There is no doubt that Pepsi logo is the one of the well-known icons in the world. Even young children can recognize it. Each time we see the red, white and blue colored globe, the first thing we vision is the refreshing ice cold drink. However, most people, including even some of the die-hard fans of this great taste, may not know the real meaning of this logo.
Is the true meaning of the Pepsi logo as attractive as the drink itself?! Let’s check that out.
When Caleb Bradham, a pharmacist from New Bern, North Carolina, started production of his delicious drink in 1898, its logo was no more than the words spelled “Pepsi-Cola” with the curvy letters in red.
Both of these words were the names of drink ingredients. The word “Pepsi” was taken from the medical term Pepsin , which is the main enzyme in human digestion system. It breaks down proteins and aids to digest them easily. The word “Cola” represents another main ingredient, the kola nuts. These caffein-containing nuts are native to the tropical rainforests of Africa. Locals chewed these nuts, and used it for a fatigue, depression, headache, diarrhea, and exhaustion. In the western world kola nuts are used in food and beverage industry as a flavoring ingredient. Considering the fact that original Pepsi-Cola logo was formed based on its two healthy ingredients, “Pepsi-Cola” may not represent something horrible after all, rather something healthy as pharmacist intended to.
With the start of mass productions of the Pepsi drinks, the importance of creating well-defined icon for the company increased. Although Pepsi company left the circles and colors consistent in its logos after 1950s, their logo underwent several changes.
As we can see, Pepsi logos between 1898 and 1940 are somewhat similar, and so does swirling red, white and blue shapes between 1950 and 2008
Beginning from 1960s Pepsi was no longer “Pepsi-Cola”. The company removed the word “Cola” from its logo, and it was never used since then. In my opinion, it was the decision taken to decrease the similarities to its long time rival “Coca-Cola” and advertise the Pepsi as unique product. This was the drastic change from the advertisement strategy taken earlier years of the company. Rivalry between two giant beverage companies is even obvious from their earlier logos. For instance 1940s “Coca-Cola” and “Pepsi-Cola” logos are almost identical.
Adaption of new colors, and shapes.
During the second world war, Pepsi associated red, white and blue colored swirling shapes into their logo. These colors were chosen to show the company’s support to American troops. The sphere like shape symbolizes the globe, which means Pepsi is now a global brand. Swirling shape symbolizes the water. Ancient Egyptians and several other civilizations described water through swirling symbols and wavy lines.
The most recent and the most expensive Pepsi logo
Pepsi spent $1 million dollars for its new logo. It is just a redesign of its previous one. Only change is the middle part, where swirling shape used to be running straight across, but now it geometrically changed. Furthermore, Pepsi is spelled with all lover case letters.
Of course, it seems like a very heavy price tag for the redesign, but the designer of the logo, Arnell Group, has a justification for the price. Its leaked 27 page document describes it as “Breathtaking” logo. They associate the new logo with earth’s magnetic field, Da Vinci’s Vitruvian man, “Golden Ratio” and with several other factors. However, general public, including me, sees the new Pepsi logo as a smiling globe.
I think it should stay this simple and good.
