ONE CAN

Diet Dr1 Pepper first appeared on store shelves in 1962.2 It wasn’t the first sugar-free soda on the market. That was a lovely, ginger ale concoction called “No-Cal” invented by Hyman and Morris Kirsch, two brothers from Brooklyn.3 However, it was the first diet soda introduced by a major beverage company (Coca Cola’s “Tab” would appear on the market a year later), and it was also the one that would appear on the desk of a security guard, on a Friday afternoon, sixty-one years later.

Dr. Charles Courtice Alderton, the pharmacist who invented the Dr Pepper, also hailed from Brooklyn.4 Maybe Brooklyn water makes people want to invent carbonated beverages. But, by 1962, Dr. Alderton had been resting in the Oakwood Cemetery in Waco, Texas for over twenty years.5 Before he passed away, Dr. Alderton saw his recipe turned into a carbonated fountain drink, and then introduced to millions at the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair.6

The original Dr Pepper was called the “King of Beverages,” and its trademark was “Old Doc,” with an image of a country doctor with a monocle and top hat.7 By the 1940s, common wisdom held that people needed a bit of sugar at 10:30 a.m., 2:30 p.m., and 4:30 p.m. to maintain their energy throughout the day, so Dr Pepper changed its advertising slogan to “Drink a bite to eat at 10, 2, and 4,” and sales soared.8

But, by the early 1960’s, the carbonated beverage industry began to recognize that there was a whole group of people who were unable to enjoy their beverages—people who could not ingest sugar. In fact, that was why the Kirsch brother invented No-Cal. It was a sugar-free, carbonated beverage developed for patients who were being treated for diabetes at the Jewish Sanitarium for Chronic Disease.9 And so, the flavor engineers and food scientists at Dr Pepper got to work on their formulas, inventing a drink they called “Dietetic Dr Pepper.”10 Someone in marketing must have realized that “Dietetic Dr Pepper” is too much of a tongue twister (please write to me if you are ever able to successfully weave it into your next oral argument and say it without sounding like a 5 year old), and changed the name to “Sugar Free Dr Pepper” and then again to “Diet Dr Pepper” in 1987.

That wasn’t marketing’s only win over the years. Some of their other slogans and advertising campaigns included --

“America’s Most Misunderstood Soft Drink” (That may be pre-marketing.)

“America’s Most Original Soft Drink” (See! Marketing)

“I’m a pepper, you’re a pepper, wouldn’t you like to be a pepper too?” (Peppy!)

“Hold out for the out of the ordinary.” (Will do.)

“You’re a part of me. I’m a part of you.” (90’s existentialism at work)

“Makes the world taste better.” (2001-post September 11th)

“Be you.”11

There is something about Dr Pepper and Diet Dr Pepper. It isn’t a cola. That issue was decided in 1963.12 It is unique, and Dr Pepper’s marketing department has done an excellent job. That is why I knew it was a Diet Dr Pepper as soon as that white and maroon can caught my eye.

It was around 5:45 on a Friday . . . time to wrap things up, get out of the office, and head home. Honestly, if it hasn’t gotten done by 5:45 on Friday, then it probably isn’t getting done before the weekend. For those of us who work in downtown Knoxville, Friday between 5 and 6 p.m. is a little bit of a minefield. It takes some brainwork to get from office to elevator to lobby to a second elevator to parking garage to vehicle to exit to whichever direction of I-40 or I-275 or Kingston Pike or Middlebrook Pike or Chapman Highway will take you to your home or dinner plans or high school football game or whatever thing that you have been looking forward to.

On Fridays between 5 and 6 p.m., the building lobby looks like the Back-to-School section of Target on tax-free weekend. People are polite enough, but it is clear that everyone has an agenda and someplace to be –right now.

I was doing the same thing everyone else was doing—walking through the lobby, trying to get home. That is when I saw the Diet Dr Pepper. An attorney from one of the law firms in my building set a Diet Dr Pepper on the building security guard’s desk, said “Have a good one, Louie,” waved goodbye, and walked out the door.

It was a simple gesture—a way of acknowledging one of the simple things that helped us get through the week. Those of us who work in that building know Louie. He works second shift coming in mid-afternoon and staying until around midnight or later if necessary. He keeps an eye on the door, and he keeps an eye on us. If we have to work late, he makes sure we are OK. Once, he tracked me down to tell me that someone had hit my parked car and left without leaving his/her information. He managed to find a video that showed the license plate so that I had a fighting chance of reporting it. He just does simple things like that.

More than likely, you would know the lawyer that put the Diet Dr Pepper on Louie’s desk. I won’t use his name because he wouldn’t want anyone to know that I saw what he did. But, as someone who has had had more than one matter with this attorney, I can tell you that this is not the first time that he has done something simple and kind to make someone else’s life better. It won’t be the last, because he just does simple things like that.

Part of personal wellness is how we interact with the other human beings whose paths intersect with ours. Sometimes, ten seconds and a can of Diet Dr Pepper “Makes the world taste better,” as the marketing folks at Dr Pepper would say.

1 There is no need to send me a letter about the missing period after “Dr.” The period was dropped from the name in the 1950’s . . . apparently because the marketing folks wanted to use an italicized font, which make “Dr.” look like “Di.” The moral of this story is simply this: punctuation and font choice are natural enemies. See Dr Pepper Museum, History, https://drpeppermuseum.com/history/, last visited July 30, 2023; see also Mary Bellis, ThoughtCo., The Early History of Dr Pepper (July 7, 2019), https://www.thoughtco.com/history-of-dr-pepper-4070939, last visited (July 30, 2023).

2 Trivial Pursuits, What was the First Diet Drink Introduced in the U.S.? (Feb. 15, 2019), https://www.plansponsor.com/trivial-pursuits-first-diet-drink-introduced-us/?layout=print, last visited July 30, 2023.

3 Id.

4 Bellis, supra n. 1.

5 Find a Grave, Charles Courtice Alderson, https://www.findagrave.com/ memorial/7834189/charles-courtice-alderton, last visited July 30, 2023.

6 Dr Pepper Museum, supra n. 1.

7 Id.

8 Id.

9 Trivial Pursuits, supra n. 2.

10 Fandom, Dr. Pepper, https://the-soda-encyclopedia.fandom.com/wiki/Dr_ Pepper#:~:text=Varieties-,Dietary%20brands,Diet%20Dr%20Pepper%20in%20 1987, last visited July 30, 2023.

11 J. Razimus Hughston, King of Beverages (Oct. 29, 2007), https://www.barrypopik. com/index.php/new_york_city/entry/king_of_beverages_dr_pepper_slogan.

12 Tasting Table, The Texas Court Ruling that Helped Dr Pepper become a Household Name, https://www.tastingtable.com/1191462/the-texas-court-ruling-thathelped-dr-pepper-become-a-household-name/, last visited July 30, 2023.

By: Carol Anne Long Interim Director, Career Center University of Tennessee College of Law