Pepsi drinkers are only just finding out the cola's original name and it's left them 'reeling'

They say you 'learn something new every day', and this is the case for some people who are only just finding out was Pepsi was first called.

Pepsi was invented by local pharmacist Caleb Bradham, from New Bern, North Carolina, in the early 1980s.

While the drink is now enjoyed by over half of soft drink drinkers in the US, as per a Statista report last year, the beverage wasn't invented as a drink to have for pleasure, but to help with indigestion.

With this in mind, one of the names that Bradham wanted to give to the soda was Pep Kola - a name he'd purchased from a nearby competitor; but, ultimately, he went with Pepsi-Cola instead.

How does that link back to indigestion, I hear you ask?

According to linguistics, the name ‘Pepsi’ is derived from the Greek work for 'digestion', which makes a lot of sense when you look at the brand’s old slogan.

In 1904, its message was: 'Exhilarating, Invigorating, Aids Digestion'.

This was over two decades on from its invention though - so what was it first known as?

It had been called 'Brad's Drink', taking inspiration from its inventor's surname. And people are still learning about the rather unimaginative moniker to this day.

Taking to social media, one person said: "I just learned that Pepsi was originally called Brad's drink. So anyway, I'm going to be reeling from that for a week or so."

Echoing similar sentiments, a second person said: "I was today years old when I learned that."

Another quipped: "Brad's Drink sounds like the name of a 90s alt-rock album."

A different person wrote on Twitter in recent days: "Hello, I just learned that Pepsi was originally called 'Brad's Drink'. BRAD'S DRINK."

"I will only be referring to Pepsi this way from now on," they added.

As well as the drink's name, the Pepsi logo has undergone some minor tweaks over the years - the most recent being in 2023.

One of the reasons behind this was because many people couldn't actually recall the actual Pepsi logo but had an idea that it included a variant of the red, blue, and white colours and the text somewhere in the circle.

PepsiCo’s first ever Chief Design Officer Mauro Porcini told CNN: "We couldn’t ignore that kind of insight. Instead of rejecting it, we decided to embrace it."

"It’s this lowercase, italicised font, the blue is a little bit muted... it doesn’t exude that confidence and energy that the brand really represents," added Pepsi’s Chief Marketing Officer, Todd Kaplan.

With the feedback in mind, the business decided to make its logo similar to the design it had in the 1990s, and have 'Pepsi' written in bold font in the center of the circular blue, red, and white symbol.