Talk:Dr Pepper

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"What's the worst that can happen?" is definitely used in the UK as well as Ireland - if it's been used in the US as well then that qualifier should be removed. Anyone know? sjorford 14:14, 15 Oct 2004 (UTC)

I heard about it from a Scottish acquaintance but have never saw it on American TV. Also, not to be a jerk, but that's a really stupid sounding slogan. It doesn't make any sense. "What's the worse that can happen?" The drink sucks, and you'll wish you bought a Coke instead. Duh. --Carl 10:40, 12 Apr 2005 (UTC)

Yes, I never got how it was supposed to make the drink appealing, either. It is still printed on the bottle labels on Dr Pepper made in Ireland and Northern Ireland. --Zilog Jones 20:33, 13 July 2005 (UTC)

Yeah, I'm from England and I remember this advert. 2005 I believe? 82.38.55.11 16:10, 25 February 2007 (UTC)

The Pepper Song

Is it really necessary to include the [sic] notation in that song? Doesn't it take away from the flow of the lyrics? And since Pepper here is referring to Dr Pepper, doesn't a company slogan exist outside of everyday grammar?--DaFoos 18:54, 4 May 2007 (UTC)

Taste

As an encyclopedia article shouldn't it mention what it tastes like? I must admit to being a bit curious my self. --BeSherman 11:59, 3 April 2007 (UTC)

Neutral point of view

This article has a significant bias toward Dr Pepper in the USA, omitting information about distribution, logos, differences in the taste/ingredients, and availability of different variants.

This is especially obvious in the introduction paragraph, which uses the blanket statement 'The ownership of the trademark varies in other countries', then goes on to list a factually misleading selection of Dr Pepper variants, many of which are not available in other countries (from a UK point of view).

Sorry to be an arse, but this really bugs me. Feel free to go through my contributions and rip my UK oriented ones to shreds :) - Zephyris _Talk 16:05, 8 November 2006 (UTC)

Considering Dr Pepper was CREATED in the US, and is marketed toward the US, I don't see how this is a problem. We'll just add disclaimers that the variants are US only. Tknab 08:20, 26 February 2007 (UTC)

Cough Syrup comment

I noticed a comment near the bottom of part of the Dr. Pepper article. It says "Call this a drink? It tastes like f**king cough syrup!" or something similar.

I assume this is something that should be removed...

typical idiotic vandalism, since Dr Pepper was listed on the front page Alkivar 01:42, 19 Oct 2004 (UTC)

In Australia, everyone describes it as having a cough syrup taste. It does taste more like cough syrup than caramel.

I've never understood the description of caramel. I think it tastes vaguely cherryish, but not at all like cough syrup (unless you have very tasty cough syrup in ozland). Tim Rhymeless (Er...let's shimmy) 04:32, 17 August 2005 (UTC)

I'm not the vandal, but I totally agree. Tastes horrible. Tronno 03:53, August 17, 2005 (UTC)

To each his own. I do find that some of the store-brand Dr. Pepper knockoffs do taste quite a bit like cough syrup. I tried "Dr. Chex" from Winn-Dixie once, and it was more like Dr. Robutussin. I don't think that Dr. Pepper tastes anything like cough syrup. I wonder why no-name colas taste OK, but no-name Dr. Pepper is awful...--RLent 16:04, 14 February 2006 (UTC)

As for knockoff Dr Pepper brands: Mr. Pibb notwithstanding, probably the best generic I've tasted is Dr. Skipper, which is a Safeway product. -Tim Rhymeless (Er...let's shimmy) 10:15, 25 February 2006 (UTC)

If I could find the person who put that I'd kick his ass. If you don't like Dr Pepper please check yourself into an insane asylum.

--Waterspyder 23:13, 29 January 2006 (UTC)

Effect of Punctuation

Did the Dr Pepper company ever seriously believe having a period at the end of "Dr" gave the soda a medical connotation, but taking the period away removed such connotation? Seems a little unlikely to me, though that's what's implied by this article... NattyBumppo 19:35, 17 Dec 2004 (UTC)

• To a certain extent, yes. Adding Dr. to a product at (at the time of Dr Pepper's inception) instantly increased it's credibility. That's why so many health tonics read "Dr. Foo's Revitalizing Potion", or some such. Although the removal of the period was probably for the reason given, I doubt anybody noticed, as the fad, and many of those products associated with it, had long since gone defunct (due to some sort of medicinal standards act). It's quite common to see Dr. Pepper still. Tim Rhymeless|(Methyl Remiss) 00:50, 18 Dec 2004 (UTC)
  • I would also back up the not on American TV that I recall comment.  ALKIVAR™ 18:25, 12 Apr 2005 (UTC)

I've read said the removal of the period was for aesthetic purposes when they made it stylized since it made the "Dr" look more like D: --Waterspyder 23:13, 29 January 2006 (UTC)

• I once read somewhere that the period was removed from the Dr so that the name could be trademarked. This is why all other "Dr." imitation sodas include the period. However, it was years ago that I read this and there's no way I can come up with any such source... any ideas? 71.124.8.238 05:45, 3 April 2006 (UTC)

Could we perhaps change the massively pretentious pseudo-British "full stop" business to the normal "period" in this section? Dr Pepper is from Texas, for goodness sake. 65.247.226.95 09:08, 5 May 2006 (UTC)

Cough syurp??? Mountain Dew (even though i drink it sometimes) would probably be the soda that tastes like that or some clearer soda. I don't think there is any soda that actually tastes like or even close like cough syurp though...eww.

Former Employer

The article states:

A popular belief is that the drink was named after Morrison's former employer in Texas, but this has been disputed by the Dr Pepper company itself. They state that before moving to Texas, Morrison lived in Virginia near a Dr. Charles T. Pepper, and may have been close to Pepper's daughter at the time.

This makes it sound like Dr. Pepper Co. doesn't believe that Mr. Morrison was an employee of Dr. Charles T. Pepper. However, the Dr. Charles T. Pepper article contains a picture of a Dr. Pepper can that, in a brief biography of Dr. Pepper, states that Mr. Morrison was a former exmployee of Dr. Pepper.

They said that it was named after Dr. Charles T. Pepper in Food Network show The Secret Life Of....-The Kooky One 18:04, 4 September 2005 (UTC)

A Dr Pepper pilgrimage is not in the works

The article currently reads in part:

A partial list of these flavors can be seen at the Dr Pepper museum in Waco, although the formula itself (with its twenty-three ingredients) is a closely-guarded secret.

Ah, good, so all I have to do is travel to Waco, and... no, wait. If only Wikipedia could tell me what this drink tastes like. Any big fans of the Dr, or residents of Waco, care to expand the article to suggest what Dr Pepper tastes like? (And no, I can't tell from tasting it, either.) — mendel ☎ 17:29, August 24, 2005 (UTC)

Well, that would be POV, though, wouldn't it?PrometheusX303 23:11, 25 July 2006 (UTC)

Someone could still list those known flavors here.--64.149.38.224 11:13, 18 February 2007 (UTC)

"not a cola" and caffeine

Unlike Coca-Cola and Pepsi, Dr Pepper is not a cola. When i clicked on cola, it said it was a carbonated, caramel-colored soft drink. so what exactly about Dr Pepper makes it not a cola? Also, does Dr Pepper contain caffeine? if it didn't it would be a great drink to have for people who don't want to rely on caffeine to stay awake. -- Bubbachuck 03:43, 29 August 2005 (UTC)

The flavour of Dr Pepper is unlike that of cola. While all colas are caramel-colored soft drinks, not all caramel-colored soft drinks are colas. I'm pretty sure I've seen caffeine-free Dr Pepper on the shelves before but I'm not 100% certain, so I believe regular Dr Pepper is caffeinated. — mendel ☎ 11:27, August 29, 2005 (UTC)

Dr. Pepper has caffeine, and Caffeine-Free Dr. Pepper exists, but is fairly uncommon. The flavour of Dr. Pepper is sometimes referred to as a "spiced cherry". --Tim Rhymeless (Er...let's shimmy) 02:11, 30 August 2005 (UTC)

It is worth noting that in Canada, Dr Pepper contains caffeine as an ingredient. For some bizarre reason, the only soft drinks that are permitted to add caffeine in Canada are colas. (Mountain Dew recently released a "health supplement" version of their drink to get around this regulation, and Jolt, Bawls, and others do so by adding guarana rather than caffeine itself.) Not even root beers like Barq's can have added caffeine. So for what it's worth, the Canadian government considers Dr Pepper to be a cola! -- Hiddekel 08:30, 08 September 2005 (UTC)

Barq's in Canada does indeed have Caffiene. User:CorSter, 01/14/06

Yes it does, but it is also a caramel coloured drink. The reason for the legislation in Canada is that people see a brown drink and figure there is caffeine in it, but one would not assume something like Sprite or cream soda would have caffeine. So, in order to protect consumers there is legislation that forbids adding caffeine to any non-caramel coloured beverages. You should see "Mountain Dew Energy" up here, it has big warning labels stating how much caffeine has been added on the front. And yes, Dr Pepper has caffeine (at least in Canada and in all varieties), and in fact was the premise behin their marketing campaigns until the 1960's. "10, 2 and 4" are the times of the day when people are naturally the most lethargic (if you don't eat properly, which no one really does). The idea was to make people think of Dr Pepper when experiencing those lows and the caffeinated sugary goodness of Dr Pepper would provide the "pick-me'up" or "Pep" to get you through the day. And while Dr Pepper does attribute the name of the drink to a real life Dr., from a marketing standpoint it fits extraordinarily well and I would not be surprised if it were just a really good story. --Waterspyder 23:22, 29 January 2006 (UTC)

For what it's worth, I re-worded the sentence as "Unlike Coca-Cola and Pepsi, Dr Pepper is not marketed as a cola". I don't think the definition of "cola" is specific enough to exclude Dr Pepper.

The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines "cola" as "a carbonated soft drink colored usually with caramel and flavored usually with extracts from kola nuts." The Wikipedia also mentions kola nuts as the origin of the name. I would say that "brown and caffeinated" is a necessary, but not sufficient, criterion for cola-hood, and that beverages like Dr Pepper and caffeinated root beers are counterexamples. Exia 03:09, 2 March 2006 (UTC)

Am I the only one who thinks that the drink Dr Pepper tastes of almonds?

 FWIW, the familiar "cherry" taste of maraschino cherries, in particular, is not cherries at all but Oil of Bitter Almond, as found in Almond Extract.

Took off Diet Dr. Pepper link

It was just a redirect to this article.--The Kooky One 17:57, 4 September 2005 (UTC)

Where Dr Pepper was realy invented:

Dr Pepper was actually invented in Rural Retreat Virginia and the formula was stolen by Dr. Peppers daughters boyfriend who then took it to Waco Texas and had it copywritten.

Hey William! dr pepper may be the tastiest creation on earth......rocco is the man from the line... GO DRAGONS!!!!!

You keep forgetting

you keep forgetting about variations of DP in other countries, such as Dr Pepper Z.

Mitch Hedberg

Is that line really necessary? It's funny... but are we going to put his jokes about all other products on their pages? Beachbumdeac 18:25, 4 April 2006 (UTC)

20 oz. Dublin Dr Peppers

Dublin Dr Peppers are also available in a 20oz. plastic bottle. I've found them all the way out in Brenham, TX. The label makes it seem like they're coming out of Plano, but I was wondering if anyone can confirm the actual distributor?

Wow, that's something. Is there any way to get a case of those over the net? BiggKwell 04:25, 1 July 2006 (UTC)

I have no idea; the Dr Pepper Dublin Shop doesn't appear to sell them online either. I should add that they have the retro 10-2-4 label on them as well, so they are easily distinguishable from the regular Dr Peppers. verilyso

Publicity

I couldn't find it in the article, but if there isn't a section for publicity then I think there should be one because Dr Pepper as we all know was featured in the movie Blast From the Past. For anyone who has seen that movie will know that Christopher Walken's character drink it after it was heated up on the stove. Mr. C.C. 06:28, 14 July 2006 (UTC)

Dr. Pepper in New Zealand

Quoting the article: "After withdrawing from the Australian market (although cans imported from the U.S. are available in some specialty stores), Dr Pepper arrived without fanfare in New Zealand. As of 2005, Dr Pepper is available in 355ml cans either sold separately or in 6-packs across the country in most supermarkets. It is also available from specialty and convenience stores."

This could be interpreted as saying Dr. Pepper is readily available in either New Zealand or Australia. I've travelled across all of New Zealand, so I'm not just speaking for my city when I say, Dr. Pepper does not exist in New Zealand. I've never seen the drink in my life. And from the posts below it seems it's no longer produced in Australia either, so either way this quote could be interpreted, it is wrong, and should be removed. I hope someone could prove me wrong 'cause I'd really like some ;) Osmodius 23:44, 4 March 2007 (UTC)

Dr. Pepper in Australia

I remember having drank Dr. Pepper in my youth, and I know it was a readily-available drink here in Australia, but now it's not on supermarket shelves or available from fast-food outlets which sell other Cadbury-Schweppes drinks (such as KFC and Pizza Hut), at least where I live. What is the current status with Dr. Pepper and Australia? Is it available in other states?

I do remember it for its similar-to-cough-syrup taste. Any help on this, and possible mentioning in the article (since I did not see it in the list of supplied places), would be appreciated. Taylor 08:32, 14 July 2006 (UTC)

OK, I found the mention in the article - only found in some regions. Gotcha. If there is anyone who is Australian and wants to import some Dr. Pepper, I recently found a website which imports US foods, sodas, and drinks. I'm not the owner, just plugging it for those who would like to have some more cough-syruppy goodness ;) USA Foods Taylor 08:38, 14 July 2006 (UTC)

I always get weird looks from counters and waiters when asking for some Dr Pepper in Australia. Any one know if the backlash against the drink was that harsh or what else prompted its non-distribution in Australia? RandomEcho 14:25, 11 September 2006 (UTC)

First of all - what happened to the Australian section of this article? There are many edits to trawl through, but Im sure it had one a few months ago?

Secondly - Cadbury Schweppes really screwed up the distribution and marketing of Dr Pepper in Australia. Australians are a bunch of wowsers when it comes to soft drink and lollies. Most complained of the "cough syrup" nonsense and the drink was pulled. Most other UK and US flavors -such as cherry- are simply not available in Australia due to the conservative palates of aussies! Encise 01:12, 28 December 2006 (UTC)Encise

It's safe to assume Dr Pepper is no longer manufactured in Australia. It is only imported from the US by a very small amount of specialty stores, it’s not a matter of "only being available in some regions”. I live in Melbourne and (apart from the above mentioned specialty stores) it is not available. In trips to Sydney I didn't notice any either. 40% of the population lives in Sydney and Melbourne so it would make no sense to manufacture it just for other cities. From my experience as a Dr Pepper drinker most Australians dislike it and often passionately. Typical comment is "you drink that stuff!? It tastes like s**t"! Even with the best marketing and distribution I doubt Dr Pepper would have gone anywhere in Australia - people simply hated the taste.

Dr Pepper Zero

According to a message board I was just on, they did in fact rename Diet DP as "DP Zero" in the United Kingdom (where the brand is distributed by Coca-Cola). I leave it to the masses whether to wait for a more credible source on that, but the edit does not appear to have been vandalism. Lambertman 18:42, 17 August 2006 (UTC)

It has not been changed in my area of America. It would, in fact, be an odd move if they did. Coca-Cola didn't change Diet Coke to Coke Zero. They are made with different sweeteners. To my knowledge, distributors don't change the names of products.

drpepper.com does not list DP Zero. PrometheusX303 22:22, 17 August 2006 (UTC)

It hasn't been changed in ANY part of America. Hence the term "Great Britain" in my previous comment. Lambertman 22:50, 17 August 2006 (UTC)

Thanks for the unneeded clarification. PrometheusX303 02:31, 18 August 2006 (UTC)

i live in england and i can confirm that we do get dr pepper zero (formerly dr pepper Z)as well as getting fanta Zero, lilt Zero, sprite Zero and the tasteless coca-cola zero (diet coca-cola still exists)

It might be a distributor thing, then. We might also get it soon. I found this about it. PrometheusX303 12:33, 24 August 2006 (UTC)

I think 'zero' is a coca-cola brand, and so restricted to areas under their distribution. Diet dr pepper has stopped production in the uk, see the uk coca-cola website, and the niche has been filled by dr pepper zero. Hence is effectively a rebrand even if the ingredients have changed. - Zephyris _Talk 15:52, 8 November 2006 (UTC)

oldest soft drink

I removed this unsourced claim as clearly unprovable. There are many older soft drinks, Ginger Beer, Dandelion and Burdock, etc. --Brideshead 16:53, 21 October 2006 (UTC)

Poker slang

Some one added The ad campaign of the 1920s and '30s that encouraged observing "Dr Pepper time at 10, 2 and 4" is the basis for the poker slang of the dealer calling "Dr Pepper wild," meaning deuces, fours and tens. I removed it until a source can be given. I could find very little on it. Prometheus^-X303- 19:40, 3 November 2006 (UTC)

Dr Pepper Userbox

Bearly541 05:40, 29 December 2006 (UTC)

Peppers in Quebec

I am from Quebec province, and I've never heard the expression "Peppers" to designate either french or english speaking quebecers... I'm pretty shure that info about the ad ban is wrong, any sources? Luc da 21:32, 4 January 2007 (UTC) luc_da

Something like that should have a source. I'm removing it until one can be given. Prometheus^-X303- 23:10, 4 January 2007 (UTC)

I did a bit of asking around, and it seems the expression did exist in the 60's ans 70's, but died out eventually. It used to designate a french-speaking quebecer. Some people say it comes from the DrPepper ad, others say it comes from a gold pepper-shaped necklace that was in fashion at the time with french-speaking quebecers. The best way to know if there really was an ad ban would be to check directly with the DrPepper archives... Luc Da 14:33, 7 January 2007 (UTC)

How much is drunk per year?

Question in title.

Urban Legend

Shouldn't there be some mention of the "Dr Pepper kills your sperm" legend in the article. It was very well known in the early 2000's Chavmusiksux 21:56, 26 February 2007 (UTC)

Can you document that? I've never heard of it. If it was particularly widespread, perhaps it would deserve a line in a "trivia" section or something. Then again, there are lots of stupid stories about Coke (just check Snopes), which are not mentioned in its WP article. Zsero 23:24, 26 February 2007 (UTC)

Vandalism and Edits needed

Hi there... Thank you for all you do to help Wikipedia!!! Perhaps this article has been vandalized. I just did a quick edit to remove a piece of pretty clear vandalism in the Overview and history section... Also, at least the Overview and history needs editing now - it starts with "Waco, Texas, in 1885." Thank you!!

Nutrition Facts?

I may be mistaken but i do believe that the nutritional information is false (at least the number of carbs) I know for a fact that in america there are 40 carbs in a 12 oz can of coke, i don't see how it could suddenly go up to 40 for an 8 oz serving... 69.19.14.15 23:01, 29 April 2007 (UTC)Mathieu

I have a can right here. The nutrition facts in the box should have been for a 12oz serving, I fixed it.--ChesterMarcol 23:02, 29 April 2007 (UTC)

Yes, but I think ever other way that dr. pepper is sold claims 8 oz. 8 oz. cans do, 20 oz. bottles do, 1 liter does, 2 liters do. (going by memory) And I do think that that indicates a general consensus that the serving size is 8 oz.69.19.14.15 23:13, 29 April 2007 (UTC)Mathieu

OK, the box doesn't say what size the container is, so I changed servings/container to 1 instead of 8, so the nutrition facts reflect what it says on a 12oz can. I dont know why the facts would vary by the size of the container, that wouldn't make sense, but what does?--ChesterMarcol 23:27, 29 April 2007 (UTC)

I think that they vary by size of the container in so much that a 12 oz. can is not normal, I don't know how they came up with a 12 oz can but they did and they made it a serving size along with all the other 8 oz serving sizes though of course the nutritional information is different, like on a coke can the serving size is 12 oz. and it says 39 carbs and on a 20 oz. bottle the serving size is 8 and there are 27 carbs(thats for coke) I think one needs to find a bottle of dr. pepper and change the nutritional information to match the 8 oz. serving size becasue that tends to be the norm69.19.14.15 23:34, 29 April 2007 (UTC)Mathieu