Utah-based drink chain Swig created “Dirty Soda” in 2010. Fifteen years later, this trend is driving innovation from anywhere PepsiCo In McDonald’sinfuses a new life into the slug-in drink category.
The “Dirty Soda” drink uses pop as a base, followed by flavored syrup, cream, or other ingredients. While Swig claims credits and trademarks for Dirty Soda, Tiktok Videos and the reality television show “The Secret Life of Mormon wives,” it has overtaken even the rapid expansion of the soda chain, helping the trends spread widely.
Nowadays, consumers can find it almost anywhere, from grocery store aisles to fast food chains.
In a few weeks, Pepsi will be unveiling two filthy soda-inspired drinks at the National Convenience Store Trade Show in Chicago. New drinks, dirty dews and mugs float in the vanilla howler, continuing with the Pepsi Wild Cherry and Cream Flavored Heels that hit the shelf earlier this year.
“I think it’s a great opportunity for people like us, like PepsiCo, for consumers to experience soda in new ways, and in a way, in an old way,” Pepsi told CNBC, North American Chief Marketing Director Mark Kerkam told CNBC, comparing dirty soda and root beer floats and soda shops to distorted soda shops.
PepsiCo’s dirty soda-inspired drink lineup includes Pepsi Wild Cherry & Cream, Dirty Mountain Dew, and Mug Float Vanilla Howler.
Source: PepsiCo
Dirty Soda is also attracting new interest beyond beverage players. According to Datasential, 2.7% of American restaurants offer carbonated soft drinks containing cream and milk from 1.5% a decade ago.
Newcomers with this trend include TGI Fridays. TGIFridays has launched Dirty Soda as a limited time menu item this summer that could potentially be spiked with alcohol. McDonald’s is testing sodas with flavors like “sprite erythema splash” in more than 500 locations after winding up a drink-focused spinoff COSMC in June. Yum Brands ‘ Taco Bell also offers limited time menu items, such as the Dirty Mountain Dew Baja Blast.
Swig sets trends
Recently, Swig has grown to over 140 locations in 16 states. So far, sales at the store have risen 8.2%, according to a company held individually. Larry H. Miller Company, an investment company founded by former Utah Jazz owners, purchased a majority stake in SWIG in 2022 for a private amount.
“I think Starbucks is doing what they did for coffee for soda,” said Alex Dunn, CEO of Swig.
As Swig grows, so does the number of chains trying to emulate its success. Rival soda shops such as Sodalicious, Fiiz and Cool Sips also benefit from this trend. Coffee shops like Dutch BrothersIt has been added to the menu. And now, fast food chains are jumping on the bandwagon.
“We’ve verified that this is a category and it wouldn’t be a part of it if McDonald’s and Taco Bell didn’t have the broad appeal of being able to sell anywhere in thousands of places,” Dan said. “It’s a bit flattering to have created a category that everyone is copying now.”
For restaurants, adding dirty soda to the menu is easier than you hear.
“This is a custom drink offering that will allow the brand to take advantage of what’s already there, the soda machine. “The second is that if they incorporate one-touch ingredients or are already open for breakfast, there’s a very good chance they have cream at home.”
On the other hand, serving customizable coffee drinks is usually much more difficult. This contributes to the struggle at Starbucks.
“The world of espresso – it’s much more complicated,” Hollandoll said.
Dirty soda also has a wide range of appeal. It has less caffeine than coffee, so consumers can drink it all day long. What’s more, according to Holland Toll, it’s “much more accessible” than coffee house trends like Espresso Tonic. The bright colors of many dirty sodas are also appealing to consumers who are likely introduced into the trend via Tiktok videos.
But perhaps more than anything, dirty soda helps you draw customers in restaurants who otherwise feel like rif.
“It’s an affordable and fun treat. You’re not going out and spending $30 or $50, right?” Sally Lyons Watt is Circana’s Chief Advisor of Consumer Goods and Foodservice Insights. “It’s that people can walk away saying, ‘Wow, it was tasty’ or ‘I had it so I felt better’. ”
Beverage Company Pop
Swig Drinks.
Courtesy: Swig
“Fun treats” for consumers are being replenished for beverage companies and helps to reverse the decades-long trend in US soda consumption
As health concerns grow and drink options grow, Americans have not been drinking soda for about 20 years. In 2004, soda consumption peaked at 15.3 billion gallons, according to Beverage Marketing. By 2024, that figure had slipped to 11.87 billion gallons. However, carbonated soft drink consumption has been ticking over the past two years, with its estimated value to reach 11.888 billion gallons in 2025. In addition to the rise of dirty sodas, the growing popularity of prebiotic sodas is likely to help segments stop their downward trajectory.
For many years, iced coffee has been stealing what the beverage industry calls “throat share” from soda. With dirty soda, consumers can marry a love of customizing cold drinks with low caffeine content and soda flavors.
“Carbonation makes it feel lighter in the mouth than coffee, for example,” Holland Toll said.
Dirty Soda has also attracted young consumers who previously didn’t drink much Pepsi or Dr. Pepper. According to Dunn, Swig’s core customer base is young women between the ages of 18 and 35.
That applies to 31-year-old human resources based Holly Galvin, based in Davenport, Iowa. She told CNBC she rarely drank soda — until last year she saw dirty soda stinking in the spotlight on “the secret life of a Mormon wife.” Now she makes her own dirty soda once or twice a week at home. With the beginning of autumn, her go-to recipes these days use Diet Dr. Pepper as a base.
Generally, younger consumers tend to look for newer drinks compared to older cohorts. According to Keurig Dr Pepper’s 2025 trend report, almost three-quarters of Generation Z average to try new drinks each month.
Beverage companies say the wider halo effect of soda has been seen as a result of the trend.
“For us, it acts as a recruitment tool and brings new users to the trademark,” said Katie Webb, vice president of innovation and transformation. Keurig Dr Pepper. “It really brings them back to the base brand.
And just as craft cocktail culture led to the rise of canned cocktails, the popularity of dirty soda has led to cashing out the drink giant with a ladies’ drink version that takes advantage of the trend. According to Webb, Dr. Pepper Creamy Coconut was the company’s most successful limited carbonated soft drink based on retail dollar sales. And Carcam said Pepsi Wild Cherry & Cream is one of the company’s fastest growing flavor segments.
“Some trends will start retailing and move to foodservice,” said Lions Wyatt of Circana. “This was a foodservice trend moving into retail.”
With the launch of Pepsi Wild Cherry & Cream and next year’s Dirty Dew and Mug Float Vanilla Howler, Carcam expects consumers to become even more creative with their blends.
“I think it actually gives (consumers) the opportunity to experiment more and customize more,” he said. “Now you have a brand new base.”
