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"All the sugar and twice the caffeine," was the slogan for Jolt Cola when it first hit the market in 1985. Two years later, the Los Angeles Times would report that Jolt was released "at a time when other beverage makers [were] stressing the nutritional value of their product." All Jolt cared about was whether customers would reach for a can over their customary cups of coffee.
Each can contained a third of the caffeine found in coffee (though twice the average soda at the time) and a hearty 10 teaspoons of sugar. The Center for Science in the Public Interest referred to Jolt as "a legal product that is absolute nutritional junk," according to the LA Times. But people — even self-described "health conscious" Southern Californians — started drinking the stuff.
And so the war for breakfast began.
In the mid-1980s, soda consumption surpassed that of tap water for the first time (it wasn't until the late-‘80s that bottled water started becoming popular — Pepsi and Cola got into the business in the ‘90s), and soda companies started looking for new markets to tackle. Market analysis showed that coffee sales were down. In 1962, nearly 75 percent of the U.S. population were coffee drinkers. By 1988, a gradual decline brought that number down to 50 percent. Because soda occasionally had lemon-lime or other quasi-juice flavors, plenty of energy-making sugar, and a boost of caffeine, getting a piece of the wake-me-up market became a main objective for soda companies— especially the big ones.
By the end of the ‘80s, Coke and Pepsi had gotten into the coffee-replacement game. The latter introduced a new high-caffeine product called Pepsi AM. Coke introduced the BreakMate, which was essentially a mini-vending machine/soda fountain intended to get office workers to reach for soda over coffee. Just for good measure, Coke also rolled out an advertising campaign recommending "Coca-Cola in the morning" to the entire nation.
But today, roughly 30 years and many products later, soda companies are still hoping for a place at the breakfast table.
Why Big Soda Is Still Fighting for a Place at the Breakfast Table - Eater
