It is considered one of the worst rebranding efforts ever made, if not the worst. We're talking about Tropicana orange juice (owned by PepsiCo), whose packaging change in 2009, in the North American market, instead of revitalizing its image (and sales), cost it at least $50 million.
Ultimately, the company decided after only a month and a half to abandon the new packaging, which was indicative of the magnitude of the failure, with the old one triumphantly returning to supermarket shelves in the following months.
Despite the costly advertising campaign (amounting to $35 million), titled 'Squeeze, it’s a natural', which accompanied the new packaging, the endeavor failed big time. Tropicana, PepsiCo's flagship brand (with $700 million in annual sales), immediately losing market share (sales dropped by 20% in two months) against competitors, with consumers heavily criticizing the new packaging as 'ugly' and 'cheap' (due to its simple design).
The company attributed the failure to the emotional attachment consumers had to the original packaging, causing them to feel betrayed when it was suddenly withdrawn from the market, which was something the research failed to reveal.
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The new packaging, with its transparent glass of juice (which could also be reminiscent of medicine) instead of the iconic orange with a straw (note: all competitive brands 'featured' a ripe orange in their packaging), was deemed 'problematic' by many. The shrunken orange moved to the cap went unnoticed, as did the logo 'hidden' vertically on the right side of the packaging (especially when your audience reads from left to right).
As a result, many consumers stated they didn't recognize it on the shelf, while others didn't know if, due to the change in slogan (from 'Tropical Pure Premium' to '100% Orange Juice'), it was the same product.
All this when we know that packaging is the last chronological message the consumer receives (the silent salesman), which largely determines their behavior.
The truth is, the company embarked on an effort to give its juice a modern aura, without a serious reason or cause (as the product was highly successful), making too many changes at once, causing confusion in the consumer market.
They changed almost everything: logo, slogan, font, image, and cap. Experts, on the other hand, favor adopting a more conservative approach (one step at a time, as the Americans say).