Where's My Pepsi?

Can this be just a coincidence? Six weeks ago I couldn’t find it at my local Key Food in Brooklyn. Last month, while in Florida, my hosts could not find it at any of those huge Publix stores which usually have everything you might even fantasize about wanting. What’s going on?

So I’ll bitch to Pepsi directly, thinks I; maybe they’re just phasing it out because of unsatisfying sales totals—understandable reasoning. Navigation of their website (which is really nice) proved frustrating because when I finally reached the page to post questions I was advised to click on “Pepsico World” and then the “Help” button. Oops, there was no help button. I’m an admitted techie dunce but I just couldn’t find it so, after several attempts, abandoned the quest.

Looking elsewhere, I found a distributor of Pepsi products that stocks all of their brands. Oh, cool, thinks I (I have stopped using “kewl” because it’s so, well, uncool). Eek, two cases of 12 cans each, which costs a mere $11.78, carries a walloping shipping charge of $37.55. Nuh UH!

This happened to me once before when my favorite carbonated soda was Canada Dry’s diet cranberry ginger ale. Its disappearance from my local shelves drove me into the arms of Diet Pepsi Wild Cherry and then to Diet Pepsi Lime. But now, oh noooooooo! I know, I know, I drink way too much carbonated soda, whether it’s the diet stuff or not…I know it can’t be all that healthy for me. But Diet Pepsi Lime keeps me kewl, er, cool and I like the taste. Where’s my Pepsi?!!!

Update Wednesday, July 30, 2008: The void has still not been filled. I've taken to buying limes, the real fruit, and squeezing 'em into bottles of Caffeine-Free Diet Pepsi; two fresh limes per one two-liter bottle seems to be the right ratio for my taste. Luckily limes are cheap right now. I know, I know, Coke puts out a Diet Lime Cola but, frankly, it's not my cuppa tea.