Coca-Cola and Pepsi have been fighting each other for over a century, with the Pepsi Challenge in 1975 causing a major feud. In the 1980s, both brands fought for market share, with Pepsi winning blind taste tests. The great Cola Wars of the 1980s were a battle between Coca-Cola and PepsiCo for dominance. The disastrous introduction of “New Coke” in 1985 appeared to set Coca-Cola back.
Coca-Cola is currently winning in its branding war with Pepsi. Some commentators even believe that the Coca-Cola company, the venerable Atlanta institution, had betrayed the South by copying Pepsi. While Pepsi was founded in North Carolina, by the time of the lawsuit, the company controlled 69 of the segment, while Pepsi captured 27.
Coke, or Coke II, was introduced by the Coca-Cola Company in April 1985 and was renamed Coke II. In 2013, Coke products were sold in over 200 countries worldwide. Coke is still the top soda in America, but the runner-up spot, long held by Pepsi, now belongs to Dr Pepper. An assistant to Coca-Cola’s global brand director has been accused of trying to re-ignite the “cola wars” with Pepsi.
Foodborne nanoparticles (NPs) have drawn great attention due to human health concerns. A study reports the detection of the presence of NPs in Coke and Pepsi. The claim that the names of “Coca Cola” and “Pepsi” are associated with Jews and have hidden meanings is a conspiracy theory and is not based on any factual evidence.
📹 The Strange History of Coca-Cola
Taken from JRE #1722 w/Bartow Elmore: https://open.spotify.com/episode/0Pf1SrvTTA4Ts94Gs8vbJd?si=4f85e37d01664f9a.
📹 Food Theory: How Pepsi Became Irrelevant…
Dr Pepper has just become the number two best selling soda in the country! After years of climbing the ladder, they’re now at the …
Hey there! Some years ago I and 3 other family members spent a month in Peru. When we came to the higher elevations we were given coca tea every morning. There is also coca candy. Yes, the native Peruvians have long used it by chewing the leaves. Plus they used it in trade. Back then – and even now – the rural natives do not go out without it ~ just like you wouldn’t go out without your wallet (or maybe a debit card). Believe me, the natural leaves do not have any effect like cocaine! Sure, it was weird at first for this group of elderly people (58-88 Yrs), but it sure helped serve the purpose of being able to manage the very high elevations.
Seeing a lot of people missing the point and getting in fights down here over such a petty “issue” . Most of the guests on the podcast share information that’s widely available unless its an anecdote. Never seen this reaction when its a researcher or scientist talking about information that’s already been published. Guest even states multiple times that it’s not new information, its about revisiting the interesting history and diving into more detail related to it. Having someone breakdown an interesting history and the timeline of that history in a cohesive way is no different than 90% of the history/science/research based interviews Joe has done. Cheers all. Keep Kind <3
I learned about this in college and it shocked me back then but no knowing How many secrets the government keeps from us & how much pharmaceuticals were used & even as prescribed drugs like amphetamines to housewives in the 50s Almost nothing shocks me today but this guy seems like a great Historian and Story teller who also sounded like a great professor that some of his students wrote about in the comments.
Somewhere in Peru or Columbia, someone’s Grandmother is making real CocaCola, bringing it to special occasions and healing her closest friends of all their digestive issues. Id buy a CocaCola Serving Tray with that scene painted in their trademark wholesome 50s soda fountain pin-up style. Medicine woman. There should be coca plants in the background.
I wish Joey coco Diaz was there to set the record straight. “Let me tell you something Joe Rogan. In the summer of 1984, I lived in an apartment – snowman village and had a friend named chicken hawk. It was a Wednesday night, right after taking a massive shit…there was a yellow coke ring around the toilet because I dumped it the night before after being paranoid.”😂
I wish Joe Rogan did not sell out I tried perusal one of his episodes on spotify and after 8 mins I was hit with 4 2 min ads (I told myself okay only 3 ads is okay there is a very good chance it could have been more) this is the episode I ended up perusal even though I thought he was Michael Shellenberger
I worked for coke back in the late ninety’s and part of your new hire was learning the history of coca-cola. Interesting to this day the concentrate used to make coke is made in peru and still uses the coca leaf. But all the cocaine is extracted and sold to for pharma use. Its all very highly controlled by the dea.
What’s hilarious about this story is that the exact opposite happened when Four Loko first came out 😂 It used to have caffeine in it but then people started dying from heart attacks because they were drinking too many of them at the same time and they had to take out the caffeine. Today, they are sold without caffeine.
Regardless of how historically and scientifically accurate the discussion of this article is (the system of racism was the cause and effect of the discontinuation of the “secret ingredient” within Coke drinks…who knew smh) in my personal opinion Caffeine, Alcohol and Sugar are far more dangerous than Cocaine (and Heroin in some particular instances);
There are two very different kinds of coca leaves grown in South America. There’s small leaved coca which people chew and has pretty low levels of cocaine and there’s large leafed coca which they use for cocaine production. I’ve seen both while travelling in Bolivia. I almost made some original formula coke by adding some coca leaves to a 20 oz of coke.
A American friend of mine living as an expat on a beach in Mexico about fifteen years ago was really into this question of what happens to the coca leaves for Coca Cola. We found out all about the extraction and the laws to bring the leaves in and how the extracted cocaine was used for legal medicine. BUT the thing I was never able to find at the time was about the balance of how much Coke was manufactured and how much cocaine-derived medicine was manufactured? Did the demand for the medicines just increase in lockstep over the years and decades with the increasing popularity of Coke, or was there an excess? Or did demand for the medicinces always outstrip the supply no matter how much Coke was made?
Coca leaves do not have the same effect unless you process them with chemicals that you can’t get at your local hardware store. In other words you have to extract the coca in order for it to be effective recreationally. Chewing cocoa leaves does have an effect but it’s nothing like the extraction from leaves so he does have an idea what he’s talking about and yet he’s leaving out a very important principle about coca. Not impressed with his presentation.
As far as i understand and know the cola drink is mainly carbonated water, sugar or sugar replacement,caffeine and acid. Mote people will not be able to tell the difference and if you dont believe me you can do a blind taste test with your frind and family so in general it seems the other ingredients effects on the product taste is negotiable . The coca leaf is not cocane what so ever infact petrol is a necessity to make cocane from a coca leaf so its actually a milde stimulate like caffeine buy less strong bu alsow has the unique effect of improving the brain ability to absorb oxygen thats why the native in peru use the leaf to help them clime to heights where the atmosphere is very thin and it has been changed to a different source of milde stimulant and caffeine that was extracted from cock nat is now artificially synthesized from god knows what exsatly ans suger of course is now pure fructose syrup with special bonds that may or may not cause diabetes and tendency for obesity. In the end i dere say i rathe have drank the original formula.
Caffeine was added from the decaffeination process of coffee. Caffeine-free coffee and tea are the primary sources of Caffeine for caffeinated sodas. Caffeine only exists in natural forms, in fruit, seeds, leaves, beans, and is a Xanthine. Contrary to prevalent folklore; chocolate doesn’t contain caffeine, but instead theobromine, which is a xantheose alkaloid, and literally means “food of the gods,” reserved exclusively for foods from cacao and cacao products. This is why chocolate is poison to dogs, but coffee, tea & their products are not poison to dogs, for instance. I make this point because as my friend and I were discussing this episode, this associated topic was raised and discussed.
Pemberton didn’t exactly make a knock off of the coca wine through Coca-Cola. He actually created his own coca wine in the 1860s. Later in the 1880s he created the original Coca-Cola recipe. His coca wine was created within 3 years of the original French coca wine. I don’t see how coca added into anything can be claimed as specifically stealing ideas. It’s not a proprietary process.
Legit coca seeds are obtainable online and not all that difficult to grow indoors, it’s a myth that it’s next to impossible, although it would take some massive warehouse operation and lots of electricity to make quantities sufficient for large scale cocaine production, it’d be fairly easy to grow an amount sufficient for personal use for some “drug enthusiast”(‘junkie’ is a slur.. lol) as a tea or smoke or chew or something… hell I’d take a bath in it.. To grow it indoors would require no more expensive or hard to find equipment than that needed to keep an exotic reptile, heat humidity, UV-A and B are requirements as the alkaloid content is effected by this, with out UV the plants would still grow but not produce the levels of cocaine to have the same effect, although other alkaloids would still be present so it would likely still have some kind of effects.
So is he saying that before prohibition thier was alcohol in Coca-Cola? I’ve heard of the coca leaf being used in it before and people used to be able to get Coca-Cola syrup from a pharmacist and it would be used to things like upset stomachs and such but never heard of it being made with alcohol in it.
Knew a guy that transported medical grade coke about 15 yrs back, it is (or was) monitored and guarded with 2 armed guards the whole time, it was equivelent to transporting gold for dental. Also noted it was in a secured box locked up inside a locked cage and had to wait in the truck while it was loaded and unloaded.
I am the descendent of John pemberton and I can assure you our family has no royalties or money from John pemberton selling this product. I feel it is unfair and we should get something considering he invented it patented it sold it as pemberton pick me up. And his son inherited it then died mysteriously the buyer he “sold it” to cut out any royalties from the shares the family had in it. The bill of sale is still not found to this day! When they had stock invested!! Pretty messed up!! I’d like to get to the bottom of that story!!
This has nothing to do with this article just about secret things and drugs .so I heard the reason why we left the Middle East is because we’re growing poppy fields in Australia. now I’m not a smart person and it’s hard to believe anything that you hear or read. But I have also heard that when the military was in the Middle East they were just guard poppy fields. So I guess it kind of makes sense I don’t know maybe someone else knows more than I do.
Since Joe has pretty much interviewed all types of people my idea is that he picks like 7-8 Regular people with normal ass lives and try to reperesent the mayority of the country. Interview them individually and then have one show with all of them on and have joe try to bring them together as americans and get to middle ground with all of them with all these basic conflicts we are now facing in america. I think it would do wonders for us. Im hopeful we realize were stronger together sooner rather than later. Godbless ya’ll and try and be kind to your fellow american.
Something I have always wondered is the gigantic pot factory’s that produce mass bud and can perfectly manipulate and perfect the yield and quality why or it at least hard to believe no one has done the same with cocaine and eliminate the boarder issues and so many hands and extreme distances it has to go through always wondered that
As an advocate for cannabis, i immediately started replacing the word ‘coke’ with ‘cannabis’ and imagined this guy is talking 100yrs from now. I don’t place danger on weed, but society (government) might down the line EVEN w/ all the legalization going on right now. The laws could change. If CocaCola had the monopoly on coca when everyone else had to stop using it, who’s gna be making the cannabis version product of CocaCola years from now? Will the most popular drink of the future be a cannabis drink, all while it’s no longer available to the public in raw form? The era we’re living in could be the addiction stage, then once we’re good & hooked years down the line, some MEDIOCRE SODA BRAND (#teamPepsi) would have totalitarianism in some Orwellian nightmare where an unconscious public is drained of their meager funds and all control is in the hands of merciless corporate overlords… oh wait… dammit. I’m high. 😏😏
So I got a lot of troll push back from the sugar going from 16 grams of sugar in 1983to 42 grams of high fructose now. As a student of nutrition and constant reader of natural remedies of all diseases. That being said we all know that too much sugar or insulin requesting foods cause insulin resistance and eventually diabetes. So yes insulin doesn’t always get secreted for complex sugar. Like fruit some starch. But for sure donuts,cookies, cakes whatever we are addicted to. So when you don’t give your body time to uptake the insulin (12 hours usually). Then the cells become resistant to insulin = diabetes. Also if you fast for 5 days you will begin to self consume(kill) cancer. Go ahead and say it’s rubbish but I double dog dare anyone who has cancer to go refined sugar free and fast for 5 days. Also coca leaves are still used in the recipe with alkaloids.
For how much he loves weed this episode blew my mind that joe knew NOTHING about seeds. Most of this shit is simple seed building and how breeding works. Like GET ANY none millionaire in the weed community for god sake since hes never actually helping. Anyone else wanna smoke weed on camera in texas where its legal. Like damn man help out some.
Listen joe I’ve mother -ucking seen big foot or the skunk ape 3 am in florida ran across 4 lanes separated by a ditch grass median, faster then I could even comprehend intercepting said creature with vehicular malice. To this day coping with its existence bothers me as do you for what you have said towards this creature beyond your comprehensive study!
Coca cola was invented in Columbus Ga. Pemberton accidentally mixed the syrup with soda. He made the mix to begin with, because he was injured in the Civil war. He wanted an alternative to morphine. I hate it so much when people say it was invented in Atlanta. It was not. He sold it, and then it became an Atlanta product.
If u look at a map of where all the American soft drink empires arose theyre basically all within the Gulf of Mexico sphere of influence. Nothing further north and inland than Pepsi or Mountain Dew in the lower appalachians. It makes sense when u consider the raw materials that went into it. Same type of business as banana republic
You know what’s awesome about this conversation I think Mother Nature was like damn they making a lot off this what’s the ingredients in this hey my Island go profit a lot off this I need more greens freeze we having problems I’m just going to eat this plan in a way I think God and mother nature like gave them away to do what they wanted to do it and it was like you know what it’s time for them to go back to what they doing you wanted back this island needs more green trees and life wanted we just going to take it from them they don’t have to know so they just got to go back to what they used to do if that’s what happened just saying that’s cool😂😂😂😂😁💯💯💯
My sister and I are good friends of the lady that we call the Coca-Cola princess she’s an heir to the Coca-Cola foundation and she gets almost a million dollars a month for doing nothing that’s why I didn’t say her name or mine but they live very very large at the house in Florida Jackson hole Wyoming and in the winter time we go down to a private arena in Arizona where all the top cowboys go and her husband ropes steers. You absolutely never would know by looking at her that she had any money at all plane is Jane except for the automobiles a big rigs the coach motorhomes other than that she’s just an ordinary lady
not new information but its good to bring it up for each generation, not to slight Coca Cola, just as a reminder that your world isn’t what you think it is….there is something you are using on a daily basis that in a decade you will be told it was something different than you thought it was. Coca is not bad, its us Americans who make it bad.
He left out that Pemberton served as a confederate officer and suffered a saber wound in battle. He was treated with morphine and be came addicted. He heard about cocaine and worked with it to wean him off morphine. It did not help his addiction. He remained addicted to morphine throughout his life. He died in near poverty.
I’ve never understood the “Cola Wars” between Coke and Pepsi. Both are really good, so it seems really silly that people think they have to be loyal to just one. Coke has a deeper, richer taste that pairs well with other flavors like vanilla, while Pepsi has a lighter and fruitier taste that pairs better with other fruits (which is why Cherry Pepsi > Cherry Coke). Since I like both, I always just but the one that best fits how I feel at the moment. But to be honest, I have barely bought any bottled soda since I got my Sodastream. And since Sodastream is owned by Pepsico, I guess they’re making out like a bandit in my home. 😅
10:08 I do note that in both these cases you aren’t comparing them to the Coca Cola branded equivalent(Powerade and Surge). I assume because it would undermine the point of the article. Pepsico effectively WON those two fronts, Gatorade and Mountain Dew have consistenly beaten out Powerade and Surge since they released, to the point Gatorade is to go-to default for sports drinks and Surge has been withdrawn from many markets like Canada. There’s also Sprite V 7-Up, and while Coke has the lead this is probably the closest fought battle, 7-UP holds strong.
As a 23 year old gen z, I’ve heard time and time again that I need to reduce my soda intake, stop drinking soda, you can’t be drinking acidic things, every dentist that has had a look in my mouth has said the same. And I know I’m not the only one. So no wonder the soda market is having some recession. Snacks rising doesn’t surprise me either, seeing as something needs to stimulate my adhd brain now that the soda can’t.
Im so glad yall mentioned yung gravy cuz once you mentioned flavoring and marketing, I immediately thought “are they gonna bring up strawberry creamin by yung gravy?” everyone I know and even strangers love the strawberries and cream flavor, their creamy coconut is good too versus the best pepsi flavors Ive seen in store recently were lime and mango, which are FINE but nowhere as good as what dr pepper has been pushing lately. So I think youre right and a lot of it comes down to pepsis weird choices.
I think you can chalk this entire episode up to “Impressionable people sick and tired of the cruel world, find a moment of solace with the funny brand drink” end of story, honestly, I could not care which drink is more POPULAR, its about the TASTE, Dr.Peppers are rare outside of the US not counting Canada or Mexico, but actual EUROPE rare, and personally I prefer the mellow taste of a Pepsi vs the cold bite of a Coke and if I’m feeling spicy, Fanta.
One reason why Pepsi keeps going (relatively) strong in the tide even with all its failure is because of how it prepares itself. While it’s true that Dr. Pepper and Coke are always ahead, Pepsi Co. is still THE major #1 drink distribution network system on the market in North America for carbonate and electrolyte drinks. Their system is so vast and well implemented that not only does Coke uses their network (at an obvious cost) in the US and Canada (at least from what I know), Pepsi Co. is also manage and run the majority of Dr Pepper’s products distributions. Yes, Pepsi Co. is basically what Valve’s Steam is in the article game industry, but for the carbonate drink industry in North America. Coke does come close behind Pepsi when it comes to its distribution network, but Pepsi Co. invested a lot of money in securing exclusivity deal all around North America. As ironic as it might sound even if Dr. Pepper raise as the #2, Pepsi Co. is still making a lot of money from managing its localized delivery with its delivery network. The company who deliver over 80% of all carbonated drink (other their their own brand, if applicable) at Walmart, Maxi, Dollarama, Sobey’s and many more in both the US and Canada: Pepsi Co.
And yet here in Aussieland, Dr Pepper doesn’t even have a foot in the pool. You can only buy (some of) the range at specialty stores here, and for a markup — typically anywhere between $2.50-$4 a can. Sometimes you can find individual cans of the base flavour at some supermarkets in the international aisle (also for the typical imported specialty markup). We also don’t have Funyuns!
I know that Dr Pepper is bigger than Pepsi in the US and I know that Pepsico is more popular than Dr Pepper because of the food and snack industry BUT even if we ignore the “co” then pepsi is still bigger than drpepper and will always be unless drpepper goes international because outside of USA almost no one even heard of dr pepper
Hey Santi, I am having an argument with family about food, more specifically, is Mexican cream sauce a type of cheese? I say no, and my nonbinary sibling says it is. I asked ChatGPT to answer if Mexican cream sauce is a cheese in a philosophical way, and it basically said no. But now I need the opinion of an expert researcher in food theories. So, now I ask you, is Mexican cream sauce a cheese?
thats because when it came to mainstream soda they got hit with a reduction of flavor. i stopped drinking soda for 10 years and when i tried a variety pack i ended up noticing that they all including dr pepper had a drastic reduction in flavor. i also noticed there was a 20 calorie reduction as well. a lot of sodas used to have 160-170 calories per soda.
Pepsi’s wild flavors do sound odd. I did try the Crystal Pepsi when it was re-released since I don’t remember ever having it as a kid when it was originally available. While haven’t liked all of Coke’s wild flavors either, some of them haven’t been too bad. I’ve also tried the last two Mountain Dew VooDew flavors. I’ve tried the Dr. Pepper Strawberries and Cream but not the coconut one.
After careful consideration, I’d like the next Theory to be about…The Eggscellent Challenge. How long can it really take for someone to eat everything the Eggscellent Challenge offers: 12 eggs, chili, cheese, 2 biscuits, and a fruit bowl. Is it truly possible to finish this food in under 1 hour? Will Santi go on this quest, slay the dragon, and perhaps even win the “I’m Eggscellent” Hat? Or have a food theory about which food from Regular Show is better and which is worse. Either way, I’d like a Theory on Regular Show.
I think Pepsi will be just fine. I mean I’m shocked that Dr pepper would be above them anyways because I’m not a fan of Dr pepper. I don’t like drinking Dr pepper. The last time I had Dr pepper I swear it tasted like cough medicine. I hated it. I definitely prefer Pepsi when it comes to colas. Especially since you don’t have to actually ask for Mexican Coke to get real sugar you could just find a regular plastic bottle of Pepsi with real sugar in just a fridge at Safeway or any grocery store. I mean yes there is Mexican Pepsi too, but you don’t actually have to get Pepsi out of those glass bottles which are a lot less common than plastic ones. I know it’s kind of nitpick but yeah I also prefer diet Pepsi over diet Coke and I don’t even understand why someone who will like diet prefer diet Pepsi over diet Coke and I don’t even understand why someone who will like diet prefer diet Pepsi over diet Coke and I don’t even understand why someone who will like prefer diet Pepsi over diet Coke and I don’t even understand why someone who prefer diet Pepsi over diet Coke and I Don’t understand why so many people like diet Coke when it tastes awful. Coke Zero is actually good but diet Coke is awful. Anyways Pepsi is going to be fine. Gatorade has been in the lead for sports drinks for a very long time and I didn’t realize until perusal this article that they actually had approaching competition from Prime because well honestly I never bought prime before. I’ve seen them in stores but I’ve never bothered.
I’m so confused because I thought Dr.Pepper was owned by Pepsi’s brand? I work in a restaurant where we serve Pepsi and we also serve mug rootbeer, dr.pepper, brisk, shweps gingerale, and 7up. I have always been told that these drinks are owned by Pepsi’s “brand”. Like how Coca-Cola owns nestea, sprite, ect. So how could Dr.pepper be competing with their own brand? Isn’t this just money for the Pepsi franchise ? How could you know that they own Gatorade but not Dr.Pepper? Do they not own it anymore? I’m so genuinely confused. 😂😂
This year I had two people try Dr Pepper for the first time and wondered how/why they never did, this isn’t fresca! You either love it or hate it. Yum brand has been doing terribly too by the looks of it, Pizza Hut has been a rip off the last 15-20 years (easily), KFC sells the smallest pieces of chicken they can and Taco Bell either the ones I go to have gotten smaller portions or the owners have gotten greedier, that and you get some employees who don’t know the menu and English is their second or so language so something “mind boggling” like a #3 with hard shell tacos, nacho supreme and no tomatoes is too difficult.
I probably am already one of the older people here… as I went to ‘college’ at the dawn of the internet (and my first order of business when I started living away from my parents was to build my own computer and get a permanent internet connection… ICQ was the hip, new social platform of that time and most social interaction I had was over IRC). I never liked Pepsi. Especially their sugar free options were horrible. As I now have to watch my sugar intake, I’ve almost completely switched to sugar free beverages. Coke zero is alright in that regard but it doesn’t really quench my thirst, so it’s more something I occasionally drink. Usually I just drink sparkling water with a bit of sugar free lemonade syrup mixed in. When I do ‘sin’, it’s usually Dr.Pepper ‘though. You don’t see the diet variant in the super markets where I come from, unfortunately, because I’d really like to try that… (Edit: spelling error.)
Coke vedor here, where im at we also do dr pepper brands. Its crazy how much more soda we sell than pepsi lol theyd be out of business without frito. Also prime hype is pretty much dead i think, they really arent moving much units in my area at least. Sport drinks dominated by gatorade but we arent too far behind with Bodyarmor/ Powerade
Coke and Pepsi are always the same price here in the big stores. IDK what kind of deal or agreement they have, they always go on sale at the same time and price too. there seems to be only one flavor that sells clear off the shelves every time, that is Diet Coke. So I’m very surprised to see it ranked 5th.
Here’s the thing Pepsi isn’t irrelevant simply because they are a majority share in Yum Brands. Which owns allot of stuff. If a restaurant serves Pepsi that’s because they are owned by Pepsi. So Pizza Hut, and Papa Johns are owned by the same company. Pepsi doesn’t even need to sell their soda to be relevant. They just need to keep selling pizza.
I’ve always preferred Pepsi over Coke… except as a fountain drink, Coke is better. In the 70’s my mom drank Fanta and Pibb. My mom switched to Pepper in the 80’s, and has pretty much stuck with them since. 80’s and 90’s I drank Pepsi. 2000’s I drank Pibb, Dr Thunder (Walmart), Pepper, and probably some Pepsi now and again. My ex drank Coke when I was with him in that decade, until we introduced him to Cheerwine. 2010’s I was pretty stuck on bubbly Walmart water… and then in a failed effort around 2020 to get away from carbonated drinks, I’m back to Pepper. 🤦🏻♀️🤷🏻♀️ Cheerwine is just a very random special for me. It was always my treat when we visited my grandparents when I was growing up. That’s not saying I only drink sodas… but that’s pretty much my main soda/carbonated drink journey. My ex drank ONLY his canned sodas… when I was drinking water and tea along with my carbonated drinks.
lol Pepsi is dying just because Dr. Pepper has overtaken it as the second-best selling soft drink? Dr. Pepper took second place because of the new flavors they’ve been coming out with, so they have more varieties to sell. Like we’re going to think that Pepsi doesn’t sell millions of units a day? And besides, even if Pepsi itself isn’t selling as many sodas as it used to, the company as a whole is never going to die. They own Frito Lay, Gatorade and even some fast food companies. There are dozens of soft drinks sold in stores, especially if you count store brands. Third place is not “dying”.
I still prefer Pepsi if I’m going for a cola… not that I drink soda much in general, let alone colas, especially since I fully avoid caffeinated drinks of any variety because of how addicted I’ve seen people become to the stuff (yes that includes coffee, can’t even stand the smell of that stuff anyways.)
Dr. Pepper is vile. I’m amazed people are buying up that swamp water over Pepsi. Any other cola would be better. 7Up or Sprite Starry would be better. Heck, even Mountain Dew would be better, but Dr. Pepper? 😑 Well, there’s no accounting for taste. Pepsi’s weird flavors sounds like they were taking a page out of the Lay’s chips handbook, but the experience ends up more like Hansen’s Thanksgiving sodas. 🤢
When it comes to plain cola flavor, Pepsi still wins hands down. But for special flavors, Coke is the king. The new spiced Coke is delicious. And while the Coke Creations line was hit-or-miss, the hits were also wonderful: Move, Dreamworld, and Marshmello in particular. ( Not the Y3K “AI” one… I love AI, but current AIs don’t have taste buds, so please don’t try to invent new flavors with it…)
I was in the same graduating class as Yung Gravy… unfortunately, I never got to meet him before the fame as he went to a different High School in my City (Rochester, MN) I had a 33% chance of going to his school, and maybe being his friend, to possibly being hired to be his private jet aircraft mechanic 😅🧑🔧 darn
I live in South Central PA (dubiously Labelled the snack capital of the world – home to Hershey, Mars, Wise Chips, Herrs, Utz, and a host of others as well as a big producer of Lays) and Pepsi/ Frito Lay is NOT the leader in either field here. Synder’s of Hanover is king of pretzel sales, Utz is leader (though not by a large margin over Herr’s) in potato chips, and Wise and Martin’s both tend to share the popcorn market locally, though Skinny Pop (owned by Hershey) is making moves too. Coke and Dr Pepper are definitely high sellers, but local Rutter’s Tea out sells Lipton by leaps and bounds. And it seems like a lot of these brands are catching on around the country more.
Pepsi did this to itself. Pepsi used to be my favorite soda. Today the flavor is the same, but it has fizz for about 10 seconds after you open the can until it’s flat. I’m not sure if it’s always been like this and I’m just noticing now? Also, even though I like Pepsi better than Coke, it will NEVER be bigger than Coke as long as McDonald’s is selling Coke.
I thought Pepsi Blue was great but I was also a freshman in high school and not exactly from a rich family back when it came out. So I think it was mostly (favorite soda)+(favorite color)+(one of the few things I could buy for myself daily) = pretty awesome! Still, wish they’d bring it back just for nostalgia’s sake, not that they ever will.
Satan: I’ve got this new sphere built, but what kind of sick horrors do I inflict upon the souls sent there? “(Dr. Pepper) have an entire brand newsroom where employees’ sole jobs are to sift through social media…” Satan: Perfect! Now, if only there was a sin abhorrent enough to deserve such a punishment.
You’re missing one major point here Santi: The demographic’s taste. Societies grow old and so does their taste. Pepsi, in comparison to Coke and Dr. Pepper, is more sugary which disqualifies it from being a good long drink or mixing companion in general, therefore it tastes unhealthier and kids/young people are generally more into sweet tastes then mature/older ones. Also Dr. Pepper has a certain flavour profile, making it feel more like a gourmand (taken from the perfume business) soda. So why should you buy Pepsi when you have Coke established for general cola consume and Pepsi bringing nothing special to the table? Coca-Cola is not just bc of the advertisement for old people.
Pepsi in the 1990’s tried to master their domain, they bought up all the fast food chains where they had an exclusive beverage agreement and ran them, buying (by force) the local franchisees and changing the feel of the chains, not for the better. Compare Taco Bell in the 1980’s, where, for example, the refried beans were made from scratch, to the mid 1990’s version, where the refried beans were made from freeze dried flakes reconstituted with boiling water. Pizza Hut in the 1990’s can’t hold a candle to the 1980’s version, where the food tasted better, and you could visit the salad bar, and were served at your table. They ended up selling the restaurants off as Yum brands…and it did nothing for selling the old sugar water elixir
I’ll never understand how people prefer coke over pepsi. I feel like it’s a bulk marketing and familiarity at this point, not a flavor thing. Every fast food place excluding Taco Bell has coke products. Coke pushed all the tie-ins so people grew up almost not being exposed to pepsi. until drinking Coke was routine, and people just default to it rather than genuinely prefer it. Thats the only way it makes sense to me. Coke is only better for mixed drinks IMO largely because on its own it’s relatively bland flavor wise. meaning it doesn’t compete with what you mix it with as much as pepsi does.