A fountain Dr. Pepper machine. (Photo: sage.kitamorn.com)

While trying to hatch up some tough college hockey related NHL playoff trivia questions for my gig managing the Rival Films Facebook page, I noticed a press release on the Pittsburgh Penguins team page regarding the beverage contract for their new arena. The Consol Energy Center will have an exclusive beverage contract with Dr. Pepper Snapple Group, which means RC Cola, Dr. Pepper, A&W Ro

ot Beer, and 7Up will be flowing out of the concession stand fountain machines, and Snapple and Fiji water bottles will be available along side them. This is the first beverage deal for the Penguins in quite a while, and is one of the first I’ve ever heard where the exclusive beverage rights were given to someone who isn’t Coca-Cola or Pepsi.

Dr. Pepper? Fountain soda Dr. Pepper? Alongside hockey? Well, wrap me up and ship me UPS to Pittsburgh.

If there is a weakness I have in life, fountain soda/pop is undeniably it. Don’t even begin to tell me how awful it is for me – I am more than fully aware. Even a year working in the Campus Center Dining Hall at Ithaca College, where I was often made to change the disgusting looking syrups for the fountain soda machines, could not dissuade me. Before I became addicted to coffee, the rare occasion I had fountain soda was my vice. Continue reading