WikiPibbia

After I'd finished my research on the definition of Pibb, I decided that my next step should be to try to learn about the history of the drink. Maybe by delving into the past and trying to learn the drink's origins I'd find some clues as to why it's only available in certain areas, or how I might be able to find it.

I started by looking in the same place as everyone else looks when they need some information about something: Wikipedia.

As you can see, the Wikipedia page for Pibb is woefully disappointing. There's only one exciting bit, which is where it explains that there used to be a Pibb video game in the 1990s:

In the 1990s, the marketers of Mr. Pibb distributed a video game. It featured a cartoon man similar to the cartoon used on the original Mr. Pibb can, whose mission was to escape from a school inhabited by zombies. He defeated the zombies by burping at them and he could increase his burp capacity by drinking Mr. Pibb. This video game was played through MS-DOS on a PC, and was distributed in floppy disk format (3.5" diskette) and (less common) PC CD-ROM.

That sounds amazing, doesn't it! If anyone out there has a copy of this game, please get in touch. But, other than that, besides a couple of "media influence" anecdotes, there's no information on Wikipedia which you couldn't find by simply checking the brand page on the Coca Cola website. All it says about the drink's origins is this:

Introduced in June 1972 to compete against Dr Pepper, Mr. Pibb had a less widespread blend of flavors.

I don't know about you, but I don't like the tone of that. It's sounds like it's suggesting that Pibb is somehow inferior to Dr Pepper, which we all know is obviously untrue. It continues:

The original test markets for Mr. Pibb in 1972 were located in Waco, Texas (the birthplace of Dr Pepper).

Waco, Texas is of course also the place where seventy-six people died, in 1993, as a result of the infamous Waco Siege. It's unclear as to whether these tragic events were in any way connected to the 21st Anniversary of Mr Pibb, but it seems unlikely.

And, finally, the Wikipedia article states: 

In 2001, a new formula called Pibb Xtra was introduced with added cinnamon flavor, replacing the original formula in many parts of the US.

And that's it. It had become clear: I'd have to delve deeper, and do some investigating.