Bonne Bell Dr Pepper turns 50!

The very first ever Bonne Bell Dr Pepper Lip Smacker in the .45 oz. that quickly switched to .56 oz., then .60 oz.

Possibly the most famous Bonne Bell Lip Smacker of all time and trailblazing beauty collab in the world, launched 50 years ago this month in July 1975. The Bonne Bell Dr Pepper Lip Smacker is one for the history books and will probably live on much longer than all of the copycats and brand collabs that came long after. Bonne Bell brought the world its first-ever flavored lip gloss in 1973 and only two short years later added Dr Pepper to their exciting and rapidly growing Lip Smacker flavor line-up.

Bonne Bell's Dr Pepper displayer 

The Bonne Bell Dr Pepper Lip Smacker is probably one of the most universally loved beauty products in the history of the past 50 years, fawned upon from girl-next-doors to celebrities alike who were fans of the famous sheer red glossy tint it left on the lips, a little deeper red than the Dr Pepper logo shade, and the uncanny, without a doubt Dr Pepper flavor that Bonne Bell nailed.

1970’s Dr Pepper logo 

How it all started:
 

A little history lesson on the famous favorite. Apparently the Bonne Bell partnership happened when someone on Bonne Bell's marketing team had the then crazy idea to bring the two icons together while they were brainstorming new Lip Smacker flavors to bring to the market. Lets just say the team laughed it off saying it'd fail, but Jess A. Bell being the trailblazer he was thought it was brilliant. Fast forward to Jess A. Bell meeting the head of Dr Pepper at a sales conference shortly after and pitched the crazy idea. All with only a handshake, the Bonne Bell x Dr Pepper collab was born, a first in the world of beauty, and became a decades long favorite and best-seller. Read all about it from Cleveland's very own (Bonne Bell's homeland) The Plain Dealer from June 25, 1975 newspaper article. 

The Plain Dealer article snippet from June 1975

Flavor: 

Bonne Bell chemists nailed the Dr Pepper flavor. Though it’s known for its mysterious blend of 23 flavors total, I never personally considered Dr Pepper a cola or cherry cola for that matter. Dr Pepper has a distinct flavor that Bonne Bell wrapped up perfectly in a Lip Smacker. It even smelled effervescent, like cracking open a cold can of the Doctor. Perfection!

 

Tint:

The famous tint that many coveted was more of the red color in the Dr Pepper logo opposed to the brown color of the actual soda. It was a quick way to give lips a glossy pop of color and bring life to your face. I've read quite a few makeup artists and devotees alike also used it on their cheeks. 

Press:

A lot of press started going out for Bonne Bell's major flavor collab in June of 1975 as many couldn't wrap their minds around a Dr Pepper flavored lip gloss. Store ads also started promoting Bonne Bell's newest soda pop sensation in late June 1975. Many stores were having Dr Pepper taste comparison parties for the launch of what came to be one of the beauty industry's most iconic cobranded collabs, eons before anyone else ever thought about it.

 

So many iconic American retailers carried Bonne Bell through the decades. 

Just so we're clear, the Bonne Bell Dr Pepper Lip Smacker debuted in the Biggy jumbo size that most later BB Dr Pepper devotee's may not have realized, though it did comeback in Biggy form in 2005 and pretty much stayed around until Bonne Bell sold in 2015. It had the iconic screw-off cap that the very first Lip Smackers saw. 

Want to know something even more surprising?! The first Bonne Bell Dr Pepper has collagen peptides in the ingredient list which is very trendy today, 50 years later! It was taken out shortly after but was something very interesting I noticed that stuck with me. 

The very first ingredients in the Dr Pepper formula featuring collagen peptides!

The original Bonne Bell Lip Smacker formula also has a slight SPF protection but was removed from the formula by the mid-to-late 70's.

Biggy size vs. regular Smackeroo size

The Bonne Bell Dr Pepper Lip Smacker is so famous it became a cultural icon for decades and has been used in countless movies (Juno) and tv shows (Will & Grace, Gilmore Girls, etc.), referenced endlessly in pop culture through the decades. She was that girl. Many makeup artists over the years have also name dropped it for using it on various actors and models for a fast flush of color. I have more pop culture references in my archives that I'll update here as I locate them. Check these out in the meantime...

Pop Culture: 

Movie & TV mentions-

Will & Grace- S4E3 "Crouching Father, Hidden Husband"

Still from the movie Juno- see it? 👀 

Magazine/Print-

2003 CosmoGirl Magazine clip

2004 Seventeen Magazine showcasing Brittany Murphy's known favorite

Social Media-

Clip from The Strategist IG page 

Clip from Allure's IG page

The Bonne Bell Dr Pepper Lip Smacker went through many cosmetic changes over the five decades it was on the market. The picture I created for Allure's front page of The Obituary Dr Pepper Lip Smacker Deserves shows most of the label transformations from in 1975 through the very end in 2015, in the mini Smackeroo .14 oz. sizes. I wanted this post to focus primarily on the very first Bonne Bell Dr Pepper created, so I didn't plan to lay out all the Biggy's and mini's side by side for this post, but of course will down the road. 

Nearly 5 decades of the regular, "Smackeroo" .14 oz. size Bonne Bell Dr Pepper labels from 1977-2015.

Below, a never before seen Dr Pepper prototype that was created for Lip Smackers 40th Anniversary in 2013 featuring a 1960’s Dr Pepper logo that never came to light, though its BFF's 1980’s Orange Crush and 1970’s 7UP did. The Bonne Bell/Aspire Brands team did announce they were dropping a limited-edition throwback label for the Dr Pepper Biggy in 2012, just in time for the upcoming 40th Lip Smacker Birthday celebration the following year in 2013. 

Never before seen or released, 1960’s Dr Pepper label prototype from 2012/2013.

Dr Pepper Original & Best trio (2nd gen.)

Dr Pepper was so successful it eventually became a Liquid Lip Smacker in 2008, and later a Squeezy Lip Smacker. At the very end it even became a Roll-It Lip Smacker. There was even a trio that came with three Dr Pepper sticks in the late 2000's. In 2009 Bonne Bell launched a Dr Pepper Cherry Lip Smacker in the DPSU Party Pack. They were also about to introduce a Dr Pepper Vanilla Float Lip Smacker flavor around 2014 but it never ended up making it to the market, sadly.

I actually have some other incredible Bonne Bell Dr Pepper’s that I’ll save for another day. 😉

Here we are 50 years later commemorating one of many of Bonne Bell's incredible innovations. Though the flavor was changed shortly before the Bell family sold the brands in 2015. It basically became a flat, generic cherry cola-esque flavor that didn't resemble Dr Pepper at all when Markwins took over, completely obliterating a once flawless flavor and formula. Though the Bonne Bell Dr Pepper Lip Smacker didn’t quite make it 50 years (nor did the Markwins version) many still mourn the once perfect pucker-upper. Markwins/Dr Pepper officially severed ties in 2020 and the remaining inventory sold into 2021 and vanished by 2022. By this time, the Dr Pepper that we all once knew and loved was barely recognizable as it was; the flavor and formula was completely changed by this point and not for the better. The real, original Bonne Bell Dr Pepper Lip Smacker formula with the iconic, authentic flavor and glowing red tint had took its final bow at the end of 2014.

With this we can crack open an icy-cold Dr Pepper and cheers to the many years we did get with the world's most memorable beauty collab, made possible by the beauties at Bonne Bell. Check out sides by sides of the very first and last versions, standing proud side-by-side. 

The very first Bonne Bell Dr Pepper Lip Smacker from 1975 vs. the very last iteration from a late 2014 batch. 

The very first Bonne Bell Dr Pepper Lip Smacker .45 oz. Biggy from 1975 vs. the very last .60 oz. Biggy iteration from an early 2015 batch featuring the limited edition label for Lip Smackers 40th Birthday. 

All three together for their final curtain call. All this point, the only person or brand that I’d trust the bring it back in its full original form is the Bell family themselves, who still own and operate Formula 10.0.6 skincare, led by the 4th generation Bell’s, Peyton and Hadley.