Top-selling sodas Then vs now
Diet Coke moved up to No. 2 behind Coke in 2010, knocking perennial contender Pepsi to No. 3. That's one of several surprising changes from 10 years earlier.
No. 10
2010: Fanta
2000: Barq's
The battle for share of the soda pop market hit a milestone last year when Diet Coke ended Pepsi's decades-long tenure as the runner-up to regular Coca-Cola.
Diet Coke's rise reflects the consumer trend toward diet sodas. A decade ago, there were two sugar-free beverages among the top 10 soft drinks, while today there are four, according to Beverage Digest's 2010 soft drink rankings (.pdf file).
Overall, soft drink sales in the United States have declined for six consecutive years, as consumers continue to seek healthier or less costly alternatives. Below is a look at the top-selling sodas of the past decade. You may be surprised at how tastes have changed.
In 2000, Barq's Root Beer was No. 10 on the best-seller list, but last year the spot went to Fanta. Fanta? Consumers may not be reaching for the fruit-flavored beverage in the grocery store, but they're buying it when they order an orange-flavored drink at a Burger King or another fast-food restaurant, says Beverage Digest editor John Sicher.
Barq's, which has fallen out of the top 10, was founded by the Barq Brothers in New Orleans' French Quarter in the late 19th century. The sarsaparilla soda is marketed as the root beer "with bite." It's now owned by Coca-Cola (KO) -- as is Fanta.
2010: Diet Dr Pepper
2000: Caffeine-Free Diet Coke
Diet Dr Pepper catapulted into the top 10 last year on the strength of a 5% jump in sales. Its manufacturer, Dr Pepper Snapple Group (DPS), attributes the beverage's popularity to a reformulated recipe that includes the sugar substitute aspartame.
Product placement in such Marvel films as "Spider-Man," "X-Men" and "Iron Man" probably didn't hurt.
A decade ago, the popularity of Caffeine-Free Diet Coke had some pundits questioning Americans' embrace of a cola containing neither sugar nor caffeine. "Why not just drink water?" they wondered.
2010: Diet Mountain Dew
2000: 7UP
This one's a head-scratcher. Are America's extreme-sports-loving young males really calorie-conscious?
Diet Mountain Dew debuted in 1988 and was marketed by owner PepsiCo (PEP) to the young, active set -- the beverage sponsored a namesake sports festival and is a founding partner of ESPN's X-Games. Snowboarders and BMX riders, it seems, are just as concerned with their waistlines as runway models. The citrus-flavored beverage had 2% of the overall market in 2010.
And how did 7UP fall off the map? The formerly iconic lemon-lime soda, which ranked at No. 8 in 2000 with a 2% market share, seems to have been left for dead. Could the "Uncola" have become uncool?
2010: Diet Pepsi
2000: Diet Pepsi
Sometimes, the more soft drinks change, the more they stay the same. Diet Pepsi has not budged from its No. 7 spot or 5.3% market share in a decade. Sales volume, however, is a different story. In 2000, Diet Pepsi sales increased by 4% from the previous year, but by 2010, year-on-year sales had slipped 5.2%.
Diet Pepsi debuted in 1963 as "Patio Diet Cola," a soda alternative for diabetics. Renamed in 1964, it had nearly a two-decade head start on Diet Coke.
Its original short-lived brand name inspired a subplot on cable TV's retro series "Mad Men": The series' Sterling Cooper agency creates a spot for prospective client PepsiCo by aping the opening number in the 1963 musical film "Bye Bye Birdie," with an Ann-Margret impersonator singing, "Bye bye, sugar."
2010: Sprite
2000: Dr Pepper
Coca-Cola introduced Sprite in 1961 with the aim of grabbing a share of the lemon-lime soda market from front-runner 7UP.
Sprite ratcheted up the rivalry in the 1990s with shrewd branding moves: It served as the official soft drink of the NBA and launched the highly effective "Obey Your Thirst" ad campaign, which was followed by snarky anti-image commercials about the fictional "Jooky" beverage.
By the time the 2000 carbonated beverage rankings were released, Sprite had swallowed up the transparent, caffeine-free competition, controlling 6.6% of the overall market, compared with 7UP's 2% take.
Ten years later, 7UP didn't even make the top 10 while Sprite placed sixth, with a 5.6% share of the market and 2% volume growth.
2010: Dr Pepper
2000: Sprite
Believed to have been named for Dr. Charles Pepper, a Virginia drugstore owner, Dr Pepper is America's oldest major soft drink. The beverage traces its origins to 1885 and Morrison's Old Corner Drug Store in Waco, Texas.
The brand's hard-to-describe taste and 23-flavor formula are considered the major draws. The jingle "Be A Pepper," which was sung by Barry Manilow before he became a major star, is by far the beverage's most enduring spot.
Over the past 10 years, Dr Pepper moved up one spot in the carbonated soft drink rankings. A decade ago, brandishing the marketing slogan "Dr Pepper Makes the World Taste Better," the beverage was No. 6, with a 6.3% share. The latest industry ranking has Dr Pepper and its "One Taste & You Get It" campaign in the top five, and still with a 6.3% market share.
2010: Mountain Dew
2000: Mountain Dew
In 1996, The New York Times asserted that "Mountain Dew has long been celebrated as a case study in how to build a consumer brand." Pepsico acquired the Mountain Dew brand in 1964 and began to shift the marketing focus to a younger, active consumer.
The original formula was invented in the 1940s by Tennessee bottlers Ally and Barney Hartman, who promoted the drink to the bluegrass set as a "lithiated lemon" mixer for moonshine whiskey, often known as mountain dew. (The country music standard "Good Old Mountain Dew," written in the '40s, is about moonshine.)
With the power of PepsiCo behind it, the soft drink Mountain Dew has been successfully packaged as the high-voltage beverage to wash down the extreme-sports adrenaline. Its current incarnation as the abbreviated "Mtn Dew" enjoyed a 6.8% market share in 2010, down from 7.2% in 2000.
Meanwhile, Coca-Cola has attempted to steal sales from Mountain Dew, first with the short-lived Surge and, more recently, with the hybrid energy soda Vault.
2010: Pepsi
2000: Diet Coke
To a brand powerhouse like Pepsi, third place in the carbonated beverage rankings might as well be an honorable mention. Its decline is in large part the product of bad marketing tactics.
Last year, the brand tapped into some of that famous "Pepsi Spirit" and made a bold move in what turned out to be the wrong direction; PepsiCo steered its advertising budget toward an altruistic Refresh Project, which raises funds for social programs. This strategy strayed from Pepsi's earlier star-studded marketing campaigns.
This year's refocusing of the brand on sexy celebrity promoters could return Pepsi to its former glory as "The (Second) Choice of a New Generation."
2010: Diet Coke
2000: Pepsi
Diet Coke crushed sugar-free Tab (a beverage also made by Coca-Cola) a short time after being launched in 1982, and was the third-most-popular carbonated beverage by 1983.
Nearly 30 years later, Diet Coke has nudged aside Pepsi to claim the No. 2 spot.
Over the past decade, the Diet Coke brand has been bolstered by a bevy of new flavors, including lemon, vanilla, cherry and lime. Coca-Cola also released a Diet Coke variant fortified with vitamins and minerals, called Diet Coke Plus.
Considering Pepsi's branding blunder last year, it's possible Diet Coke advanced by default. Consumers haven't suddenly found the taste of Diet Coke more agreeable, experts say.
One high-profile member of the Diet Coke demographic -- entertainer Lady GaGa -- has taken to curling her hair with Diet Coke cans.
2010: Coke
2000: Coca-Cola Classic
Coke famously suffered its own marketing snafu in the 1980s, as Coca-Cola executives reacted to loss of market share to Pepsi by retiring Coke's century-old recipe in favor of a reformulated and repackaged "New Coke."
A massive public outcry greeted the new product's arrival, and management responded by quickly bringing back the old formula as "Coca-Cola Classic."
In 2000, that brand was the No. 1 carbonated beverage, with 20.4% of the market. By 2009, Coca-Cola executives felt it was safe to return to its tried and true "Coke" branding.
So, after a 25-year absence, Coke is back on top in the 2010 rankings, claiming 17% of the overall market, to Pepsi's 9.5% share.
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