Pibb Xtra

Pibb Xtra

File:Pibb Xtra.PNG A digital recreation of the Pibb Xtra logo
Type	Cola
Manufacturer	The Coca-Cola Company
Country of origin	United States
Introduced	1972
Color	Caramel
Variants	Pibb Zero
Related products	Dr Pepper Dr. Thunder

Pibb Xtra (previously sold as Mr. PiBB) is a carbonated soft drink marketed by The Coca-Cola Company. It is currently sold in the Mariana Islands and the United States. Mr. Pibb is similar to Dr Pepper in taste, but with a slightly different, less widespread blend of flavors.

History

Mr. PiBB was introduced in June 1972 to compete against Dr Pepper and has a very similar taste, but was sweeter and not as sharp as Dr Pepper. It also didn't have all the flavors of Dr Pepper. The original test markets for Mr. Pibb in 1972 were located in Texas and Mississippi.

In 2001, a new flavor called Pibb Xtra was introduced with added cinnamon and cherry flavor, replacing the original flavor in many parts of the U.S. Some regions had both variations for sale at the same time.

There is currently an online petition to bring back the old version, Mr. PiBB, to areas that no longer receive shipments of Mr. PiBB, but rather Pibb Xtra. This petition has around 2000 signatures.

A fan based web site (The Ultimate PiBB Site) devoted to Mr. Pibb including the world's largest collection of items was around from 1999-2004 and ended up shutting down due to lack of time by the site owner, but a new Mr. Pibb website created by the same owner is now up and running at http://www.pibbthug.com/main.

The soda has a small but loyal following in many parts of the United States, especially the South. A diet version was also available into the 1990s in some markets, notably Texas. Some cans were uniquely shaped. Instead of the traditional cylinder, the can had faceted sides.

Mr PiBB's slogan in the late 1990s was "Put it in your head", and the can featured an odd cartoon head drawn in a squiggly scribble style.

In 2005, the Coca-Cola Company introduced Pibb Zero, a sugar-free version of Pibb Xtra, in Texas, Georgia, Kansas (except for areas around Wichita and Hutchinson, and the northwestern portion of the state), Oklahoma, Missouri, Chicago and parts of the Midwest. The Coca-Cola Company reports that there are no plans to introduce Pibb Zero to the rest of the US.

Availability

File:12 pack pibbxtra2008.jpg

12 pack of PiBB Xtra.

Pibb Xtra is widely available in Texas and the southern United States, parts of the Pacific Northwest, the Midwest, and other areas of the country, depending on the local Coca-Cola bottler. It is rare to nonexistent in other parts of the US., such as the Northeast, where most bottlers are distributors of Dr Pepper. Pibb Xtra is common and very popular in Maryland, especially the Baltimore area. In Baltimore, you can find Pibb Xtra in many stores and also in 16 oz bottles at convenience stores. In California it used to be available in Bakersfield and Fresno in cans and plastic bottles as recently as 2005 but distribution has apparently been stopped. Pibb Xtra can still be found at the Kmart store in Bishop, CA off of Hwy 395 in very limited quantities as well as in Reno, NV. It can be found in fountain form in restaurants such as Del Taco, Wendy's, McDonald's, Subway, Quiznos, Rocky Rococo, Chipotle, Buffalo Wild Wings, Waffle House, Qdoba Mexican Grill, Potbelly Sandwich Works, and at select Piccadilly Cafeterias; it is available in the northeast at Dennys, TGI Fridays, Ruby Tuesday's, 5 Guys, and Quik Check convenience stores. It's also available on board of Continental Airlines flights. Some fountains and vending machines still have Mr. PiBB labels, even though it has been replaced by Pibb Xtra. Pibb Xtra is also available in other areas such as Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, West Virginia, Colorado, Pennsylvania, and is limited in New Jersey and New York. Pibb is making a comeback to the northeast and at most places that have coke products it is available in the tap. Though it is in the tap, it is not available in cans or bottles.

Nutrition facts

In a 20 ounce bottle of Pibb Xtra, there are 240 calories, zero of which are from fat. There are 70 mg of sodium, 65 g of carbohydrates, and 64 g of sugar.

Video game

In the 1990s, the marketers of Mr. PiBB distributed a video game. It featured a cartoon man similar to the cartoon used on the original Mr. PiBB can, whose mission was to escape from a school inhabited by zombies. He defeated the zombies by burping at them and he could increase his burp capacity by drinking Mr. PiBB. This video game was played through MS-DOS on a PC, and was distributed in floppy disk format (3.5" diskette).

In popular culture

Mr. PiBB is mentioned several times throughout the series American Dad as it is Stan Smith's favorite drink. It is a big part of the sub-plot in the episode "A.T. The Abusive Terrestrial", where Stan and Francine try to save the original Mr. Pibb drink from being discontinued. Eventually they meet a man named Mr. Pibb (voiced by Peter Graves) who introduces them to Pibb Xtra. In another episode, Stan pays a family of illegal immigrants working for him in watered-down Mr. Pibb.

Mr. PiBB was also in an episode of King of the Hill, where Dale fills Hank's lawnmower with the soft drink instead of gasoline.

On December 17, 2005, the "Lazy Sunday" sketch on Saturday Night Live included the line "Mr. Pibb & Red Vines equal CRAZY DELICIOUS," rapped by Andy Samberg and Chris Parnell.

Mr. PiBB is featured on a Family Guy episode where Peter Griffin tells of his living with Superman. A flashback follows leading to Peter asking Superman to go to the grocery store as they have run out of Mr. PiBB and Cheez-Its.

In the Yes, Dear episode "Worst in Show", Greg is excited to find a Mr. Pibb machine at the veterinarian's office.

Mr. PiBB is spoken about in the movie Slither, Jack MacReady goes off in a tantrum screaming about the circumstances and how there is no Mr. PiBB. It's the only coke he likes.

In the Scrubs episode "My Long Goodbye", Elliot Reid tells a story of a quiz she took in school about Mt. Dew's original name, and gives Carla a piece of trivia about Mr. Pibb, claiming it was originally called Señor Brown Water.

In the movie Zoom, Tim Allen (or Zoom) nicknamed the Zenith Program's robotic assistant Mr. PiBB, after the cola drink.

In the Simpsons episode "Homer Alone", Selma and Patty babysit Lisa and Bart and offer them a choice of beverages including "Clamato, Mr. Pibb, and soy milk". It is again mentioned in "Mayored to the Mob", when a woman comes up to "Comic Book Guy" and asks how much she can get for water damaged "Little Lo Los". Comic Book Guy tells her that the damage is not from water, but from Mr. PiBB.

In the Venture Bros episode "Return to Spider-Skull Island", Dr. Byron Orpheus futilely attempts to order Mr. PiBB, among several other obscure beverages, at a roadside diner.

In one of Mitch Hedberg's jokes, he refers to Mr. PiBB as a "poor imitation of Dr Pepper", because the "dude didn’t even get his degree.”

During the 1993 Nascar Winston Cup season, it was an associate sponsor to Hut Stricklin's Ford Thunderbird.

Mr. PiBB was also the name of a character in four skits featured on the 2004 Adam Sandler album Shhh...Don't Tell.

The drink is mentioned in the song 'Idea for a movie' on 'The Vandals' Album, 'Hitler bad, Vandals Good'. The Lyric is, "I've got an idea for a movie, and it goes like this, Check it out, it's about about a boy who gets his finger caught in a bottle of Mr. Pibb.