He's a pepper she's a pepper wouldn't you like to be a
pepper too a famous jingle for a famous soda that's
so unique it's almost impossible to figure out
what it actually tastes like well there is some interesting history
and stories behind that distinct flavor so here are the top 10 untold truths of
dr pepper dr pepper was created by a pharmacist to
really know the history behind a product you have to know something about who
created it dr pepper was created by an american pharmacist
named charles alderton in 1885. although born in new york alderton
studied in the uk and then returned to the u.s before
practicing as a pharmacist his interest in creating a soda stemmed
from his realization that people were becoming bored of typical soda flavors
and he believed that he could create something new
and unique his formula combined around 23 different ingredients in order to
create the classic dr pepper flavor we know and love today
alderton originally named the drink waco because he formulated it in a drugstore
in waco texas the owner of that drugstore was a man
named wade morrison who alderton ended up giving the recipe for
waco 2. morrison is the one who changed the name
to dr pepper with a period after doctor but
we'll get to that later the name dr pepper was chosen by morrison because it
was the name of his former boss dr charles t pepper and morrison clearly
was grateful to him for giving him a job back in the day people once viewed dr
pepper as healthy now when you think of dr pepper
you probably don't think of it as something that is good for you
however the name has confused a lot of people in the past
the use of the term doctor led many to believe that the drink may have some
hidden health benefits this was only emphasized by the fact
that in its marketing early on ads claimed that if you drank the soda
it would help with different things such as digestion and energy levels
however dr pepper does not actually offer any true
benefits to your health there are some health benefits
associated with consuming caffeine but the amount of sugar in dr pepper
thanks to its use of high fructose corn syrup
sort of overpowers the benefits of it dr pepper
also uses phosphoric acid which is found naturally in a lot of different foods
such as meat eggs nuts etc its purpose in dr pepper
is to stop the growth of bacteria and to also add a level of tartness to its
flavor when you hear the words phosphoric acid
it sounds pretty unhealthy almost like it could be something highly
toxic but in reality it is perfectly safe to consume in reasonable quantities
someone drank three cans a day and lived 106 years
the late elizabeth sullivan was born in texas and was a huge fan of dr pepper
sullivan started drinking the soda about 50 years into her life and she
absolutely fell in love with it she became dr pepper's number one fan and
was known for her love of the soda right up until her passing she never strayed
from the popular soda she was pretty dedicated to it you have my sword
there was no occasional switch to coca-cola or sprite
she was one loyal customer not only did she drink dr pepper regularly
she actually consumed three entire cans of the soft drink every single day
that is a lot of dr pepper even for a soda lover
she truly believed that dr pepper added something positive to her life
and that drinking the soda every day may have been one of the reasons for
why she was still so active in her old age despite many doctors claiming that
drinking too much soda was bad for her and people in general sullivan continued
anyways and it didn't seem to negatively affect
her life in any way maybe there is something in dr pepper
that makes you live longer or maybe it has something to do with
staying happy throughout your life to be honest we wouldn't be against
drinking a lot more dr pepper to find out for research
purposes of course it does not contain prune
juice and never did there has long been a
rumor circulating from the very start that dr pepper uses prune juice as one
of their ingredients in their official recipe
people even think that this ingredient is probably one of the most
crucial in creating the soda's iconic and delicious taste
however this is not true at all and we actually aren't even sure why
or where this rumor started dr pepper has always denied claims that there is
prune juice in the popular drink however they haven't truly specified
what natural or artificial flavors are used to create
its flavor it's definitely possible that they use
artificial prune flavor in their recipe but that's something that will probably
remain a secret for a very long time the dr pepper recipe is said to be made
up of 23 different flavors the list is pretty long but some of the
flavors that are supposedly used include cherry blackberry allspice
orange and even cardamom you may not be able to pick out all of these flavors
when you take a sip of dr pepper but it's believed that the mixture of
these plus 18 others helps to create the drink that we
love to enjoy today the next time you sip some dr pepper
try and see what flavors you can pick out maybe you'll be surprised
controversial dr pepper ads in 2011 dr pepper released a new drink that they
called dr pepper 10. it was a low calorie version of the
drink and that alone was not a problem at all
however dr pepper used the slogan it's not for women
to advertise the low calorie beverage and they received a lot of backlash
because of it of course right away you can tell
there is a clear issue with this slogan you may be
wondering why was the brand targeting men for this drink
and what other advertising and branding techniques did they use to reach
this audience well those are both pretty good questions
usually diet versions of products are aimed towards women
or both women and men but usually not solely men dr pepper saw this as an
opportunity to create a diet version of the drink that filled this target
audience gap in the market they created packaging for the drink
that was the color of gunmetal and attempted to make the drink look
more masculine the release of this product was met with a negative reaction
from customers who found that the packaging branding and
overall presentation of the product was insulting and promoting sexism although
the product had people talking it wasn't for a good reason turns out
not all publicity is good publicity after all
one city consumes way too much in southwest virginia there is an area
called roanoke valley and you may be surprised to hear that this area is home
to the biggest dr pepper fans you wouldn't
expect for this to be the case in a small
less populated area of the u.s but it's true
the people of roanoke are such loyal supporters of dr pepper that they
dedicate october 24th to the drink officially naming it dr pepper day can't
imagine spending an entire day celebrating a soda well then you're
clearly not from roanoke you may be wondering why this specific city loves
dr pepper so much well remember dr charles t pepper
who we mentioned earlier his original drugstore called dr
pepper's drugstore was in rural retreat an area of virginia
that is only about an hour away from roanoke
in fact the first dr pepper factory in virginia was opened in roanoke in 1936
with this area of the u.s being the hub for all things dr pepper
it isn't surprising that the drink is so popular and heavily consumed there
so if you're around southwest virginia this october
why not join in on the celebration dr pepper has its own museum we're not
kidding there is an entire museum in waco texas
that is completely dedicated to dr pepper
built in 1906 by a man named milton scott
the artesian manufacturing and bottling company was the first building dedicated
to the manufacturing of dr pepper later in the 1980s it was repurposed
into the dr pepper museum and free enterprise institute the
purpose of the museum is to inform and entertain museum goers in order to
keep the history of the soda industry alive
surprisingly the museum itself is not owned by couric
dr pepper the dr pepper parent company and
is completely independent from it however it really does
act as a great advertisement for the brand and they don't even have to pay a
penny for it the museum consists of the bottling
plant a courtyard and a structure called the kelum rotan
building which holds the museum's memorabilia and historical objects
in the kelumrotan building you can find not only memorabilia pertaining to dr
pepper but also other famous soda brands like
pepsi cola you may even be surprised to learn that
dr pepper was invented before another famous classic soda
dr pepper existed before coca-cola yep it's true dr pepper was created in
1885 and coca-cola was technically founded in 1886
only one year later coca-cola was introduced during a social movement
called the temperance movement which was the fight against the
purchasing and consumption of alcohol products
therefore during this time coca-cola offered a non-alcoholic option that
members of this movement happily welcomed similarly to dr pepper
coca-cola was created by a pharmacist and was first
sold at a drug store in georgia for only five cents a glass
there are many objective similarities between the two sodas
such as they are both dark in color and were made during a similar period of
time however dr pepper is not considered a
cola and therefore the two are not placed in
the same category of soda beverages in case you are wondering what makes
something a cola it is the presence of a flavor that you find in an
actual cola nut coca-cola and dr pepper may
seem a bit similar to one another but in reality
they each offer a unique taste that is easily recognizable
the second you take a sip there is no period
in the name many people make the mistake of adding a period
after the doctor in dr pepper this is almost a reflex for those who associate
dr with being the title for a person we
totally get the impulse to use grammatically correct punctuation
but there actually isn't a period in the soda's name
at least not anymore in the 1950s dr pepper went
through a design change the company decided to re-imagine their logo and
branding completely which included a re-imagining of the
name during this process the brand decided to remove the period from dr
pepper some people say that the period was
removed simply so that the logo appeared cleaner
more attractive and was easier to read this change in the name did not coincide
with any formula or product change for the soda the
transformation of dr pepper with a period
into dr pepper without was solely external
it wasn't even formally announced or explained as being relevant or important
with or without the period dr pepper remains a popular
delicious and unique drink unlike any other on the market at the time
or even now hot dr pepper we know what you're thinking dr pepper
hot what a bizarre idea however in the 1960s
dr pepper adds promoted the idea of consuming the beverage
warmed up and in a mug they claimed that hot dr pepper would make the perfect
holiday drink and that it was extremely easy to heat
and would be thoroughly enjoyed by all this was a unique aspect to the dr
pepper brand that other soda companies at the time had
never tried before the company suggested that consumers should try heating up the
soda on the stove until it created steam and then pour it
into a mug with a slice of lemon you may be thinking that hot dr pepper
sounds kind of gross and we totally get it but we think that
the overall aim of this was to make drinking hot dr pepper a similar
experience to drinking other holiday related drinks such as hot apple
cider unfortunately or fortunately we're not
sure this trend did not stick and these days
it would be rare to find someone enjoying a hot
dr pepper during the holidays or at all some fans of the drink have mentioned
online that their parents would give them a hot dr pepper when they had a
sore throat so maybe there is a bigger use for the
hot version however there is no beating a cold dr
pepper as it is a treat unlike any other and it really is a
great choice in our books my beverage of
choice is dr pepper of course
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