Diet Pepsi has been given a new look, and is out with new TV spots that take direct aim at competitor Diet Coke.

The debut last night of the ads was supported by a massive sampling campaign during the day that put 3 million cans of the updated Diet Pepsi into consumers’ hands in cities across the U.S.

About 10,000 Pepsi employees participated in the events, Pepsi spokesperson Nicole Bradley said.

The spots claim that Diet Pepsi has “more cola taste” than Diet Coke. The assertion is based on a modern day Pepsi Challenge where double-blind taste tests were run in geographically diverse marketers that found that consumers chose Diet Pepsi as the brand with more cola taste over Diet Coke, Pepsi said. Some 56% said that Diet Pepsi tasted more like real cola, the Wall Street Journal reported.

“We think this claim and the new graphics will get people to reevaluate the brand and attract new consumers,” Bradley said.

The five new ads, created by DDB New York, are an effort to stem declining sales. The spots take a light-hearted approach that gets the message across that Diet Pepsi has more cola taste. They are:

* Politically Correct: pokes fun at the need for political correctness, asking consumers to not be rude about the fact that Diet Pepsi has more cola taste than the competition.

* Jingle: recognizes that people are drawn to jingles, facts and puppy dogs and sings the praises of Diet Pepsi using all three.

* Life Lessons: contrasts useless information like Pig Latin with more useful information about Diet Pepsi's more cola taste advantage.

* A Little More than Half: an exaggeration of the magnitude of diet cola drinkers who think Diet Pepsi has more cola taste.

* 90210: characters from the popular Gen-X TV show "Beverly Hills 90210"
illustrate how diet cola choices separate the cool kids from the rest.

The new blue and silver design on the can was described by the company as “modern, slightly more masculine.” An ad bliitz in New York’s Times Square also supports the new campaign.

Diet Coke ranked No. 3 in market share last year at 9.8%, compared to Diet Pepsi at 6%. Diet Coke’s unit case volume slipped 0.1% in 06, versus a dip of 1.0% for Diet Pepsi, according to Beverage Digest.

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