The encyclopedia · Marketing & Brand · Marketing decision · 2009
Tropicana redesigned its carton — and lost $30M in sales in two months
Tropicana replaced its iconic orange-with-a-straw carton with a generic glass of juice. Sales dropped 20% in 60 days. The redesign was reverted.
Tropicana · PepsiCo · 2009-01
What happened
In January 2009, Tropicana, PepsiCo's premium orange juice brand, redesigned its packaging. The iconic image of an orange with a straw inserted — a visual shorthand for fresh-squeezed juice — was replaced with a generic glass of orange juice and modern typography. The redesign cost $35 million.
The backlash was swift. Tropicana's sales dropped 20% within two months, a loss of approximately $30 million. Customers who had found Tropicana on the shelf by its distinctive orange-with-a-straw image could no longer recognize the product. The new packaging looked like a store brand, not a premium juice.
PepsiCo reverted to the original packaging within two months, at additional cost. The case became a textbook example of how packaging is not decoration — it is the product's identity on the shelf. A redesign that makes a product unrecognizable is not a refresh; it is a disappearance.
Why it happened
- The redesign removed Tropicana's most recognizable visual asset: the orange with a straw.
- Customers identified Tropicana on the shelf by its packaging, and the new design made it unrecognizable.
- The new packaging looked generic — like a store brand, not a premium juice.
- The $35M redesign cost was compounded by $30M in lost sales and the cost of reverting.
The lesson
Packaging is not decoration — it's the product's identity on the shelf. When you redesign the thing customers use to find you, you erase the brand.
Aftermath
Tropicana reverted to its original packaging and retained the iconic orange-with-a-straw image for over a decade. The case is taught in packaging design and marketing courses as the definitive example of a redesign that destroys brand recognition.
Sources
- Tropicana Products — Wikipedia (2009 packaging redesign)
- What to learn from Tropicana's packaging redesign failure — The Branding Journal
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