Pepsi Kills Classic Soda as It Tries to Rival One Coke's Biggest Brands

The iconic PepsiCo drink will fade away but not before a new star takes center stage.

The beverage wars have always been fierce between rivals Coca-Cola  (KO) - Get Free Report and PepsiCo  (PEP) - Get Free Report. But they're raging this year now more than ever before, with Pepsi reformulating its sugar-free soda to taste less diet (and promoting it heavily ahead of Super Bowl LVII) and Molson Coors  (TAP.A) - Get Free Report introducing its own zero-proof, fizzy canned drink.

It may seem like every time you go to the grocery store or gas station there's a new drink on the shelf. Upstart beverages beloved by Generation Z (the age demographic born after 1997) love new fizzy drinks like Poppi, a healthy probiotic soda with zippy branding. No surprise Poppi is now worth billions. 

But PepsiCo has had less luck at targeting a younger generation with what's previously worked on older ones. Gen Z famously drinks less soda, and large beverage conglomerates are working to move away from less-sensitive branding that uses words like "diet." 

PepsiCo Thinks It Has The Answer for Non-Soda Drinkers

If the idea of drinking a highly caffeinated, caramel-colored fizzy soda isn't appealing, PepsiCo has just the solution for you. 

Earlier in January, PepsiCo introduced a new drink called Starry, which will be targeted at the less-soda-zealous crowd. The new beverage will be a lemon-lime carbonated beverage with a mission. 

Starry comes complete with brightly-colored, eye-catching packaging with bold letters and a graphic lemon/lime imagery. It'll be aimed specifically at that fickle Gen Z cohort, with PepsiCo claiming Starry is on a "purpose-driven," mission. Other promotional materials claim the drink is "bright, optimistic, and rooted in culture and fun," and will take key "steps on sustainability," which is something Gen Z cares deeply about.

Its tagline, "Starry hits different," is also uniquely Gen Z-approved. 

Starry (not Sprite, not Slice, not Storm, and definitely not Sierra Mist), will feature "a crisp, refreshing formula with a bite to win share and grow the category," according to the PepsiCo's promotional branding. Basically, it's intended to be a Sprite-killer.

What's Happening to PepsiCo's Sierra Mist Soda?

PepsiCo also hopes the drink will replace its doomed Sierra Mist soda, which has notoriously lagged behind in sales and only fetches around 0.1% of dollar share. 

Of course, this hinges largely on it tasting and looking distinctly different from Sierra Mist. It certainly looks different. 

And as for taste...it "has higher citrus flavors that are true to fruit and more aromatic which delivers a more balanced, cleaner, crisp finish than Sierra Mist."

We think the sales will speak for themselves. Starry will be available wherever you buy soda in January.