Soft drinks at breakfast

A fascinating article on eater.com last month told the story of how soft drinks have fared over the years in appealing to Americans at breakfast.

• Advertisements for soda in the morning date back to the 1930s.

• In 1962, 75% of Americans drank coffee. By 1988, this had dropped to 50%.

• In the late 1980s, mornings accounted for 10-12% of all soda consumption.

• High caffeine Pepsi AM was launched in 1989 but withdrawn in 1990.

• Gatorade AM was released in 2007 and then renamed 2 years later.

• Mountain Dew AM with orange juice appeared in 2012.

• Mountain Dew Kickstart with 5% juice, caffeine, vitamins B and C followed in 2013, achieving $100 million sales in its first year.

An uphill journey.