Pepsi A.M. Was Supposed to Replace Coffee—Instead, It Vanished in 1990

Getting out of bed is easier when you can look forward to the most important meal of the day; the sizzling of bacon, the sweet smell of maple syrup, the aroma of freshly brewed…Pepsi? Maybe, if you could get your hands on a little product called Pepsi A.M. Never heard of it? 

We dove into the Pepsi A.M. rabbithole and are excited to report that we’ve emerged with answers you never knew you wanted about Pepsi A.M. 

What was Pepsi A.M.?

Pepsi A.M. was a variant of Pepsi marketed for morning consumption. It didn’t come with a strip of bacon, Bloody Mary style. It wasn’t flavored with maple (unfortunately). No, it just had, like, a little more caffeine than normal Pepsi. It was Pepsi’s attempt at breaking into the morning market, which was famously loyal to coffee and orange juice.

How much caffeine was in Pepsi A.M.?

According to an article from the Associated Press in 1989, the morning soda contained 28% more caffeine than regular Pepsi but still less than coffee. These days, the caffeine content of coffee varies wildly depending on brew, roast, brand, etc., but it’s pretty safe to assume an average of about 10mg/oz on average. Meanwhile, regular Pepsi is approximately 3.2mg/oz and Pepsi A.M. came in at 4.1 mg/oz. (If you were wondering, that Panera lemonade has 13mg/oz.) 

When did Pepsi A.M. exist?

Pepsi A.M. came about at the tail end of the ‘80s. What? An ‘80s product? But I didn’t see that on Stranger Things! That’s because Pepsi A.M was released into the test-market in just a couple places in the U.S. (the Midwest, specifically), and it was discontinued after only a year. R.I.P Pepsi A.M: 1989 – 1990. 

What did Pepsi A.M. taste like?

Apparently, it tasted a lot like normal Pepsi, but with less carbonation. They said this was for a smoother taste, and it was thought that consumers liked less effervescence in morning drinks. 

What happened to Pepsi A.M?

Long story short, it was pretty dead in the water the moment it launched. Pepsi A.M had to fight two fairly big obstacles: First, consumers generally rejected soda as a breakfast drink. Second, they rejected this as a good soda in general. It also didn’t have enough caffeine to do the job, and tasted flat.

The marketing team also didn’t seem to throw their weight behind it, saddling it with the slogan “The taste that beats coffee cold,” and a not-so-revamped design that looked like the standard Pepsi, only with an added “A.M.” in a yellow fade at the top. Maybe it represented a sunrise. Maybe the printer was running out of ink. We don’t know. Between all of its shortcomings, Pepsi A.M. really didn’t have a chance to chip away at the loyal coffee drinkers of the world. 

Why would they do this to us?

At the time of its conception, there was a drop in coffee consumption. From 1962 to 1989, the average coffee a person consumed dropped from 3.12 cups to 1.75 cups. Soft drink sales in the morning also rose, going from 10% to 15%. One could argue that the data was there, but Coca-Cola was also running the “Coke in the Morning” campaign in 1988, so all this research could have been justification to have a pissing contest. 

Were there other morning Pepsi variations?

Pepsi kept trying to enter the breakfast noon, producing coffee-based Pepsi Kona, Pepsi Cappuccino, and a Pepsi Café line. When Pepsi A.M. fizzled out (it literally didn’t take long because of the lower carbonation), Pepsi tried again to boost the caffeine intake of the public with Pepsi Max in 1993. It wasn’t as big of a flop. One could say that Pepsi A.M. walked so Max could run, but we could also chalk that whole “running” thing up to the extra caffeine.