Logos: Pepsi vs. Coke

[garricks]

(via kitchwitch)

http://i32.tinypic.com/tasn5y.jpg

[CkretAjint]

Bwahahahahaha!!!!!

[morea]

that was awesome. :D

[Virgo Nightingale]

Proof that a truly iconic logo never needs to change. Don't fix what ain't broke!

[garricks]

Well, to be perfectly honest, it does leave out NEW COKE, which is arguably the bigger gaffe. ;)

[Craig B]

mmmmm .... new coke. I'm not sure which was worse, new coke or crystal pepsi. Meh, I don't drink either, so it's no skin off my back.

[Arthaven]

There's been plenty of fail throughout Pepsi's history, much more so than Coke.

Some thoughts:

-Interesting how close the logos resemble each other early on. Hmmmmm???

-What the hell was Pepsi thinking when they made that first logo?!?! Looks like someone wiped their butt and colored it red.

-I can't stand that new Pepsi logo. It just looks like any icon you would see at an airport letting you know which way to the terminal.

[mojoprime]

Well, to be perfectly honest, it does leave out NEW COKE, which is arguably the bigger gaffe. ;)

ugh. that was some awful stuff. *shiver* :eek:

[Mynock]

That first logo obviously wasn't that bad it's just the best digital representation of it.

[Typically]

what about RC Cola?? way better than pepsi imo

[mojoprime]

RC is real good on a hot summer day, but only if you drink it out of the bottle. truly a southern specialty, though i never think i was able to choke down a moon pie with one... ;)

[YNOT]

That first logo makes me think of a pirate.

I drank RC and Pepsi growing up because that's what my parents always bought. It wasn't until high school when we had soda machines that I really tried a Coke and realized how much better it is.

To this day I drink Coke over Pepsi however if I order Imo's pizza (it's a St. Louis thing so Garricks and a few others here know what I mean), they serve Pepsi products and their pizza just tastes better with Pepsi.:confused:

But truthfully, I drink sugar free Red Bull more than anything else.

[CCericola]

Red Bull tastes like a laser. and I have a file full of Pepsi logos I've had to use. The list here might actually be missing a few!

[Red Kittie Kat]

That's too cool :D

[garricks]

Mmm, Imo's. I may have to have that tomorrow for lunch... :D

I prefer TAB with cyclamates!

[mojoprime]

tab was/is food. fresca was always nice every once in awhile, as is mr. pibbs.

man, i had to look at the wiki on the coke wars; i had forgotten all about that stuff. those damn taste tests everywhere you went...

[seamas]

Proof that a truly iconic logo never needs to change. Don't fix what ain't broke!

Well that would be true of Coca Cola (except for New Coke -which actually test marketed fine), as it had a pretty well designed logo and branding early on.

Pepsi was another story. They started off with complete crud.
I think their 1940 one was decent enough (there is a large light-up one near my old neighborhood), but obviously still much of a cop of Coke's style.
I think Pepsi did their best in '62-'73.


Pepsi actually had Coke on the ropes for that brief period of the mid-80s
Remember the "Pepsi challenge". Those weren't staged.
Coke tried the blind taste tests too and found people preferred Pepsi.
That is why Coke came changed its formula (to a formula that did great in blind taste tests).

The new Pepsi branding is pitiful.

[salactive]

i think pepsi.. coke is simple rather then pepsi!!

[lokki]

Pepsi should ahve stuck with the 1973 logo.. thats the best IMO

[drawingguy]

I've always been drawn to Coke. I always felt like I should be drinking it because it's Coca Cola, it's classic and iconic. Pepsi always seemed like they were trying too hard.

I'd probably get caught by the blind taste test though...:D

I love Cherry Coke Zero but it's just too expensive. I usually drink Diet Dr. W from Wegmans. It's 69 cents for a 2 liter and pretty much tastes like Dr. Pepper. For those not familiar, Wegmans is the greatest grocery store on earth.

[darkwolf29a]

That is classic...Coke Classic to be exact. ;) Pepsi HAS to rebrand itself every so often. That's what companies do when they have bad products...rebrand them. LOL

Sorry!!! I'm sure there are Pepsi fans around, but I am not one of them. Will I drink it? Sure, if a Coke product isn't available...otherwise...I'm a Coke man!!!! Of course, I do prefer the Diet Coke.

[seamas]

The funny thing about "Coke Classic" is that it is a different recipe than the pre-New Coke drink.

After the New Coke uproar, the company said it was going back to the old recipe, but they didn't, they dropped one or two ingredients and switched from sugar to High-Fuctose corn syrup.


FYI: The Coke that is "Kosher for Passover" uses sugar (instead of HFCS)

[mlmcasual]

Hahaha.. that’s awesome..

I think you can see the thinking behind each year with pepsi,

1962.. we are Jeep…

1973.. We are a gas Station

1991.. We now have motion!


1998 Raster Effects are cutting edge!


2005 It’s coming at ya baby! Now in 3d

2008, Ohhh Snap! We are cosmopolitan

[SurfPark]

I don't think its that crazy. For the most part, both companies market their products to different audiences. Think about how the logo is a piece of their branding. Coke's tagline is "Always Coca-Cola." They rely on the history and and status to sell their product. The bottom line of their pitch is that because they have been around so long, they must be good.

Pepsi targets a much younger demographic. Ray Charles, Spice Girls, Beyonce, Michael Jackson, Britney Spears, and countless other stars, have been spokespeople for the brand. They aim to be the drink of a generation... the new kid on the block. Its kind of an anti-thesis to Coke's marketing. Rather than embracing the old, Pepsi is trying to say "we're younger, we're newer" pitch. In order to keep that image, they keep changing the logo. It would be hard to say Pepsi is something for this generation when their branding is over 100 years old.

Design doesn't take place in a vacuum. Would we all think the first Coca-Cola logo was that great if they had as many changes as Pepsi?

To say that Coke's logo "works" and that's why it hasn't changed is a fallacy. Coke's logo works because they stuck with it, even when the world's design atheistic changed. Today it is a living marketing artifact. Compare it to Pepsi's first logo. Was it really that original? We love vintage logos because they seem to be more creative than current trends. They stand out in a world of lower cased, san serif, gradient-laden, 3-D train wrecks.

I think its easy to look at Pepsi's long list of logo revisions and consider them failures or a company too antsy to stand behind their brand. The real question to ask if each logo actually fulfilled its purpose.

[rurouni_ben]

Ha ha! Nice!

[WannaBrie]

Interesting! I don't drink any soda at all anymore, but my mom is from Atlanta (birthplace of Coca-cola), so growing up when we were allowed to drink soda, it was always "Co-cola" (That's how all my southern kin pronounce it!)

[urstwile]

I like the 1905 version. It kinda looks like Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. :D

[Mynock]

Nice try Mr. Garricks, but try this on for size http://www.underconsideration.com/brandnew/archives/coca-cola_vs_pepsi_revised_edition.php

[SurfPark]

I feel like I've been redeemed. Thank you Mynock.

[budafist]

I think it could be argued that this logo:
http://img196.imageshack.us/img196/5774/cokefirstlogo.jpg

Wasn't a logo, but in fact just their name typed out part of a broadsheet. I mean you wouldn't say that "PICTURE FRAMES" above it is a logo would you?

[disneyhippie]

I have to agree Buda; that was my first thought too. Even through the article was trying to make a point about the changing logo, the Coca-Cola logo seems to have remained more consistent through the years.
The first time I saw the new Pepsi logo was on a billboard while driving down the interstate. It was one of those "Hooray" or something, with no name. My first thought was "Who ripped off the Pepsi logo?" It wasn't until I was in the grocery store a few weeks later that I realized it was the Pepsi logo!

[Shawj]

I actually really like the new pepsi cans... :o

[Jack Cullen]

Pepsi got many revisions of their logos. XD

[SurfPark]

You all act like Pepsi failed. Its companies like Pepsi that keep forum users employed. Embrace rebranding.

[bashall]

im a coke man at heart! but pepsi brand themselves as the 'cool kids'! they havnt failed in the developin of thier logos if thts how thy wanna be persieved.