The Orange Juice Rebrand That Lost $30 Million Long Before Anyone Cared About Cracker Barrel's Logo

The 2025 uproar over Cracker Barrel's rebranded logo was epic, considering the pushback and access to instant grievance-airing on social media. However, that colossal failure and rapid U-turn had a notable predecessor story. Following a 2009 power-of-the-people protest, a different rebrand totally flopped, resulting in a quick reversal and an estimated loss of $30 million. The product was Tropicana Premium Orange Juice, sold in cooler sections of major supermarkets, both then and now. 

The branding partially involved the front label gracing each container of Tropicana not-from-concentrate orange juice, depicting a large orange with a green leaf attached, plus a colorful striped straw inserted into the orange. The overall image conveyed several things to the average consumer: the oranges are fresh-picked, the juice comes from real oranges rather than concentrates, and it tastes so fresh that it's like sucking juice straight from a real, fresh orange.

That imagery was apparently so effective that when it changed, orange juice fans pushed back, big time. The bright, playful orange had been stripped away, replaced by a minimalist white background, an oversized stemmed glass of juice, and a rotated vertical "Tropicana" logo, rather than the familiar, easily identifiable horizontal placement. Fans complained that the redesign (by the Arnell Group) removed the uniqueness of the packaging, relating it to generic or store-brand juices, and even emailed questions, per The New York Times, such as "Do any of these package-design people actually shop for orange juice? Because I do, and the new cartons stink." As testament to customer appreciation, significant revenue loss, or both, Tropicana quickly backpedaled.

Here's how the Tropicana label drama unfolded, and a dumbfounding peek at another Tropicana rebrand controversy in 2024 — for a different aspect of the same product. In the 2009 label fiasco, the intent seemed valid enough — reportedly to modernize, reach health-conscious consumers, and signal purity and simplicity, among other considerations. But they inadvertently erased what many Tropicana buyers associated with fresh-squeezed orange juice, even raising questions over whether the quality of the juice itself had also changed. The taste issue arose in our own comparison of 15 store-bought orange juices. 

From old-school letters and phone calls to email and social media outrage, customers confirmed the importance of customer familiarity, loyalty, and feel-good imagery. But that's not all buyers did. After reported sales drops of 20% for Tropicana Pure Premium Orange Juice just two months after the new label appeared, it became evident that customers were also talking with their pocketbooks. The once indisputably bestselling Tropicana product now generated a loss of $30 million, and that's not counting the scuttled $35 million "Squeeze" campaign heralding the new brand imaging. 

Tropicana finally moved to stop the bleeding just six weeks after the new label's debut. However, the Tropicana Pure Premium bottle itself went through a déjà vu restructure and outcry in 2024, abandoning the charming carafe-style shape and "shrinkflating" from 52 to 46 ounces. Despite customer dissatisfaction, yet again, it appears this Tropicana reformat has sticking power — though sadly, reports in 2025 indicate a potential pending bankruptcy for the Tropicana brand.