Pepsi releases a new cola in Japan specifically for karaage fried chicken

Colourless beverage contains special ingredients to enhance the flavour of Japan’s “national dish”.

Pepsi has proved time and time again it isn’t afraid of experimenting with new releases to suit the tastes of the local market in Japan. So far, they’ve given us special flavours like sakura and Christmas cake, and recently they’ve customised their formula even further to give us Nama (“raw”) Pepsi and Japan Cola made with yuzu.

Now, they’ve outdone themselves by creating a special Pepsi designed to be drunk with the “national dish” karaage, or Japanese-style fried chicken.

The “Pepsi Karaage Senyo Cola” (“Pepsi Cola Exclusively for Fried Chicken“) is said to cut through the oiliness of the chicken and refresh your palate in a way that surpasses other types of Pepsi on the market.

This new Pepsi is said to be a better partner for fried chicken than the Nama Pepsi, which made its debut last summer as the brand’s most refreshing cola ever. As our reporters can testify, the Nama Pepsi does taste different, as it has less of a syrupy sweet aftertaste, working to refresh the taste buds rather than sweeten them.

For this new release, the scent and sweetness of cola have been dialled down to enhance the flavour of fried chicken, with the addition of dietary fibre to help cut through the oiliness, resulting in a refreshing taste. The cola is transparent and contains zero calories so you don’t have to worry about adding to the high calorie count of fried chicken.

Pepsi wants us to know that we don’t have to choose between the Nama and the Karaage Senyo, though, because as the ad below shows, the taste-tester with the big plate of karaage deems them both to be delicious partners for fried chicken.

▼ Take a look at the ad below.

The ad features Shinya Takagi and Kazuyuki Iketani performing in character as their personas from comedy duo Joyman, only now they’re ribbing each other as Nama Pepsi Vs Karaage Senyo. After their performance to impress the taste tester results in a draw, they end with their catchphrase “Nanda koitsu!” (“What’s up with this guy?”)

By introducing the new Pepsi to the market while the Nama is still available, Pepsi wants customers to try both versions so they can decide for themselves which is the better partner for karaage. They don’t have to twist our arm on that front, so you can bet we’ll be sizing them up with a plate of fried chicken when the Pepsi Karaage Senyo is released in stores on 14 June.

Source: PR Times
Featured image: YouTube/サントリー公式チャンネル （SUNTORY）
Insert image: PR Times
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