You Can Thank This Guy If Popular '90s Drink Crystal Pepsi Returns
Pepsi is remaining coy, but the message is crystal clear.
-- Pepsi is remaining coy, but the message is crystal clear: popular 1990s clear soda Crystal Pepsi may be making a comeback.
And there’s one person largely responsible for that: Kevin Strahle. Strahle, a YouTuber and professional competitive eater, found his success on YouTube in 2013 with a video of him drinking a 20-year-old Crystal Pepsi. The video has more than 11 million views.
Since then, he’s become the de facto leader of the Bring Back Crystal Pepsi campaign, which consists of a petition with more than 33,700 signatures, a #BringBackCrystalPepsi hashtag with over 6,500 tweets, many calls to Pepsi’s customer service line, thousands of comments to #BringBackCrystalPepsi on any photo the company posts to its Instagram and 15 billboards around Los Angeles calling for Pepsi to bring the clear soda back. It’s all culminating this coming Monday, June 15 when Strahle will drive a mobile billboard to Pepsi headquarters in Purchase, New York and host a fan meet-up outside.
It’s unclear what Pepsi thinks of this all as they did not respond to multiple requests for comment, but Strahle Tweeted a letter yesterday that he said the company sent him hinting at the soda’s return.
“We definitely hear you and your followers and we think you’ll all be happy with what’s in store,” the letter said.
Strahle credited the success to the fans’ persistence.
“We all have a passion, and we just want to see Crystal Pepsi come back and share the joy, that’s all,” he told ABC News. “We’re not threatening Pepsi, we’re just working with them for the greater goal.”
That one letter in a Tweet is the only communication he said he’s had from the company, though, despite dozens of emails to the company’s president and Tweets to its official account. They haven’t even acknowledged that he’s coming to headquarters on Monday.
“I’ve made that clear in multiple emails and multiple phone calls with customer service, so I’d assume they know I’m coming,” Strahle said.
Ready or not, Strahle intends to keep bombarding the company until the ultimate goal is reached.
“It’s been 20 to 23 years since I’ve had it last, but I would say it tastes like 1,000 magical fairies gently scrubbing your tongue with churros from Six Flags Great Adventure. It tastes like awesomeness in your mouth,” he said. “It’s sweet, sugary. It’s a nice, refreshing drink. Ice cold on a summer’s day, your thirst would be quenched for sure.”
It’s not that far-fetched to think his campaign could work — in the past few months, Crispy M&M’s, Burger King’s chicken fries, Surge and more have all made a comeback directly thanks to fan-led campaigns.