Who’s a Pepper?

“Dr Pepper is a good thing for Dublin and 

I think the town has been good to Dr Pepper.”

Eddie Raley, Resident of Dublin, Texas

I’m a Pepper. Dublin, Texas (population 3,779) is a Pepper, too. I love to drink Dr Pepper; Dublin loves to make it. Folks there have been making the stuff since 1891, the oldest Dr Pepper bottling plant in the world. Generations of Dubliners have grown up working at the plant, and a local bank even hands out free eight-ounce bottles of Dr Pepper to anyone who walks through its doors. So why is Dr Pepper the company suing Dublin Dr Pepper? 

The name says it all: Dublin Dr Pepper. The bottling plant in Dublin prints “Dublin Dr Pepper” on all of its bottles. Dr Pepper the company doesn’t like that—says the Dublin bottler is using an unauthorized logo. The folks running the Dublin Dr Pepper plant say printing “Dublin” on the bottle lets people know they’re getting the real thing. Dublin still makes its Dr Pepper with pure cane sugar; most other bottling plants switched to cheaper corn syrup in the 1970s. Dr Pepper aficionados appreciate the difference. Over 70,000 make the pilgrimage to Dublin each year to slurp up the sweet soft drink.

Dr Pepper the company also says Dublin Dr Pepper is using the Internet to market its pure cane product. People from around the country log on to buy Dublin Dr Pepper, and Dr Pepper the company says that’s not fair. It violates the terms of the Dublin distribution contract, which states that Dublin-made Dr Pepper can only be sold within a 44-mile radius of the town. 

So let me get this straight: Dr Pepper the company is miffed at Dublin Dr Pepper because it’s found a way to attract a large and loyal following for the Dr Pepper brand and because it uses modern technology to boost sales of Dr Pepper. Sorry, I don’t get it. I guess a judge will have to sort it out. 

I’m a Pepper. Dublin’s a Pepper. Hopefully the judge is a Pepper too.

Read the article ® Fans of Dublin Dr Pepper rally in support of small-town bottler
Photo by Brian Oberkirch