Who's a Pepper?

David Card | July 28, 2008, 08:29 AM

I'm a Dr Pepper fan -- yes, it does taste a little like prune juice -- but I suspect this comment's meant to be as ironic as the new ad campaign:

The study's findings resolved a conundrum for Dr Pepper Snapple Group, the Plano, Texas-based company behind the soda. "How do you find new ways to talk about old brands?" asks Jaxie Alt, director of marketing for Dr Pepper. "This [research] was really exciting because we found something new and unique to tell our consumer."

I think the Journal reporter gets the joke, but I'm not a hundred percent sure:

What's more, the research's implications could be good for sales. "We know heavy users drink it slower so if we can get the people that are usually light users to have that better optimal taste, they become heavy users of Dr Pepper and thus increase sales," says Ms. Alt.

Still, bringing the research to life in advertising was no easy task. Dr Pepper had to tap several agencies for ad concepts that incorporated the research findings.

The campaign uses "Doctors" J and Kelsey Grammer to make the medical case that drinking Dr Pepper slowly makes it taste better.