Initially called the forgettable “Brad’s drink,” after the pharmacist who first created it, the drink quickly outsold the pharmaceutical side of his store, so he devoted himself to his new product and changed the name to Pepsi, which comes from the Greek word for digestion. And Pepsi Cola was born.
One of Pepsi’s first milestones was the creation of the 12 oz. bottle, which was twice the size of their rival for the same price. They also came up with the very first radio jingle in history. Finally, after a series of clever marketing strategies that were anything but friendly, like the Pepsi Challenge, the war of the colas was officially on. And it wasn’t pretty. Many users described Pepsi’s sweeter, fruitier taste as the reason for its superiority. What are your thoughts?
As a company, they were also quite ahead of their time, being one of the first companies to employ African-American workers, displaying them prominently and in a very respectful light in their ads. Not bad for the times.
In 1964 they created Diet Pepsi, 18 years before Diet Coke! They also were the first American soda to be sold in Russia during the cold war, (the “Pepsistoika”) a diplomatic coup that Coke wouldn’t achieve until the 90s.
Despite Coke`s success as a brand, Pepsi has outsold Coke many times during its long history. Ironically Coke even had the chance to buy its rival, but passed both times. And after years of rivalry, PepsiCo created many other products that became favorites, such as Mountain Dew, Gatorade, Lay’s, Aquafina, Tropicana juices.
But eventually, the soft drinks became merely a springboard for a food and beverage conglomerate that grew to gigantic proportions – Yum! They are the owners of chain restaurants like Pizza hut, Taco Bell and KFC.
Pepsi, like all carbonated drinks, is in the midst of a potential sea-change regarding consumer behavior as people begin to consider the health burden of sugary drinks. In response, Pepsi are looking to reduce their overall sugar content and are looking to reformulate to keep the taste while kicking the carbs and calories. In the bigger picture, however, Pepsico has already diversified to the degree that sagging soft drink sales alone would not cripple them.
By creating the perfect combination of snack foods and refreshing beverages they’ve already stumbled onto an important consumer supply stream that will seemingly never run out of demand. Not bad for a soda created by a humble pharmacist, who had the good sense of renaming his creation so we can all feel young and refreshed with a cold glass of Pepsi.
Register now to join the conversation, access exclusive content, and be a part of our exclusive brand communities.
