation of Pepsi One using Splenda.

What's totally confusing me is how this fits in with Pepsi Edge (the Splenda Pepsi product introduced last summer). Is Pepsi One version 2 a repackaging of that product or a complete replacement of it?

So has anyone here actually tried the new Pepsi One yet? So far there's been a lot of hatred of the other Splenda Colas released so far (personally C2 is the only one I've totally loathed).

[Jason Perlow]

Pepsi ONE appears to be competing with Coke Zero. Mind you I haven't tried Pepsi One yet so I have no frame of reference. Like Coke Zero it has Potassium Benzonate and Ace K, but its Splenda-based instead of Nutrasweet based like Coke Zero.

Pepsi Edge was a mid-cal like C2 -- half HFCS/half Splenda. C2 was Half HFCS/Half Nutrasweet, and overall people thought it wasn't as good as Pepsi Edge.

[jhlurie]

Yeah. I remember all of this now. That mid-cal stuff was kind of like a bad dream. I mean what was the point?

[Jason Perlow]

Whats amazing is that Coke may end up coming out the winner in this particular battle with Coke Zero -- compared with Pepsi its diet soft drink track record over the past few years, the notable exception being Diet Coke with Lime -- has been pretty horrid. Coke Zero, if successful, would be the biggest bounce back for them and one of the biggest successes in diet cola history.

[jhlurie]

Whats amazing is that Coke may end up coming out the winner in this particular battle with Coke Zero -- compared with Pepsi its diet soft drink track record over the past few years, the notable exception being Diet Coke with Lime -- has been pretty horrid. Coke Zero, if successful, would be the biggest bounce back for them and one of the biggest successes in diet cola history.

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It needs marketing first. I haven't watched a lot of TV in the past week or two, but I imagine I should have seen at least a commercial or two for it.

As for Diet Coke with Splenda, while I don't recall a commercial for that either, I HAVE seen several very big, very strategically placed billboard ads for it.

"New" Pepsi One I only heard about by reading the outside of a 12 pack sitting in a store (although I didn't buy it that day).

[elswinger]

I guess I'll go out on a limb and say if I want a Coke or Pepsi, I'll have a Coke or Pepsi. I have never liked diet soda and if I need somethin with zero calories and zero aftertaste, I'll have a nice cold water.

I think Coke and Pepsi need to come out with "Truly Classic Coke" and "Pepsi Old School", "Now with Sugar!!"

[jhlurie]

I guess I'll go out on a limb and say if I want a Coke or Pepsi, I'll have a Coke or Pepsi.  I have never liked diet soda and if I need somethin with zero calories and zero aftertaste, I'll have a nice cold water.

I think Coke and Pepsi need to come out with "Truly Classic Coke" and "Pepsi Old School",  "Now with Sugar!!"

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Coke has that. It's called "Kosher for Passover Coke". Alternately, "Mexican Coke".

[jhlurie]

Just tried some Pepsi One Version 2.

My conclusion is that it's really more of a competitor for Diet Coke with Splenda than Coke Zero, despite the similarity in names between "Coke Zero" and "Pepsi One".

Coke Zero is, undeniably better than Pepsi One v2. But Pepsi One v2 is probably slightly better than Diet Coke with Splenda.

By the way, as with the last Pepsi One, it is totally confusing what the deal is with the single calorie. I mean Splenda is zero calories and there's no other obvious ingredient taking up that calorie. My impression is that the single calorie is just a rounded up figure from whatever fraction slightly above zero than ANY diet soda is, and that the idea of proclaiming it is to give the impression that the "sacrifice" of having to consume that one calorie is somehow delivering far more taste than a mere "zero cal" drink.