bubly is Going After that La Croix Paper

By: Bill McCool

Last week, PepsiCo announced the launch of their new line of sparkling water, bubly. The zero-calorie beverage with no artificial flavors or sweeteners is poised to compete with the likes of industry leaders La Croix and Sparkling Ice.

The playful and humorous packaging comes with a greeting on every tab as well as a personal, punny message on every can (like, “I feel like I can be open around u”). bubly is available in 8 different flavors - limebubly, grapefruitbubly, strawberrybubly, lemonbubly, orangebubly, applebubly, mangobubly and cherrybubly - or as we like to call them, every flavor in the La Croix universe, just with a “bubly” tacked on to the end.

In a press release, Todd Kaplan, VP of PepsiCo’s Water Portfolio, says “When we looked at the sparkling water category, we saw an opportunity to innovate from within by building a new brand and product from the ground up to meet consumer needs. We created bubly to provide consumers with a great-tasting, flavorful, unsweetened sparkling water in a fun, playful, and relevant manner that is unlike anything we’ve seen in the sparkling water category today.”

PepsiCo has been looking to expand their water portfolio, even after last year’s launch of LIFEWTR, and are looking to reduce the amount of sugar in some of their offerings. “We want to make it easier for consumers to meet their health and wellness goals,” PepsiCo said in a statement to The Dieline. “So we’ve limited added sugars in most of our beverages, which also helps us meet our own goal for at least 2/3 of our global beverage portfolio volume to have 100 Calories or fewer from added sugars per 12-ounce serving by 2025. We are making progress on this by reformulating many of our existing drinks, by creating delicious new choices with fewer added sugars, and by adding new low- and zero-calorie teas, coffees, and waters—like bubly.”

Be on the lookout for bubly’s bold and colorful sparkling water as they’ll be available in stores nationwide this month.

---

Bill McCool

Bill McCool is a freelance writer based out of Los Angeles. Though new to the world of design, he has always been a storyteller by trade and he seeks to inspire and cultivate a sense of awe with the work and artists he profiles. When he’s not winning over his daughters with the art of the Dad joke, he is usually working on a pilot, watching the Phillies, or cooking an elaborate meal for his wife.