While the Dr Pepper Company is the oldest major soft drink manufacturer in the United States it is one of Australia's newest, only hitting our shores in 1996. Dr Pepper, the company's principal brand, is America's (and now Australia's) unique flavour and was first made and sold in 1885 in the Central Texas town of Waco.
Dr Pepper is a "native Texan," originating at Morrison's Old Corner Drug Store. It is the oldest of the major brand soft drinks in America and ranks fourth in share of market. Like its flavour, the origin of Dr Pepper is out-of-the-ordinary. Charles Alderton, a young English pharmacist working at Morrison's store, also served carbonated drinks at the soda fountain. He had noted that the customers soon tired of drinking the same old fruit flavors. After numerous experiments he finally hit upon one he liked.
To test his new drink, he first offered it to store owner Morrison, who also found it to his liking. After repeated sample testing by the two, Alderton was ready to offer his new drink to some of the fountain customers. They liked it as well. Other patrons at Morrison's soda fountain soon learned of Alderton's new drink and began ordering it. Finally, someone asked the name of the new drink. Morrison's past provided an avenue for creating the name.
Morrison had moved to Texas from Virginia, having worked as a pharmacist in a drug store in Rural Retreat owned by Dr. Charles Pepper. Dr. Pepper had an attractive daughter who caught the eye of young Morrison and soon a romance developed between the two. The doctor, having high aspirations for his daughter, discharged Morrison hoping it would remove him from the scene. It did, temporarily. Heeding the advice of Horace Greeley who said, "Go West, young man, go West", he traveled to Waco where he landed a job at the Old Corner Drug Store. Patrons of his soda fountain suggested naming the new fountain drink after the Virginia doctor knowing that the physician had given Morrison his first job. The name was quickly adopted and soon everyone in Waco was talking about the new soft drink known as Dr. Pepper (the period after Dr was dropped in the 1950s).
Robert S. Lazenby, young beverage chemist and proprietor of The Circle "A" Ginger Ale Company in Waco, had also tasted the new drink and was favourably impressed. Morrison spoke to Lazenby about his producing the Dr Pepper syrup in his bottling plant. Lazenby liked the idea and agreed.
Alderton, the originator, was primarily interested in pharmacy and had no designs on the drink. He suggested that Morrison and Lazenby develop it further. Lazenby began extensive research on the new drink and after some two years of testing, blending and processing, the wonderful new flavor known today as Dr Pepper was originated and the drink was put on sale commercially. So perfect was his work that the formula has remained basically unchanged.
In 1904, Lazenby and his son-in-law, J.B. O'Hara, introduced Dr Pepper to almost 20 million people attending that year's World's Fair Exposition in St. Louis. The exposition was the setting for more than one major product debut. Hamburgers and hot dogs were first served on buns at the exposition, and the ice cream cone was introduced.
In subsequent years, Morrison and Lazenby remained impressed with the growth of Dr Pepper. They formed a new firm, the Artesian Mfg. & Bottling Company, which later became Dr Pepper Company. Lazenby and O'Hara moved the company from Waco to Dallas in 1923.
From 1910 to 1914, Dr Pepper was identified with the slogan, "King of Beverages." "Old Doc," a typical country doctor character with monocle and top hat, became the Dr Pepper trademark character in the 1920s and 1930s. During that era, O'Hara discovered research proving that sugar provided energy and that the average person experiences a letdown during the normal day at 10:30a.m., 2:30p.m. and 4:30p.m. That was the origin of the famous advertising slogan, "Drink a bite to eat at 10, 2, and 4." Dr Pepper's slogan in the 1950s was "the friendly Pepper-Upper," which led the brand into the 1960s when it became associated with rock and roll music and on Dick Clark's American Bandstand TV show.
To broaden its appeal across the nation, Dr Pepper hailed itself as "the most misunderstood soft drink," and then in the 1970s became "the most original soft drink ever." In 1977, Dr Pepper advertising was marked by the famous "Be a Pepper" campaign. Dr Pepper's current slogan is "Just what the Dr ordered."
Diet Dr Pepper, reformulated in 1991, is the number one selling diet non-cola in the United States.
In 1996 Dr Pepper arrived in Australia, bringing a little piece of America Down Under. A campaign was launched introducing Dr Pepper as the unexpect and featured a clever television advertising campaign with the Statue of Liberty striding across the ocean and ending up in Sydney harbour.