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Flashback: Taste test challenges re-emerge

QSRs fighting it out over competition-centered marketing campaigns.

May 13, 2011 by Alicia Kelso — Editor, QSRWeb.com

I've been having some major 1980s flashbacks as of late. No, I haven't broken out my Culture Club albums, leg warmers and Swatch Watch. Rather, my memories have gone back to grocery trips with my parents that I desperately looked forward to because it often meant stopping in the parking lot to partake in a cola taste test challenge.

Remember those? Coke vs. Pepsi. Shot-sized drinks served in Dixie Cups. Blindfolds, even.

The taste tests not only allowed me the chance to drink the forbidden fruit of cola, but it also offered me – a kid! – the chance to opine.

I remember sipping meticulously and really taking the challenge seriously. Which one did I like better? The "judges" needed to know this very important information.

And making such a decision was hard. One had more fizz. Another had a more pleasant after taste. The pressure was on.

Although the memories are a bit faded, it seems as though Pepsi always won. This sometimes surprised me, as I was privy to many family and friends' votes for Coke.

It makes a lot of sense now. Turns out the taste test is technically known as the "Pepsi Challenge," and has been a catchy, clever marketing promotion offered by Pepsi since 1975.

The method is credited for upping the ante on the cola wars and Coca-Cola played defense well, even launching buttons that said "I picked Coke in the Pepsi Challenge." I suppose a counter-campaign may have been necessary, since a lot of consumers overlooked the irony of Pepsi winning challenges sponsored by ... Pepsi.

Taste challenges like this have made a major comeback as of late, particularly in the QSR space (explaining my recent recollections). Popeyes entered the chicken taste test challenge in late 2010, declaring victory over KFC in a nationwide sampling. Popeyes devised a comprehensive marketing and advertising initiative to emphasize these results.

Not to be overlooked, Church's Chicken came along about a month ago and claimed it won a national, independent taste test against Popeyes. Church's is currently sharing the news by rolling out its first national advertising campaign in 10 years.

It seems the chicken segment is a very competitive place to be. El Pollo Loco first challenged KFC to a taste test in 2009.

Even McDonald's hasn't been immune from the return of these campaigns. Wendy's dared to challenge the Golden Arches' multiple-Zagat Award-winning french fries by claiming its new skin-on, sea salt fries were preferred in a national taste test. The campaign coincided with the national launch of Wendy's new fries earlier this year.

Are customers buying into these results? Will they purchase a chicken sandwich specifically because it won an arbitrary taste test? It's hard to tell. But Coke and Pepsi are still duking it out.

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