The ingredients lists are nearly identical. The only swap is the source of sugar. Sierra Mist contained cane sugar while Starry follows the lead of its competitors by using high fructose corn syrup.

It's replacing Sierra Mist, a 24-year-old brand that has failed to gain traction against market leader Sprite, which is owned by main rival Coca-Cola. Pepsi's internal research showed that "demand for lemon-lime flavored soda has never been greater," the company said in a statement.

PepsiCo Inc. has discontinued its 24-year-old brand Sierra Mist and is rolling out a new lemon-lime soda, Starry, the company's latest effort to compete with Coca-Cola Co.'s popular Sprite soft drink.

Because Starry is replacing Sierra Mist, the assumption is that it's a better, upgraded lemon-lime soda. According to a PepsiCo representative, "Starry has higher citrus flavors that are true to fruit and more aromatic which delivers a more balanced, cleaner, crisp finish than Sierra Mist."

Starry certainly has a unique flavor, with hints of starfruit and citrus, but it's just not as refreshing as Sprite. Sprite has a crisp, clean taste that quenches your thirst and leaves you feeling energized.

According to PepsiCo, Starry was developed in response to growing national demand for lemon-lime soda, and as a fresh attempt to compete with Sprite, the Coca-Cola Company-owned brand that has long led the category.

All this points to a beverage without a lot of corporate confidence behind it, and that was born out in January 2023 when Sierra Mist officially left shelves. In its place is a new lemon lime beverage called Starry.

"The new identity is bold and embraces the audacity of self-expression by being dynamic, distinctive, and modern." Sprite had to step up their game- In order to stay relevant, Sprite needed to update its look. We know it as a classic brand, and its iconic green logo has been around for decades.

The relative strength of a trademark lies on a spectrum that has fanciful marks at one end and generic marks at the other end. Specifically, the entire spectrum consists from strongest to weakest, Fanciful, Arbitrary, Suggestive, Descriptive, and Generic.

The Bass red triangle logo 1875 – The Bass red triangle logo was the first registered trademark in the UK. 1870 – Averill Paints obtained the first registered US trademark. Lowenbrau claims to have the oldest continuously used trademark in the world – 1383.

Sierra Mist is a discontinued lemon-lime flavored soft drink line. Originally introduced by PepsiCo in 1999, it was eventually made available in all US markets by 2003. The drink was rebranded as "Mist Twst" in 2016, but reverted to Sierra Mist in 2018. In early 2023, Sierra Mist was replaced by Starry.

And for that, let's take a little trip down a citrus-lined memory lane: Pepsi introduced Sierra Mist in 1999, replacing Slice (remember that?) to better compete with Sprite and 7UP. But the product also seemed to ape Pepsi's other long-standing lemon-lime offering, Mountain Dew.