THE COLA WARS
Pepsi co and Coca Cola have been in corporate war for decades. They have been ascertaining assets and support of their brands in a bid against one another. This rivalry involves the food industry as well as the other industries. These companies both rose to power via the taste of their cola drinks.
The inventor of the “cola” drink is John Stinth Pemberton an American Pharmacist (Brittanica 2025). The drink was invented in 1886 (Britannica 2025) as a medication for pain as the inventor had an addiction to morphine following a previous injury that needed analgesics. The inventor experimented with various mixtures of analgesics resulting in a mixture of cocaine and alcohol, what is known as “French wine cola” (Britannica 2025). Legislation in Atlanta soon prohibited some of the ingredients used in the French wine cola. This resulted in the Pharmacist tinkering the recipe. The mixture that was created, needed a way to mask the bitter taste. With that, Pemberton selected sugar and lots of it resulting in “Coca-Cola.” The drink didn’t gain notoriety amongst the population till much later. Pemberton passed away just before signing the rights over to a fellow pharmacist, Asa Griggs Candler. Coca cola was sold at Jacobs Pharmacy as a fountain drink in the form of a syrup for five cents a glass (Britannica 2025). This is where the modern practice of having fountain drinks in restaurants comes from. Coca-Cola was seen as refreshing and delicious. The carbonate was added to the mixture accidently by Pemberton giving the drink its kick. Pemberton advertised the drink on the Atlanta Journal where he invited people to try the refreshing drink. As Pemberton grew old, he sold parts of the rights to various partners. By the end of his life Asa Griggs Candler owned his stake in the recipe. Asa began to purchase the rights that were sold to others in a bid to ascertain one hundred percent control of the drink. In 1899 the Coca- Cola Company signed its first agreement with a bottling company to permit to buy the syrup and produce, bottle and distribute the drink. Coca Cola began to purchase other companies and brands as it grew larger, including Fanta, Minute Maid and Fresca (Britannica 2025). Along with the purchases, they began to create different types of cola drinks including Sprite, Tab, Diet Coke and New Coke and Old Coke (Britannica 2025). The MacDonald's partnership came in 1955 and lasted till 2007 permitting coca cola fountain drinks within the restaurants (Britannica 2025).
Pepsi Cola was created by Caleb D. Bradham a Pharmacist from New Bern North Carolina as “Brads Drink” (Britannica 2025). It was created as a rival to Coca Cola. The company endured a lot of difficult times such as after World War I were the company was restructured (Britannica 2025). The modern day Pepsi Cola was founded by Charles G. Guth who lost ownership of the company to Loft who changed the name to Pepsi Cola Company after the takeover. In 1965 Pepsi Cola merged with Frito Lay the makers of Fritos, Doritos, Lay’s potato chips (Britannica 2025). Pepsi Cola began to occupy space in the restaurant industry with its Yum brand specifically Pizza Hut, Inc. (1977), Taco Bell Inc. (1978), and Kentucky Fried Chicken Corp. (1986; now called KFC (Britannica 2025)). They purchased 7up companies’ (Britannica 2025) international business and commodified the sales of water through Aquafina. They also later acquired Dole and Tropicana brands of juice.
The coca cola wars has been ongoing as Coca-Cola and Pepsi co ascertain market share of beverage sales in multiple regions. As it stands Coca Cola is the most valuable drink brand in the world followed by Pepsi Co. Coca Cola has a market share of 43% of the industry according to Statista in 2025. Pepsi Co on the other hand ascertains a market share of 23.3% per CNBC in 2025. From drinks, to snacks to restaurants Coca Cola and Pepsi Co compete head to head trying to land the most recent agreements. The “cola wars” involves “aggressive marketing campaigns and product innovations that began in the late 1970’s and escalated through the 1980’s" (Copilot 2025). Coca Cola marketed the holidays with its Santa Claus ads creating a taste for enjoying the drink year round while Pepsi advertised the Pepsi challenge where blind people preferred Pepsi over Coca-Cola. Coca cola refined their recipe after the results of the challenge. Instead of using sugar, Coca cola used corn syrup giving the drink a sweeter taste as well as making it more affordable as “New Coke” (History 2025).
As it pertains to restaurants, beverages are a main priority. Food and beverages go hand in hand and are complementary goods to one another. Coca Cola and Pepsi are sold as fountain drinks in many restaurants. They compete over these rights as restaurants sell the drink on the counter. The customer experience of the drink is the most important here. The drink must go well with the food and both have a distinct flavor although similar to one another.
WORK CITED
Britannica. (2025). PepsiCo, Inc. Retrieved from: PepsiCo, Inc. | History, Products, & Facts | Britannica Money
Britannica. (2025). The Coca Cola Company. Retrieved from: The Coca-Cola Company | History, Products, & Facts | Britannica Money
CNBC. (2025). PepsiCo. Retrieved from: PepsiCo (PEP) Q3 2025 earnings
History. (2025). How the “Blood Feud Between … Retrieved from: How the 'Blood Feud' Between Coke and Pepsi Escalated During the 1980s Cola Wars | HISTORY
Microsoft. (2025). Copilot Search Thread. Retrieved from: www.bing.com
Statista. (2025). Coca Cola Company. Retrieved from: Coca-Cola Company - statistics & facts | Statista
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