Talk:Dr Pepper/Archive 1

Page contents not supported in other languages.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Archive 1 Archive 2 Archive 3 Archive 4

Dublin

I am from Texas, and im fairly sure its from Dublin. I have been there, and there is even the original "Dublin Dr.Pepper"

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)

I changed it. --DaFoos 18:48, 17 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)

I agree. I find the marketing speech about the taste "it's unique, one of its kind!" in the introduction kind of silly. I mean, that is not uncommon for soft drinks, that they try to find unique tastes. They're usually unique until they get copied by other brands (and Dr Pepper is among those who have been). Anyway, I think it tastes strongly like cherry, and don't see why it should be that hard to define. -- — Northgrove 11:41, 5 March 2008 (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)

Also the 'Dublin' logo is still in use in the UK--Grimboy (talk) 21:49, 22 December 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)
This is exactly the case -- it is stated in the Dr Pepper book listed on the page. The official Cadbury Schweppes history page states that is was removed to improve legibility, which is probably just a simplification of the "Dr." looking like "D:". Dan 18:38, 4 July 2007 (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)


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

I've only recently seen glass bottles of the Dublin Dr. Pepper, you can order them at this site: http://www.popsoda.com/ —Preceding unsigned comment added by 72.204.196.58 (talk) 03:04, 26 September 2007 (UTC)

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

User:Bearly541/Userbox/DrinksDrPepper

Bearly541 05:40, 29 December 2006 (UTC)

It appears Bearly's userbox has been deleted. I've made my own, and it's pretty different from her's, but I haven't seen many other Dr Pepper userboxes, so I just thought I'd throw mine in.
Code Result
{{User:Asclepius/Userboxes/Dr Pepper}}
This user is a Pepper. Wouldn't you like to be a Pepper too?

--Asclepius Quid fit? 05:01, 14 October 2007 (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)

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)
I thought the legend had to do with Mountain Dew and the yellow dye. MikeSims 17:23, 17 May 2007 (UTC)
I'm a Dr Pepper junkie and I have 5 kids and they look just like me. Myth busted! Morikun 21:29, 28 August 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!!

I don't think there is a Dr Pepper clone named "Dr Wanker" here in Sweden (but it would be fun if it did). Perhaps someone could verify this? Anstalt 01:01, 20 May 2007 (UTC)

Some of the later clones seem pretty unlikely and like vandalism to me. Stuff like '"Dr. Dre" distributed by Rap Co.' or '"The Doctor" sold by Who Corp' for example. It would be best if someone knowledgeable could check this. But since it's probably quite hard to check everything, I propose deleting every imitation where the company is a redlink, and link the ones without link. 85.216.121.39 15:05, 14 August 2007 (UTC)

There are a couple websites that list and even review so of the Dr Pepper clones (just do a quick search for "dr pepper clones" and it'll find a bunch) -- perhaps we should only keep those that are cross-listed? In the meantime, I will go through the current list and remove the ridiculous ones now. Of course, if I remove a valid one, be sure to inform me. Dan 04:56, 15 August 2007 (UTC)

  • As I was removing the half dozen or so obvious fakes, I thought to myself "do we really need this section?" While I do think it is of value to have an accurate listing of Dr Pepper clones, should it be included in the main article? I propose moving it to a separate article; perhaps a List, specifically. However, is this significant enough of a list to warrant it's own article? At the very least we should mention that it is commonly imitated and mention a few of the larger brands, such as the supermarket generics. What do you think? Dan 05:03, 15 August 2007 (UTC)

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

Dr. Wacco Pepper

There is no evidence to the statement that Dr. Pepper's first name was "Wacco", and the reference cited in no way states this at all. This statement should be removed. Bsharkey 07:07, 20 May 2007 (UTC)

I've removed it. -Phoenixrod 04:16, 21 May 2007 (UTC)

Dr. Pepper Red Fusion?

Why no mention of its brief shelfhood? It was on the market somewhere between 2002 and 2004, well at least in NYC it was. Anyone remember this?

I remember it. I also remember thinking that there was absolutely NO difference in the taste between red fuzion and regular dr. pepper. Maybe thats why its not available anymore, but thats just my own lil assumption. PeAchBaCon 08:53, 25 May 2007 (UTC)

Dr. Pepper in France

The article states that Cadbury-Schweppes is distributing Dr. Pepper in France. Even though it seems to be legit that Cadbury-Schweppes owns the Dr. Pepper trademark in France (this was confirmed to me when I e-mailed drpepper.com), it does not seem like they actually distribute it. Being a great fan, I even assume they don't: it is actually almost impossible to find Dr. Pepper in France, and the only cans I happen to randomly (and, unfortunately, rarely) find seem to be imported (from Belgium or the UK).

If anyone has further info, I'd be glad to hear it, but afaik, France should be removed from the list of countries where Dr. Pepper is available. It's not available when you cannot find some anywhere. -- Kwyxz 18:05, 15 June 2007 (UTC)

No sources?

We do reference several sources! There are two resources on the bottom of the page that I've added to the "Sources" section, a book about the history of Dr Pepper and a web page about the history of DP from Cadbury-Schweppes. Also, throughout the article there are footnotes in a couple of places. I think this is enough to warrant the removal of the "This article does not cite any references or sources" block at the top of the page. If there aren't any disagreements, I'll remove it later. Dan 18:50, 4 July 2007 (UTC)

More about taste

I know that talk pages are about the content of the article. But, I have to say this, and it is POV. When I was a kid in the 1960s, Dr. Pepper was a highly carbonated, peppery tasting soft drink with little sweetness. The current sickeningly sweet version has almost no resemblence to what I remember drinking. I wish we could find some sources about changes in the recipe. -- 209.77.228.197 06:23, 10 July 2007 (UTC)

Anonymous edits from Leeds university IPs regarding Dr Pepper and prune juice

There's been a number of rather annoying anonymous edits from IPs registered to the University of Leeds (namely User_talk:129.11.76.229 and User_talk:129.11.77.197), substituting a paragraph discounting rumours regarding prune juice as a Dr Pepper ingredient with this paragraph:

There is a popular urban legend that Dr Pepper contains prune juice. There is more recentley a counter-urban myth which claims this is untrue [1]
However, as the drink contains a number of ingredients which the company continue to conceal, there is no way of proving or disproving this claim. So therefore, credit must be given to the widely heard, yet unsubstantiated rumor, that it DOES contain prune juice, rather then the uncommon unsubstantiated rebuke.

The edit summary said "Not reckless, a clear and reasoned argument. To remove this is to claim you can prove it contains Prune Juice, if you're basing your judgement on an anonymous web link - not very scientific is it?"

I undid this twice now. The so-called "anonymous web link" actually did provide a fair number of sources for its claims. Also, I included an additional reference link to an official reference from drpepper.com explicitly stating that Dr Pepper does not contain prune juice. Case closed unless somebody can prove the contrary.

The IP addresses that posted this unsourced and obviously bogus information also edited Aereogramme - within minutes of the edit to the Dr Pepper article. These edits to Aereogramme also introduced more than questionable, unsourced information (see Talk:Aereogramme#Anonymous_edits_from_Leeds_university_IPs). These, too, were redone twice, despite warnings not to vandalise and post unsourced information to Wikipedia. So I dare say this is either somebody trying to have some fun or somebody trying to win a bet (or two) and trying to prove his point via self-edited Wikipedia entries. --afromme 13:12, 31 July 2007 (UTC)

This is getting tiresome. The manufacturer says "no prune juice" in it (source 1, source 2), yet 129.11.77.197 insists on ignoring this and calls the claim that prune is in Dr Pepper an urban myth and the claim that it isn't merely a counter-urban myth, which - at best - is a skewed representation of reality. In the edit summary, the editor says "you are arguing for proof without proof your self, just anecdotal evidence". Firstly, an official source, rather than "anecdotal evidence", is quoted. Actually, way more than just that link could be cited, including the "Official Newsletter of the Dr Pepper Museum and Free Enterprise Institute", which in their Vol. I, 1999, issue said: "Prune juice is not and never has been in Dr Pepper. The prune juice rumor is an old story that has been in circulation since the 1930s." Secondly, and the editor probably knows this, it is impossible to prove that prune juice is not in the drink unless Dr Pepper release a full list of ingredients. Which they are not likely to do. And even if they were to release the list of ingredients, one could still claim it doesn't prove anything because they may have deliberately omitted prune juice from the list, or changed the recipe or whatever. (One of the clever concepts behind many conspiracies and urban myths: find a statement that cannot be proven wrong and nobody will ask you to provide evidence that supports your claim.)
While it is impossible to prove prune ain't in it, it should very much be possible to prove the presence of prune or traces thereof. Well - the urban myth has apparently been around since the 1930s, but to date, nobody could prove - other than by demanding proof of the contrary - that prune juice is in Dr Pepper. So - unless somebody actually presents conclusive evidence that prune juice is an ingredient, the claim that it is is an urban myth, while the official version is what should be regarded as true unless proven false.--afromme 16:01, 1 August 2007 (UTC)
So - even to sceptics of the official version, this passage in the article should now be acceptable: "There is a long-lived urban legend that Dr Pepper contains prune juice. However, according to the manufacturer, prune juice is not and never has been an ingredient of the drink." Clearly states what the urban myth is about, and clearly sates that according to the manufacturer, that myth is false. Readers can then still make up their own minds if they need to.--afromme 16:17, 1 August 2007 (UTC)

Actual ingredients/flavors

The article states: "Dr Pepper's flavor is allegedly derived from a mixture of soda fountain flavors popular when the drink was first devised. A partial list of these flavors can be seen at the bottling plant in Dublin, Texas, although the formula itself (with its twenty-three ingredients) is a closely guarded secret."

Can we please get more detail about this? Badagnani 02:00, 16 September 2007 (UTC)

Cherry Chocolate Dr Pepper

The article says this flavor was released November 21, but according to http://www.bevnet.com/bevboard/bevboard-general/31349-new-dr-pepper-flavor-2.html someone purchased and took a photo of one on October 26. It may have been out for a little while even before that. Does anyone have a more exact date on this? Or should we just put the release date as "October 2007"? 154.5.195.217 (talk) 04:07, 10 December 2007 (UTC)

Be a Pepper. Who did it?

I noticed the current version of this article states Barry Manilow as the guy responsible for the "Be a Pepper" campaign. Other places I've seen say news composer Frank Gari. Considering an early-1970s McDonald's commercial jingle (You Deserve a Break Today) was erroneously attributed to Manilow, can someone source this being by Manilow? WAVY 10 Fan (talk) 21:23, 27 February 2008 (UTC)

  • I was just thumbing through my copy of "The Legend of Dr Pepper/Seven-Up" -- the only mentioning of the "Be a Pepper" campaign I could find is on page 70. It reads: "In the early Seventies [sic?], advertising agency Young and Rubicam helped Dr Pepper refine its logo, creating the version that is still in use today. The agency also created the catchy and successful 'Be a Pepper' campaign." I'm going to go ahead and remove the mentioning of Manilow, but who knows! He may have been part of that agency. Dan (talk) 02:23, 28 February 2008 (UTC)

Chinese Democracy

Should there be a section, not even a big one, noting Dr Pepper's connection to Axl's labor or love? --74.181.226.152 (talk) 12:28, 7 April 2008 (UTC)

It should be mentioned at the very least. Dan (talk) 15:43, 7 April 2008 (UTC)
Espeshally as it now has a release date, Dr Pepper could be very skint soon! http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7662833.stm Prophesy (talk) 18:18, 16 October 2008 (UTC)
Looks like there actuly gonna do it! http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/dr-pepper-deliver-its-promise/story.aspx?guid={30944E42-06B0-48C8-A6F2-118E65426A7B}&dist=hppr--Prophesy (talk) 11:15, 23 October 2008 (UTC)

More references!

I just noticed that there are a lot of "citation needed" markers throughout the article. I'll see what I can do with them when I have the time, but please! Give me a hand! I'm going to add the Refimprov template to the page in the mean time. Dan (talk) 02:37, 28 February 2008 (UTC)

Oldest Major brand Soda?

According to the Dr Pepper Museum, it is "the oldest of the major brand soft drinks in America." I know it is not the first, but by major brand, I guess it could be. http://www.drpeppermuseum.com/About-Us/History-Of-Dr--Pepper.aspx IronCrow (talk) 23:21, 24 March 2008 (UTC)

I could've sworn that was already in the article! I'll add it. Dan (talk) 13:57, 15 April 2008 (UTC)

England / United Kingdom taste

What is that line about the taste being similar to Cherry Coke in the UK? I am from England, but I live in Hong Kong where the only way to get Dr Pepper that I know of is imported (at citysuper) from America. While the taste is subtly different to English Dr Pepper, I wouldn't say it was that different!! I would say it was, well, the same. As much the same as English Coca-Cola, American Coca-Cola, HK/Macau Coca-Cola, Japanese Coca-Cola, Chinese Coca-Cola, French Coca-Cola. They all taste subtly different, but actually they taste the same!! --SnakeSeries (talk) 11:08, 15 April 2008 (UTC)

Feel free to remove that line; isn't it POV anyway? Dan (talk) 13:56, 15 April 2008 (UTC)
I altered it accordingly. I was also interested as to other peoples opinions, hence the questioning on the talk page. --SnakeSeries (talk) 14:20, 1 May 2008 (UTC)
I have to say that the British Dr Pepper does taste like Cherry Coke indeed. I have been drinking the Dr Pepper in Germany, I have been drinking the bottles manufactured in the Netherlands and in Poland. Haven't ever tried an American one, but the three I did taste share the same qualities and taste more or less the same, whereas the drink manufactured in the UK has got a remarkably more "cherry-like" flavour. No idea why, but the British version of Dr Pepper seems to be a totally different drink than its continental counterparts. - My.life.is.muzik... (talk) 01:06, 29 June 2008 (UTC)

It may be the difference in taste is caused by the use of cane sugar (CS) or other "real" sugars instead of the high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) used in most US markets. I am not sure about UK DP, but DP in Germany at least does NOT list HFCS as an ingedient and tastes just like "Dublin" (Texas) DP. The difference in the US between HFCS and CS is very distinct to those of us with calibrated taste buds....;) Ken (talk) 19:34, 27 August 2008 (UTC)

Nothing about the prune-juice UL?

Wow, I can't believe the article doesn't mention the years and years of persistent rumors of prune juice and their steady insistence that "there are 23 flavors, none of which is prune juice." I'll look for cite-able sources and add it once I've found them.Lawikitejana (talk) 22:21, 7 June 2008 (UTC)

Incorrect link

The link to the Dr Pepper Museum should be http://www.drpeppermuseum.com/

The page directs to .org, which is a broken link. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 66.25.246.25 (talk) 19:26, 12 June 2008 (UTC)

caffeine-free dr. pepper

No mention is made of Caffeine Free DP, available in the USA (at least). It is not a diet version and uses the same high-fructose corn syrup as "regular" DP. Since caffeine does not affect taste most folks cannot tell the difference. I know I failed to distinguish between the 2 in a double blind test administered by my wife.....fwiw, I drink up to 4 12oz cans per day, and can spot differences quite easily.

And sorry, Diet DP does NOT taste just like regular DP. not even close.

But cherry DP does taste a lot like Mr Pibb, which for all purposes is a cherry-flavored rip off of DP. Many restaurants will serve Mr Pibb when the patron asks for DP. Personally, I've scolded more than one waiter who made that mistake. Yes, I'm geeky like that.Ken (talk) 19:56, 27 August 2008 (UTC)

Yeah, caffeine free (non-diet) Dr Pepper is available in the US, but not all of it. It's only carried by some of the bottlers. In Utah, for example, it's bottled by Squire Coca-Cola (Salt Lake City), which makes caffeine-free versions of practically everything due to some interpretations of Mormon doctrine suggesting caffeine is prohibited. Anyhow, I'll try to find a reference on this point. Cool Hand Luke 08:00, 28 August 2008 (UTC)

This article talk page was automatically added with {{WikiProject Food and drink}} banner as it falls under Category:Food or one of its subcategories. If you find this addition an error, Kindly undo the changes and update the inappropriate categories if needed. The bot was instructed to tagg these articles upon consenus from WikiProject Food and drink. You can find the related request for tagging here . Maximum and careful attention was done to avoid any wrongly tagging any categories , but mistakes may happen... If you have concerns , please inform on the project talk page -- TinucherianBot (talk) 23:17, 3 July 2008 (UTC)

Legal/trade history

Pretty sure that it was Jerry Jones, not Mike Jones, that was involved in a legal dispute involving Dr Pepper and Irving Stadium. Either way, a citation is probably in order here.--70.170.97.116 (talk) 06:34, 4 August 2008 (UTC)

Dietary brands

No mention of Sugar Free Dr. Pepper from the 1970s and the very successful advertising campaign which included the jingle "Sugar free Dr. Pepper tastes fattening but it's not. How can sugar free taste so sugar full? What a great taste this one's got! Sugar free Dr. Pepper tastes fattening, but it's not." —Preceding unsigned comment added by 147.160.136.10 (talk) 19:25, 1 October 2008 (UTC)

Dr.Pepper smells like cyanide. Just thought I'd drop that in. (no it does.....really) —Preceding unsigned comment added by 217.198.33.252 (talk) 15:58, 24 October 2008 (UTC)

Diet Cherry Chocolate Dr Pepper

I believe this flavor failed because stores wouldn't stock it. After seeing a commercial for it, I added it to my shopping list. I went to Wallmart, Winco, & Top Foods (3 of the biggest in Washington) & none of them carried it. I kept my eye out for it all year, I asked coworkers if they'd tried it, I checked vending machines; nothing.


> The stores failed to stock it simply because it didn't sell, and that being because it tasted absolutely awful. A store in Houston (a Dr Pepper stronghold if there ever was one) resorted to $1/12 pack just to get rid of them. I had 1 and nearly gagged.....a pass-around taste test at a party confirmed my opinion. Ken (talk) 18:50, 4 December 2008 (UTC)


Also, shouldn't Crystal Pepsi be listed in the flavors? I remembering it tasting different enough from regular Pepsi, IMO, it tasted much better.


>perhaps, but in the Pepsi article. This is about Dr Pepper......Ken (talk) 18:58, 4 December 2008 (UTC)

"Free Dr Pepper for Everyone in America"

A careful distinction needs to be made here. If the above was the slogan used, then fine. But if (as seems to be the case) the offer is only good for the US, then the explanation should use "United States" and not "America" as it now does. Loganberry (Talk) 01:28, 24 November 2008 (UTC)

That is indeed how it was advertised.

Also, the term 'America' is commonly used for the US without any qualifiers. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 96.225.231.118 (talk) 06:41, 16 December 2008 (UTC)

Advertising Info

I remember that Dr Pepper used the "Just What the Doctor Ordered" campaign for most of the 1990s, and I'm curious as to where one could find information on that slogan. WAVY 10 Fan (talk) 18:17, 22 January 2009 (UTC)

Why no mention of the bottle which featured the 10-2-4 concept, in a circle, like a clock? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 198.188.6.54 (talk) 18:31, 14 July 2009 (UTC)

Amaretto

So I just happen to have some amaretto here, and some Dr pepper. Never tried amaretto before now, but anyone notice that Dr pepper tastes almost exactly as if the amaretto was carbonated? Conversely, amaretto tastes almost as if you cracked open one of those bags of raw Dr pepper syrup used for mixing fountain drinks and drank it (along with a bit of alcohol of course). In fact, the flavor is so ridiculously similar that it is hard to believe that one is not inspired by the other. So, I checked out this article and notice that it mentions the flavor to be unique. This article doesn't mention amaretto, but the amaretto article did to my surprise mention Dr pepper. Might be worth looking into whether Dr pepper is supposed to be almond flavored? Ormaaj (talk) 21:52, 29 January 2009 (UTC)

That's because Dr. Pepper is Apricot-based, as is Amaretto. I cannot cite my source now, but sometime around 1999, I ran across a statement from a Dr. Pepper spokesperson in an interview or FAQ page, stating that fact. It may have been a slip-up, because It seems the company goes to specific effort to conceal any ingredients now. I can only find anecdotal evidence of the apricot base on the web now. Here is one such example (comment #24 on the page): http://www.kulturblog.com/2006/06/the-mysterious-32-flavors-of-dr-pepper —Preceding unsigned comment added by NcongruNt (talkcontribs) 15:18, 14 February 2009 (UTC)

Dr Pepper Cherry

I've been seeing Dr Pepper Cherry (not Cherry Vanilla) in the past two weeks or so, but I've only seen it at one convenience store and not at any groceries/Wal-Marts/etc. It's not on drpepper.com, and a quick google search doesn't turn up anything. Has anyone else seen this? Any sources? dancheatham (talk) 05:40, 27 February 2009 (UTC)

Yes, just today I went to a Marsh supermarket in Muncie, IN and I saw a few 12-packs of Dr Pepper Cherry on the shelf and I immediately grabbed for one. I didn't see it at Walmart the other day and was just as surprised to not see anything about it online. I'm in the same boat. zbax1290 (talk) 23:32, 1 March 2009 (UTC)

The reappearance of Dr Pepper Cherry seems to be following a sudden disappearance of HERITAGE Dr Pepper from the shelves. As of February 2010, I've had difficulty locating this product anywhere. It appears to have been discontinued and replaced by Dr Pepper Cherry. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 173.73.176.23 (talk) 09:52, 2 March 2010 (UTC)

Some feedback

I love food and drink articles and these are woefully underrepresented on the honour roll, so I will see what I can do to help. Before really getting stuck into improving the prose, it is important to have the comprehensiveness and organization laid out right with headings and subheadings. There are few food and drink articles to compare, and durian is the only recent food FA I know. I will muse on this a bit. Casliber (talk · contribs) 11:50, 16 April 2009 (UTC)

  • I think the first section after the lead should be a description section (what it looks like - red fizzy drink duh), describing what it is, and the varieties as a subsection. It can also contain the high-fructose corn syrup subsection, and Name formatting bit, as well as nutrition as subsections. Casliber (talk · contribs) 11:55, 16 April 2009 (UTC)

History

Someone might want to distill something from the following: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090504/ap_on_re_us/us_dr_pepper_auction Agent Cooper (talk) 14:42, 4 May 2009 (UTC)

Error created

In [2], Spain was replaced with Palestine. Changing it to Israel doesn't fix it. I've undone both changes by hand, so the link goes to "Spain" again. - Denimadept (talk) 21:26, 10 June 2009 (UTC)

Cult Following of Dr Pepper

Is there a cult following, and if so, should we make mention of it in the article? —Preceding unsigned comment added by IrateManBear (talkcontribs) 07:31, 1 July 2009 (UTC)

Intro

I don't think it's a matter of it being too short, but of being unfocused. I've made an attempt to focus it. - Denimadept (talk) 22:06, 14 July 2009 (UTC)

It really does need expanded; it currently has nothing on the product history (25-35% of the article body) and scarcely a sentence on marketing (most of the rest of the article body). The lede should be a microcosm of the article itself: it is not simply a lead-in, but an abstract which casual readers should be able to derive most of the article's key points from. On a pure numbers basis, WP:LEDE#Length suggests three to four paragraphs of material for an article this size; currently, we have three paragraphs of one sentence each (not counting the quote). Chris Cunningham (not at work) - talk 22:16, 14 July 2009 (UTC)
I revised the first paragraph to describe the product. I see the marketing as a side-issue. I don't feel strongly about that, though. Here's the thing: first, what is the product, which is, after all, the topic. That's why I revised the intro as I did. History of the product next, but not full blown in the intro: what is it (second paragraph), when and who created it (first paragraph), variations (third paragraph), THEN, fill it in with details such as more history, business details, where it is available, etcetra. - Denimadept (talk) 22:21, 14 July 2009 (UTC)
Moved the sentence on variations to the initial paragraph. History is still brief, with origin WHO and WHERE only. - Denimadept (talk) 22:28, 14 July 2009 (UTC)
Thanks. I'll try to expand this more myself at some point: I try not to tag-and-forget. Chris Cunningham (not at work) - talk 22:29, 14 July 2009 (UTC)
Well, I gave it a shot. - Denimadept (talk) 22:31, 14 July 2009 (UTC)

I like it, but the first paragraph under "History" says that's the first *verified* date. I suppose that's a good reason to use it. - Denimadept (talk) 22:39, 14 July 2009 (UTC)

Changed "in" to "around" to accommodate. Chris Cunningham (not at work) - talk 22:44, 14 July 2009 (UTC)

I just realized, if the Patent Office has a date for this, doesn't that mean the formula was patented? That should mean it's available! - Denimadept (talk) 22:46, 14 July 2009 (UTC)

Okay, what more should be in the lead? Looks pretty complete to me. I significantly discount the marketing trivia's importance. - Denimadept (talk) 20:52, 9 September 2009 (UTC)