Pepsi Zero Sugar (sold under the names Diet Pepsi Max until 2009 and Pepsi Max until 2016), is a zero-calorie, sugar-free cola[1] sweetened with aspartame and acesulfame K, marketed by PepsiCo in North America. This drink originally had a high caffeine amount until a reformulation in 2022 reduced it and removed the ginseng, at least those sold in America.
The Pepsi Zero Sugar name is now also used overseas since 2023 as rebrandings for Pepsi Max in some territories, but remain different drinks from those sold in North America.
Name
A can of Pepsi Zero Cukru (Polish language equivalent of Pepsi Zero Sugar) rebranded from Pepsi Max. These are not the same as the Pepsi Zero Sugar sold in America and Canada.
Diet Pepsi Max was introduced in the United States on June 1, 2007, and in Canada in March 2008. "Diet" was dropped from the name in early 2009, matching the name of Pepsi Max that had been sold overseas since 1993.
On June 29, 2016, PepsiCo announced that Pepsi Max would be renamed in North America to Pepsi Zero Sugar. The international drink retained the Pepsi Max name.[2] A new logo for Pepsi Zero Sugar was introduced in 2020.[2]
When launched in 2007 (as Diet Pepsi Max in North America) it originally contained nearly twice the caffeine of PepsiCo's other cola beverages[3] specifically 69 milligrams of caffeine per 355mL (12.5impfloz), versus 36 milligrams in Diet Pepsi.[4] In January 2023, PepsiCo reformulated Pepsi Zero Sugar in the United States to reduce caffeine, remove ginseng and tweak the sweetener system.[1] The formulation change did not affect Pepsi Zero Sugar in Canada.[5]
These ingredients should not be confused with Pepsi Zero Sugar in other countries which are simply rebranded Pepsi Max.
Pepsi Zero Sugar (standard) nutrients and comparison (as of September 2025)
In 2007, the official marketing website for the product[8] contained an 'odd cast' featuring a spoofed telethon urging viewers to donate yawns and uses the slogan 'WAKE UP PEOPLE'.[9] Also, there was a featured commercial of a spoof on the Dallas Cowboys offensive coordinator yawning, when calling a play, thus, causing Tony Romo to be sacked, he was then replaced by Cowboys' owner Jerry Jones who gives him a Diet Pepsi Max. The scene then cuts away to the words "WAKE UP PEOPLE" while a voiceover shouts the slogan. An ad for the product that ran during Super Bowl XLII featured the song "What Is Love" by Haddaway, and showed people sleeping in inappropriate places and at inappropriate times, while bobbing their heads to the rhythm of the song.[citation needed]
Logo used before re-branding in 2020. This logo was introduced in 2016
For Super Bowl XLIV in July 2010, Pepsi Max did a reboot of a well-received ad that ran during the 1995 Super Bowl XXIX.[10] In the original ad, a pair of delivery drivers from Coca-Cola and Pepsi began a tentative friendship while listening to "Get Together" by The Youngbloods; in a peacemaking gesture, the two rivals taste each other's soda. But the friendship ends in humorous conflict when the Coca-Cola driver refuses to return the (superior) Pepsi product.[10] The new ad riffed on the same story, with the drivers this time coming to blows over the then-Pepsi Max at the expense of Coca-Cola's much more popular Coke Zero, with the song "Why Can't We Be Friends?" by the American funk band War as the soundtrack.[10] In 2011, Snoop Dogg was featured in an ad campaign around the time of Super Bowl XLV.[citation needed]
↑ Lippert, Barbara. "Diet Pepsi Max: You Snooze, You Lose", Adweek, June 26, 2007. Accessed July 9, 2007. "A cross between a cola and an energy drink, it contains twice the caffeine of regular Diet Pepsi and a touch of ginseng for the je ne sais quoi."
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