Diet Pepsi - History

History

Diet Pepsi was originally created in the U.S. under the name Patio in 1963. Following a positive reception attributed to the shifting dietary habits and preferences among the Baby Boom Generation at the time, the drink was re-branded as Diet Pepsi the following year. It became the first diet cola to be distributed on a national scale in the United States. Distribution was extended to the U.K. in 1983, where it is also referred to as Diet Pepsi. Distribution has since expanded to other countries around the world; though an alternate name is used in certain countries. In Italy, Czech Republic,Poland Argentina, Spain Greece, Turkey, Ukraine, and Brasil, the beverage is known as Pepsi Light.

Diet Pepsi competed primarily with another diet cola named Tab in the 1960s and 1970s; however the Coca-Cola Company introduced Diet Coke in 1982 and this product has since been the principal competing product to Diet Pepsi. As of 2010, Diet Pepsi represented a 5.3 percent share of all carbonated soft drink sales in the United States, and was ranked as the #7 soft drink brand by volume. In the same year, Diet Coke was recorded as having a 9.9 percent market share.