John Green Passionately Defended Dr. Pepper's Honor On TikTok

Known for writing New York Times best-selling novels like "The Fault in Our Stars," "Paper Towns," and "Looking for Alaska," John Green is among the most prominent contemporary authors of his time (per John Green). The young adult author, who recently penned his first adult novel "The Anthropocene Reviewed," has had works adapted into television series and major motion pictures to boot. Not only is he a world-renowned author, Green apparently doubles as a staunch Dr. Pepper loyalist.

Green, who's regularly active on TikTok, recently posted a clip on the video-sharing platform preaching the superiority of Dr. Pepper over its famously similar-tasting competitor Pibb Xtra. It stemmed from another TikTok post where the author filmed a blind taste test successfully identifying Dr. Pepper among four of its dupes. While this is indeed an impressive feat, what was more interesting to some TikTok users was that Pibb Xtra was among the knock-off beverages. The top comments on the post read, "Hey John, are you telling me Mr. Pibb has been a generic brand THIS WHOLE TIME!?"

Green was quick to address the question in his inspiring DP TikTok monologue alleging that even the U.S. court system has determined that Pibb Xtra is a knock-off of the popular 23-ingredient soda. But just how accurate are Green's claims?

According to Waco History, Dr. Pepper was invented in 1885 by Charles Alderton, a pharmacist, and in John Green's words, "a great American." The widely-popular soda was on the market for over a century before its most well-known competitor Pibb Xtra hit the market in 1972 (per Caffeine Informer). The time gap alone leads us to believe that Pibb Xtra could have been inspired by Dr. Pepper. Backing up Green's claims further, Pibb Xtra was originally introduced to the market as Peppo — a name that may have caught the eye of Dr. Pepper fans before DP inevitably sued the Coca-Cola company thus legally changing Peppo to Mr. Pibb, per pibbthug.com By 2001, however, Mr. Pibb was a name of the past and Pibb Xtra was born.

Green also added that Dr. Pepper exists in a category of its own — as it should! Dr. Pepper is not a cola, but rather, a pepper soda. Trailblazers of their own beverage classification, it can only be said that Pibb Xtra is an offshoot of the original pepper-flavored soda — good ole' fashioned Dr. Pepper. Even the official Dr. Pepper Museum dueted Green's TikTok confirming his claims!

Don't worry Pibb, Dr. Pepper fans will always settle for you at the Chipotle soda fountain!