Shel Holtz must have been onto something. Either that, or a lot of companies have been listening to him.
Whatever the reason, corporate transparency is the latest thing in the PR game.
Pepsi-QTG Canada has become the latest Canadian company to go the transparency route. It will voluntarily disclose information about its products-in this case, the caffeine content of its soft drinks and ice teas.
The caffeine content will be added to the nutrition labels on the side of each bottle. While it won’t be added to Pepsi and Diet Pepsi bottles and cans until 2009, caffeine levels will begin appearing on Lipton iced ea products shortly.
In Pepsi’s case, the transparency works. According to Pepsi, 355 ml can of Pepsi has 38 mg of caffeine. Health Canada says that an adult’s daily caffeine should be no more than 400 mg, so the average Canadian should be able to find a way to incorporate one can of Pepsi a day into their lifestyle.
Pepsi Canada’s VP of Marketing Dale Hooper is quick to point out in a release that “We’re proud to be the first to take this step.” That all but calls out Coke for having yet to follow suit.
Will Canadian consumers actually think Pepsi is a healthy choice, now that they have more information about what’s in it? Not likely, but the transparency may prove beneficial to the company’s reputation.
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