What is the History behind Coca-Cola and Pepsi- Cola's fierce rivalry?
The competition between Coca-Cola and Pepsi-Cola is very well known and has even been subject to their marketing campaigns for many years. Where did it all begin? Coca-Cola, established in 1886 by Dr. John Pemberton, became the first on the scene. By 1888 a business man, named Asa G. Candler acquired full control of the recipe, and established the Coca Cola Company by 1896. Likewise, in 1893, a pharmacist named Caleb Bradham, invented ‘Brad’s Drink', the original formula for Pepsi Cola. By 1898, Caleb renamed his drink to Pepsi-Cola and formed the Pepsi-Cola Company by 1902. Despite the similarities between them, they did not begin as competitors. Indeed, insiders note that the feud didn't begin until the middle of the 1970s. So, what is the history behind Coca-Cola and Pepsi-Cola's fierce rivalry?
Coca- Cola - The Early Years
Dr. John Pemberton, a pharmacist in Atlanta, Georgia, produced a syrup containing amongst other ingredients, extract of coca leaves, caffeine, lime juice and caramel. He then blended the syrup with carbonated water, creating a ‘delicious and refreshing’ drink. He sold it via a soda fountain for 5 cents a glass. The true formula remains a closely guarded secret, however, many experts believe it to contain orange, lemon, nutmeg, coriander, neroli and cinnamon oils.
In addition to this, it is widely acknowledged that the original formula contained cocaine. Ed Pilkington explains in his article for The Guardian, ‘Cocaine, a legal stimulant in Pemberton’s day, was removed from the drink in 1904 after mounting public unease about the drug. Extract of coca leaves have still been used, but only after the cocaine has been removed.' Of course, over the years the recipe continues to be tweaked and adapted with just a handful of people permitted to know the exact formula.
Dr. Pemberton's partner and book keeper, Mr. Frank M. Robinson, suggested the name and penned the now famous trade mark, Coca-Cola. During the first year, sales averaged a very modest 9 glasses a day, a far cry from the estimated 1.9 billion servings per day at present! Indeed, Dr. Pemberton never truly appreciated the potential of Coca-Cola as a beverage. He gradually sold portions of his business off until the affore-mentioned Asa G. Candler acquired complete control.
Candler, a forthright businessman and politician developed the company into a major company. By 1895, distribution of Coca-Cola included the whole of the United States. In 1899, exports began, first to Cuba, then just two years later, Europe. 1916, after becoming Mayor of Atlanta, Candler stepped back from the day-to-day running of the company. In 1919, he gave most of his shares in The Coca-Cola Company to his children. Subsequently, they later sold their shares to a consortium of investors led by Ernest Woodruff.
Pepsi-Cola -The Early Years
Caleb Bradham, a philanthropist and pharmacist, with a premises in New Bern, wished to create a drink to aid digestion. His creation, ‘Brad’s Drink', included sugar, water, caramel, lemon oil, kola nuts, nutmeg, vanilla and other additives. His drink gained in popularity, so in 1898 he renamed it after ‘pepsin’ ( a digestive enzyme, although this ingredient did not appear in his formula) and ‘cola’. The new name, ‘Pepsi-Cola'. He finally registered the 'Pepsi-Cola' trademark on June 16th 1903. He continued to sell Pepsi in syrup form, until 1905, when he began using six ounce bottles.
The bottling process occurred at two north Carolina franchises, Charlotte and Durham. Sales of his bottled Pepsi-Cola took off. Bradham needed a new official home, so moved to a new office building in New Bern, in 1908. At the peak of his success, 240 franchises appeared across the country, in 24 different states. In 1910, Pepsi held its first Bottler Convention in New Bern, firmly establishing thee roots of the business to be in the South Carolinas.
The start of World War I put pay to Bradham's success. The price of sugar rocketed from 3 pence per pound (pre-war), to 28 pence per pound. Caleb purchased a high volume at this price, however prices then plummeted. On 31st May 1923, Bradham and his Pepsi-Cola Company declared bankruptcy. Craven Holding Company purchased the Pepsi-Cola trademark and the all important recipe on June 8th 1923.
By 1931, Roy Mergagel purchased the business from Craven holding in association with Charles Guth, president of Loft, Incorporated, a leading candy manufacturer based in Long Island, New York. Guth used the Loft facilities to reformulate the Pepsi-Cola recipe and replace Coca-Cola in all the Loft stores and restaurants with Pepsi-Cola instead. In addition to this, he used Loft resources to further promote Pepsi and moved the Peps-Cola Company close to Loft in New York. Perhaps these changes are the first indications of a fierce rivalry developing between the two coke giants.
Fierce Rivalry Begins
Coca-Cola didn't experience so many dramatic changes in the early years, whilst Pepsi-Cola, as we know, fell foul to bankruptcy. This, combined with huge endorsements and advertising campaigns, led to Coca-Cola becoming a page in American history!
Coca-Cola like to focus its advertising by promoting itself as a family friend brand, using characters like polar bears and of, course, Santa Claus at Christmas time. They took great care creating a bottle design distinctive to their brand only. Indeed, one of the earlier bottle designs received a patent renewal on Christmas Day 1923! By the 1950s all patents for the design of the Coca-Cola bottles expired, so the company approached the Patent Office to declare the bottle itself as a trademark. Although highly unusual for packaging to be granted a trademark, the distinctive contour bottles did receive the status (12th April 1961), partly based on a study from 1949 that illustrated that less than 1% of Americans could not identify the Coca-Cola Bottle.
Pepsi-Cola utilised media to promote their brand. From radio jingles, broadcast from coast to coast (1939), to their first television advertising campaign, January 1950. The radio jingles included the words ‘ Pepsi cola hits the spot, twelve full ounces, that’s a lot. Twice as much for a nickel too!' With Coca-Cola bottles containing 6.5 ounces in their well advertised bottle, the Pepsi strategy certainly attacked their competitor's product. Likewise, they modernised their script for the television advertisement. Their first TV advert 1950, highlighted Pepsi providing ‘more bounce to the ounce’! ‘You get a big, big bottle too….why take less when Pepsi’s the best?' Likewise, they also produced a distinctive bottle design for their cola, opting for a twisted glass design in 1958.
In 1975 Pepsi-Cola launched ‘The Pepsi Challenge’. This marketing campaign filmed consumers taking a blind tasting test of both Pepsi-Cola and Coca-Cola. Their strategy, to show the public that Pepsi tasted better than the market leader and their main competitor. Although scientific tests found very little difference in the taste of the two cola giant's drinks, public opinion shifted. By 1977, Pepsi took pole position in sales of its product, over Coca Cola, with a slogan ‘Taste that beats the others cold!' Pepsi further increased publicity by getting Pepsi lovers to wear a badge, advertising their love for the drink!
Cola Wars!
Retaliation came from Coca-Cola. They launched Diet Coke in 1982. Their advertising campaigns for this new product focused on sex appeal, rather than family values. Who can remember the topless builder taking a diet coke break, with all the female office workers gathering to watch him? In addition to this, just three years later, they launched New Coke, a sweeter taste to the original formal, more on a par with Pepsi. The change in recipe caused uproar among Coca- Cola purists, who demanded a return of the Original Coca Cola. When the original came back, sales soared making it more popular than ever! This led to another shift in the rankings, with both products knocking Pepsi-Cola back to 3rd spot.
Coke also cornered the sponsorship mark between themselves and sporting events. They signed the first deal between a company and an international sports governing body in 1976, with FIFA. They went on to sponsor Special Olympics in 1979, the centennial Olympic Games in Atlanta (1996), a 100 year partnership with the National Basketball association (1998) and so forth. However, Pepsi always sponsored the NFL, so when the Superbowl LIII arrived in Atlanta, 2019 (Coca-Cola's home turf), the gloves came off again. Pepsi ran with slogans like ‘’Hey Atlanta, thanks for hosting. We'll Bring the Drinks!' and ‘Pepsi in Atlanta, how refreshing!’ Coca-Cola retaliated by running an advert just before the National Anthem stating, ‘A Coke is just a Coke’.
Conclusion
It seems the cola giants have settled into a content placement for their stakes in the market, at present. However, given their past, none of us can guess what their next marketing strategy might be to gain that all important no1 spot for World wide sales! We hope you have found our blog, ‘What is the history behind Coca-Cola and Pepsi-Cola’s fierce rivalry' informative. Feel free to check out our full range of replica vintage advertising signs featuring the two competitors on our website. Sweet and Nostalgic enjoy sharing snippets of historical information and great gifts from the 20th Century with you. Thanks for reading!