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Edward Stockwell makes an interesting point here.
These root beers are both owned by corporations with massive advertising budgets — Mug by Pepsi, and Barq’s by Coca-Cola. (Coca-Cola spends an average of $4B a year on ads.)
But we never see Barq’s or Mug ads.
And there are other signs these root beers have… less than ample marketing budgets.
5 signs root beer sees minimal marketing spend
- Neither root beer has a verified Instagram or Twitter. Meanwhile, Pepsi and Coca-Cola (and 7Up and Sprite!) have both.
- Barq’s biggest fan account on Instagram has 2K followers. And its bio starts with “The Barq’s fandom is dying.”
- The most recent Pepsi tweet about Mug didn’t bode well. “Mug Root Beer has not been discontinued nationally,” it proclaims. If you have to say it...
- These brands’ most popular TV ads ran in pre-2000. Google “Barq’s root beer advertisement,” and the top result is from 1997.
- Mug’s mascot is a bulldog named Dog. Feels like they tried to save on creative there.
Our takeaway?
The root beer market may be growing — but not fast enough for big beverage conglomerates to invest in the space. Like, at all.
