GREENSBORO, N.C. —
Pepsi as you know it has a logo that is red, white, and blue with the name outside the circle. It’s looked like that since 2008. But now, there's a new logo for Pepsi products and it looks like the Pepsi logos of yesteryear.
Pepsi's 125th anniversary is upcoming, so the logo is new and yet somewhat familiar. It looks similar to the logos of the 70s and 80s.
Pepsi is a worldwide name, but it started in the small town of New Bern, North Carolina. It was first called Brad’s Drink.
According to Pepsi’s website, Brad’s Drink was invented in 1898 by local pharmacist Caleb Bradham It was a mix of sugar, water, caramel, lemon oil, kola nuts, nutmeg, and a few other things.
In 1902, Bradham applies for a trademark with the U.S. Patent Office, Washington D.C., and formed the first Pepsi-Cola Company. Pepsi was first sold in 6-ounce bottles. Bradham sold 7,968 gallons of syrup in the first year of operation.
Pepsi-Cola’s first bottling franchises are established in Charlotte and Durham, North Carolina.
The circled red, white, and blue logo came into existence in 1945. For a short while the logo returned to the script of the name but was restored to the circle logo in 1951.
HOW DID PEPSI GET ITS NAME?
The inventor, a former medical school student, said this “healthy” cola would aid in digesting, and the name gets has roots in the word dyspepsia, meaning digestion.
In 2022, PepsiCo employed 315,000 people worldwide.