Top 20 Disgusting Beverage FAILS
#20: OK Soda
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It is usually a great thing for a product to live up to its name. That is, of course, unless the product’s name is “OK”. From the marketing wizards that brought you New Coke, OK Soda was launched in 1993 as something akin to the anti-soda. With its neo-noir can design and non-marketing marketing campaign, the drink tried to appeal to the Generation X crowd. Instead, it failed to hit it off with any target market and ended up getting X’d off store shelves just two years later. And it wasn’t just the confusing marketing. Not everyone seemed to be psyched about the taste either, which the soda’s own advertising likened to “carbonated tree sap”.
#19: Diet Pepsi Jazz
You know how Sheldon Cooper feels about actual Jazz music? Well, that’s kind of how most people felt about Diet Pepsi Jazz soda. Released in 2006, this diet cola skew from PepsiCo. came in three different flavors: Black Cherry and French Vanilla, Strawberries and Cream, and Caramel Cream. The tagline at launch hailed Jazz Soda as “the new sound of cola”, but apparently it was a sound that many folks didn’t want to hear. According to one blogger review from back in the day, the drink tasted “okay”, although the Strawberries and Cream flavor had a “very noxious fake strawberry odor”. There were those who probably liked it - but like real jazz - they were apparently in the minority.
#18: Pepsi Blue
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After PepsiCo. saw a big jump in sales with the introduction of Mountain Dew Code Red in 2001, they decided that they needed a color jolt for their main cola as well. In 2002, following nine months of taste testing, they gave us Pepsi Blue. While the company simply described the flavor as “berry”, consumers thought the overly-sweet cola tasted like blueberries or raspberries, and even cotton candy. One of the biggest issues with it, though, was the Blue 1 coloring agent used to achieve its signature hue. Apparently, at the time, this compound was actually banned in a number of countries around the world.
#17: Vault
Seeing the success that their rivals over at PepsiCo were having with Mountain Dew, the Coca-Cola Company decided to introduce Vault in 2005. Vault was an artificially flavored, hybrid beverage with the tagline “Drinks like a soda, kicks like an energy drink.” However, after six high-energy years, the brand lost its kick and was discontinued. Although, the end of Vault can’t just be blamed on the taste. In fact, the soda still has a cult following begging for its return. But in 2011, the company made the decision to say goodbye to Vault and put their weight behind Mello Yello instead, citing its longer history and better brand awareness from consumers.
#16: 7 Up Gold
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It might’ve been called 7 Up Gold, but this 1988 soda wasn’t winning any medals. After merging with the Dr. Pepper company back in 1987, it appears that 7 Up went scrolling through the Doctor’s old recipe books. What they found was a formula that was never used by the company. So they grabbed it and that’s what became 7 Up Gold. Now, maybe it would’ve worked for Dr. Pepper if they’d tried it. But a dark, caffeinated, spice-flavored 7 Up made no sense to consumers. The company’s goal for the new drink was to pick up 1% of the cola market. Instead, they only got 0.1% and discontinued it after a couple of months.
#15: Dr. Pepper Ten
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Some beverages fail because of an unappealing taste or the use of controversial chemicals. But where Dr. Pepper Ten failed the hardest was with its seemingly sexist ad campaign. Released in 2011, Dr. Pepper Ten was a diet soda, so named because it only had 10 calories. And while you’d think a low-calorie soft drink would be something both men and women might enjoy, Dr. Pepper made sure to let everyone know that this soda was for the boys alone. Think we’re exaggerating? Well, you obviously don’t remember the drink’s controversial ad slogan. We understand trying to make your diet soda more appealing to men, but is that really the only way to do it? Fail!
#14: Tab Clear
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In the early ‘90s, clear drinks were seemingly all the rage, from Zima to Crystal Pepsi and, of course, Tab Clear. The lattermost was introduced specifically to not only rival Crystal Pepsi, but to destroy it. You see, back then, Coca-Cola wanted to compete with Pepsi for the clear soda market. Not willing to take a chance with a clear Coke, they introduced the world to Tab Clear in 1992. While they would’ve loved for it to be a hit, the more sinister plan was to market it as a diet soda. This would give the impression that Crystal Pepsi was also a diet soda and adversely affect both drinks. Suffice it to say, the plan worked and by 1994, both products were dead.
#13: Hubba Bubba Soda
Have you ever chewed on a piece of bubble gum and wished that you could just drink it in liquid form instead? Well, in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s, you could do just that with Hubba Bubba Soda. Yes, this was soda flavored like everyone’s favorite childhood bubblegum, or second favorite, if you were a Bubblicious kid. The super sweet beverage was obviously geared towards children, with playful commercials and a major availability at Toys “R” Us stores. This, however, may have hampered their spread across the teenage and adult markets. While the soda had some initial success, just like the flavor of the Hubba Bubba gum, it disappeared pretty quickly.
#12: Dr. Pepper Red Fusion
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In 2002, Dr. Pepper did something they had never done before in the over 100-year history of the company. They introduced a new flavor. And while Red Fusion came with a lot of hype and a big marketing campaign, it certainly wasn’t - as opposed to the original - what the doctor ordered. Looking back at some online comments from the time, people called it everything from “nothing special” to “disgusting”. Sure, there were those that dug the cherry-flavored soda, but obviously not enough given that declining sales led to it being discontinued within a year or two.
#11: New Coke
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Introduced in the 1880s, Coca-Cola was almost 100 years old when the company decided they needed to tweak the formula of the world’s most popular soda. In 1985, with blind taste tests supposedly indicating that consumers preferred the sweeter Pepsi, the company rejigged their flagship cola and gave the world New Coke. And guess what? A lot of people liked it. But there were also plenty who didn’t, especially in the southern parts of the U.S., and they did well to make their concerns known. “The Real Thing” wasn’t real anymore and it took just 79 days for the company to announce the return of the original formula.
#10: Thanksgiving Dinner Soda Line
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Jones Soda have managed to co-exist with the heavyweights by carving out a niche for themselves with their unique photography-based bottle designs and willingness to embrace odd flavors. Yes, they offer up standards like Root Beer and Cream Soda, but they also do unusual flavors like Peanut Butter and Jelly, Chocolate, and FuFu Berry. It’s the specialty and holiday releases where things get really odd. The 2007 Gingerbread Man flavor? That we can get behind. This Thanksgiving sampler... not so much. The 2005 “National Pack” comes with the following flavors: Turkey & Gravy, Brussels Sprout with Prosciutto, Cranberry, Wild Herb Stuffing, and Pumpkin Pie. The 2006 variety added an “antacid” flavor! Yikes. Not exactly refreshing.
#9: Maxwell Ready-to-Drink Coffee
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Introducing a beverage that NOBODY needed. Making coffee is simple. Add hot water to ground coffee beans in a filter, and voila. Alternatively… stop at a drive-thru on your way to work. If you’re really pressed for time and don’t care about quality or taste whatsoever, instant coffee can be made, well… instantly. With these options available, taking coffee and putting it in a cardboard carton, to then be poured out into mugs and reheated in the microwave had no justifiable reason to exist. In the end, it wasn’t quicker or more convenient, and it certainly didn’t deliver a superior taste to a fresh brewed pot.
#8: Pepsi AM
Sure, Maxwell House kinda blew it… but when it comes to revolutionizing the concept of the morning beverage, there have been far more spectacularly bad ideas. There are a lot of people who struggle to face the day without a morning dose of caffeine. Hoping to cash in on this demand, and maybe even convert some coffee drinkers, Pepsi unveiled Pepsi AM in 1989. To be clear… this wasn’t some revolutionary new type of beverage. It was good old-fashioned Pepsi cola with the caffeine level jacked way up. If your stomach is churning at the thought of starting your day with soda… you’re not alone. It was discontinued just one year later.
#7: Vio
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Vio is a flavored, carbonated milk beverage, which the Coca-Cola company introduced to American markets in 2009. Sure, milk is a popular drink all around the world, but it seems not everyone appreciated a carbonated variant of it. To the shock of nobody who wasn’t working for Coca-Cola, it was deemed a failure and soon pulled from production. In their defense, such beverages do succeed elsewhere in the world - in Japan, they’re actually quite common. This is simply a case of trying to push a market way outside of its comfort zone. That being said, an updated Vio has since been introduced in India in 2016, where the product has seemingly fared better.
#6: Budweiser BE
Can’t we just keep it to one vice at a time? In the early 2000s, when energy drinks were all the rage, the quote unquote “King of Beers” decided to jump on the bandwagon by pumping a variation of their ever-popular beer full of caffeine. Boasting 6.6% alcohol and a hearty dose of caffeine, the beverage was certainly sending your body mixed messages. Leaving aside the fact that numerous studies have proven caffeinated alcoholic beverages to be incredibly dangerous… this brew was just downright disgusting. Oh, they also liked to refer to it as “Budweiser B-to-the-E” like someone’s deeply uncool uncle. You know… just to make you cringe twice as hard while drinking it.
#5: AfterShock
If you were a bar and club goer in the 2000s, there’s a good chance you tried AfterShock, or at least know people who did. Whether you liked it or not probably depended on how you felt about fruity alcoholic drinks - as AfterShock came in multiple flavors, including cherry, raspberry and coconut. Usually done as a shooter, this malt liquor has been described by some as “mouthwash with a different label”, so it’s a bit easy to see why it wasn’t a huge success. Due to its 30-40% alcohol content and the cool fire shots, AfterShock gained a loyal following among the younger party crowd of the aughts. But even they said their goodbyes once energy drinks entered the market.
#4: Tru Blood
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For starters… can you say “false advertising?” This carbonated beverage is not, in fact, blood - human or otherwise. It is, however, a tie-in to the hit HBO series “True Blood,” and the blood beverage that the vamps in the show consume to quench their insatiable thirst. For diehard fans of the series, this remarkably accurate-looking replica is sure to get their hearts pounding. Unfortunately, the marketing department decided to treat this beverage as more of a collector’s item than a viable product, slapping on a hefty price tag that scared away many would-be faux-vampires. Oh, and did we mention that most bloodsuckers in the show couldn’t stand the stuff? Not exactly a great endorsement.
#3: Ranch Dressing Soda
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Like Jones, Lester’s Fixins is known for taking soda pop to strange (and often exciting) new places. This soda is without a doubt meant as a novelty, but it makes you stop and wonder… how far is too far? Some of their concoctions are bizarre, but nonetheless inspire a desire to give them a try - take bacon, PB&J, and pumpkin pie. Ranch flavor on the other hand? The mere thought of it makes your stomach do somersaults. Based on their advertising, “weird” is clearly the angle they’re going for. With this particular flavor… we wish they hadn’t been so successful in achieving that goal. The smell is apparently repulsive, and the flavor has been described as at best unremarkable.
#2: Coca-Cola BlāK
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How do you connect with trendy young adults? How about making a mysterious “black edition” of your cola? Sure, that’s great and all, but if you REALLY wanna get the people talking, you better drop a letter… and randomly capitalize the K! Silly branding aside, Coca Cola BlāK just didn’t work. Why? Because its whole gimmick was that it was coffee-flavored. Consider it Coca-Cola’s own attempt to capture the coffee drinking market. They gave it a sophisticated-looking bottle that screamed “flavored coffee” and hoped to connect with the masses. Connect… they did not. It earned a few devotees, but mostly people preferred to keep their coffee and cola separate. It only lasted 2 years.
#1: Cocaine
This drink promised serious levels of energy and wasn’t afraid to invoke highly addictive illicit drugs to make that clear. The can even featured a font that looked like bumpy lines of white powder. The marketing was so problematic, the FDA actually had it banned on the grounds that Redux Beverages "was illegally marketing the drink as both a street drug alternative and a dietary supplement." They compromised, and rebranded it as “No Name,” before eventually reverting back to the original name. Branding aside, this drink is also a bad idea for consumers. The caffeine and taurine levels are drastically higher than the competition, so much so that doctors have publicly warned against drinking it.
