Brown Sprite

Everybody remembers the charm of Crystal Clear Pespi back in 1992.  The nation was going through a clear frenzy, and Pepsi wanted to get on the bandwagon.  The product sold well initially, but then consumers backed away once the novelty wore off.  I mean, if it tastes the same, what's the difference beyond aesthetics?  And if you are can collector like me, you don't even see the drink anyway unless you pour it in a cup.

2014 Wal-Mart Pineapple Soda

A clever humor troupe recently capitalized on this forgotten marketing ploy by releasing a video of a daffy Pepsi executive attempting to market "Brown Sprite." (He's humorously oblivious to the fact Pepsi doesn't even own Sprite.)  He presents a commercial for the product, played cleverly on a VCR, that markets Brown Sprite as a product for the dark and polluted times we live in.

As I watched the commercial, I couldn't help but realize the commercial used the same soundtrack as the original Crystal Clear Pepsi commercial that aired in 1992. It even played off some of the same motifs: a guy soaring through the sky and the message "right now" is the correct time in history for the drink.  I admittedly laughed aloud.  Firstly, because the video was funny, but secondly, because since I am an amateur cultural historian of soda brick-a-brac, I actually picked up that the commercial the executive shows actually parodies the original.  I don't think many people would have caught that.  Then again, not many people blogged about that actual commercial as I did, and not many people collect soda cans.

But I do.

Yes, I do.  And it is the "right time" for you to start as well.