Dr. Pepper was created in the 1880s by the American pharmacist Charles Alderton in Waco, Texas, and was first nationally marketed in the United States in 1904.

Early advertisements for this soft drink made medical claims, stating that it "aids digestion and restores vim, vigor, and vitality.

[citation needed] In 2009, an old ledger book filled with formulas and recipes was discovered by Bill Waters while shopping at antiques stores in the Texas Panhandle.

[19][20] However, Milly Walker, Collections Manager / Curator for the Dublin (Texas) Dr Pepper Bottling Co. Museum, has stated that U.S. Census records show that a young Morrison lived in Christiansburg, Virginia, 40 miles (64 km) away from Rural Retreat, and that "there is not one piece of evidence that Morrison ever worked for Charles T. Pepper in Rural Retreat".

[26] In 1969, owing to Dr Pepper's legal success as being determined a "non-cola" soft drink, then President & CEO W. W. "Foots" Clements was successful in persuading the Coca-Cola Bottling Company of New York, the largest bottler and distributor of Coca-Cola in the world, to bottle and distribute Dr Pepper in the New York metropolitan area.

[32] Jones had made deals with Dr Pepper and the other companies that, the league said, violated their exclusive marketing contracts with Coca-Cola and other businesses.

It is now only available in select areas of the US, but it can also be found in Coca-Cola Freestyle machines that offer Dr. Pepper in place of Pibb Xtra.

In August 2014, the UK version was reformulated, adding the artificial sweeteners Aspartame and Acesulfame K, which reduces the amount of sugar from 10.3 g per 100 ml to 7.2 g. In 2018, due to the Sugary drink tax implanted in the UK, the sugar was reduced to 4.9 g. Presently, Keurig Dr Pepper relies on its own bottling group to bottle and distribute its products in more than 30 US states and Canada.

[55] Coca-Cola and Pepsi have essentially stopped bottling and distributing Cadbury-Schweppes products in favor of in-house alternatives, although regional exceptions can be found.

In Mexico, Germany, Sweden, the Netherlands, Slovakia, Austria, the Czech Republic, Belgium and Norway, Cadbury-Schweppes owns the trademark and distributes the product.

[63] During World War II, a syndicated radio program, The 10–2–4 Ranch (later titled 10–2–4 Time), aired in the Southern United States and other areas where Dr Pepper was distributed.

One of the first was a July 1981 sketch on the program SCTV, in which an overly-excited injured man (Eugene Levy) extols the work of a "Dr Shekter" (Rick Moranis) who has been treating him.

Levy and a group of patients wearing casts and crutches engage in their own elaborate dancing and singing ("Wouldn't you like to see my doctor, too?

"[71] The 1980s "Out of the Ordinary" advertising campaign involved a series of post-apocalyptic commercials featuring a space cowboy and an alien sidekick seeking "something different" from a simple generic cola.

[72] The campaign also produced commercials featuring the movie creature Godzilla, where citizens of a Japanese town offered Dr Pepper as a libation.

Advertising supporting the slogan has celebrities with famous relations to the word "doctor" (Dr. Dre, Julius "Dr. J" Erving, Gene Simmons (writer of the Kiss song "Calling Dr. Love"), et al.) or who played fictional doctors (such as Neil Patrick Harris or Kelsey Grammer) endorsing the beverage.

[45][46][47][74] In 1963, singer Donna Loren became a spokesperson for the company when she was selected in a nationwide search to be the "Dr Pepper Girl".

[75][76] National exposure followed for Loren as she promoted the drink via radio, print, television, calendars, billboards, and personal appearances.

One of her first appearances for the company was as co-host with Dick Clark (whom she worked with regularly) of an ABC television special, Dr Pepper Celebrity Party.

She became widely known in a short period as "The Dr Pepper Girl", appearing at special events and on programs sponsored by the company.

Miss Loren would figure prominently in Dr Pepper's plans for some five years, not only as an entertainer but doing commercials for radio and TV and appearing in many forms of advertising.

Loren later explained: "Dr Pepper was involved in that [the Beach Party movies] and actually placed me as product placement.

Away from the company, Loren was a familiar presence in the 1960s due to her many performances on television, films, and her records for Capitol, Reprise and other labels.

[85] Dr Pepper's online distribution of free coupons upon the album's release November 23, 2008, proved inadequate.

Lawyers for the band threatened Dr Pepper's parent company with a lawsuit two days after the album's release.

In a letter to Dr Pepper, Rose's lawyer Alan Gutman said, "The redemption scheme your company clumsily implemented for this offer was an unmitigated disaster which defrauded consumers and, in the eyes of vocal fans, ruined Chinese Democracy's release.

[89] The Dr Pepper Museum, located in the Artesian Manufacturing and Bottling Company building at 300 South Fifth Street in downtown Waco, Texas, opened to the public in 1991.

The museum has three floors of exhibits, a working old-fashioned soda fountain, and a gift store of Dr Pepper memorabilia.