🚀 go-pugleaf

pjk@hou2a.UUCP (P.KEMP at AT&T Bell Labs, Holmdel NJ) writes:

> I tried Cherry Coke for the first time the
> other day - it had too much cherry flavor in
> it for my taste.
>
> My neighbor, who liked cherry colas as a kid,
> thought Cherry Coke tasted like cough medicine!

I would expect that Cherry Coke would be most popular in the South.  That
is also where Dr. Pepper and Mr. Pibb are popular (those also being
fruit-flavored colas); likewise the citrus sodas, such as Squirt, Mountain
Dew, Mello Yello, and Kick.

I recall a very long article in the Atlanta Constitution's sunday magazine
back when Mello Yello came out that detailed the marketing research that
went into Mello Yello, in fact (which is where the above comes from).
Apparently Mello Yello was designed specifically to appeal to tired
blue-collar workers, according to this article: little carbonation so it
can be consumed fast*; an optimal ratio of water to other ingredients so
it would be "thirst quenching"; a flavor chosen to be appealing when one
is hot and thirsty; and, although the article didn't mention it, apparently
a large amount of caffeine.  I've discovered that with the above in mind,
it is possible to drink Mello Yello at times when it actually tastes good.
At other times, it tastes way too strong.

By the way...  I think Cherry Coke doesn't have ENOUGH cherry flavor,
actually; there is very little cherry to it compared to the old "original"
cherry cokes (which were made by adding cherry syrup to original soda-
fountain Coca Cola).

*One thing that has always puzzled me about this, though... shortly before
Mello Yello came out, Mr.  Pibb came out, also (I think) by the same soft
drink company (Coca Cola).  Mr.  Pibb's advertisements called Mr.  Pibb
"The world's fastest soft drink," and showed things like race car drivers
drinking a bottle of Mr.  Pibb at a very high speed right after a race.
They never said this about Mello Yello, eventhough that was what this
article claimed Mello Yello was designed for.  I've never entirely
understood why they came out with two "fast" soft drinks at the same time
(and at the time, the commercials didn't make much sense, either...  I
mean, what's a "fast" soft drink, and why would someone want one?).
-- 
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	    [But, at the time you are reading this, probably in New Jersey]