The Hustle: Why Europe’s Favorite Soda Flopped in America

The Hustle is a digital media channel of the Hubspot Media Network of inbound media brands, producing insightful video essays and documentaries about major moves in business, tech and entrepreneurship.

Why did Pepsi Max become a zero‑sugar phenomenon across Europe, but flop in the U.S.?

In this video, we break down how a single ingredient, a decade‑long FDA delay, and a series of branding missteps turned Pepsi’s most promising product into America’s most confusing soda. From Pepsi Max to Pepsi One to Diet Pepsi Max to today’s Pepsi Zero Sugar, you’ll see how policy, leadership mandates, and muddled positioning created a “multiverse” of colas where the same idea dominated in Norway and Sweden… and barely registered in the U.S.

NODEHAUS handled the entire post-production for this piece — from ingesting, archival research, editing, motion-graphics animation, sound and color.

Original link: https://youtu.be/Zqswzic2cSw

• Credits

  Client: Hubspot - The Hustle

  Production Co: NODEHAUS

  Writer & Host: Jamal Meneide

  Producer, Editing Manager: Taryn Varricchio

  Editor: Emily Mosier, Tran Hoang Calvin

  Graphics: Emily Mosier, Triston Centretto, Tran Hoang Calvin