Cola wars
Encyclopedia
The Cola Wars are a campaign
of mutually-targeted television advertisements and marketing campaigns since the 1980s between soft drink manufacturers Coca-Cola Company
and PepsiCo Incorporated
.
, are intended as direct, equivalent competitors. The following chart lists these competitors by type or flavor of drink.
promoters included Mariah Carey
, KISS
, Tina Turner
, Britney Spears
, David Bowie
, Rod Stewart
, Michael Jackson
, Madonna
, and Ray Charles
(for Pepsi) and Whitney Houston
, Paula Abdul
, Weird Al Yankovic, George Michael
, Christina Aguilera
, Max Headroom
, and Elton John
(for Coca-Cola
).
.
as "The Choice of a New Generation." In 1975, Pepsi began showing people doing blind taste test
s called Pepsi Challenge
in which they preferred one product over the other, and then they began hiring more and more popular spokespersons to promote their products. In their hope to win the Cola Wars a Concorde was painted blue with PEPSI written across it in white lettering.
In the late 1990s, Pepsi launched its most successful long-term strategy of the Cola Wars, Pepsi Stuff
. Consumers were invited to "Drink Pepsi, Get Stuff" and collect Pepsi Points on billions of packages and cups. They could redeem the points for free Pepsi lifestyle merchandise. After researching and testing the program for over two years to ensure that it resonated with consumers, Pepsi launched Pepsi Stuff, which was an instant success. Tens of millions of consumers participated. Pepsi outperformed Coke during the summer of the Atlanta Olympics - held in Coke's hometown - where Coke was a lead sponsor of the Games. Due to its success, the program was expanded to include Mountain Dew
, and into Pepsi's international markets worldwide. The company continued to run the program for many years, continually innovating with new features each year.
The Pepsi Stuff promotion became the subject of a lawsuit
. In one of the many commercials, Pepsi showed a young man in the cockpit of a Harrier Jump Jet
. Below ran the caption "Harrier Jet: 7 million Pepsi Points." There was a mechanism for buying additional Pepsi Points to complete a Pepsi Stuff order. John Leonard, of Seattle, Washington, sent in a Pepsi Stuff request with the maximum amount of points and a check for over $700,000US to make up for the extra points he needed. Pepsi did not accept the request and Leonard filed suit. The judgment was that a reasonable person viewing the commercial would realize that Pepsi was not, in fact, offering a Harrier Jet. In response to the suit, Pepsi added the words "Just Kidding" under the portion of the commercial featuring the jet as well as changing the "price" to 700 million Pepsi points (see Leonard v. Pepsico, Inc.
).
Coca-Cola
and Pepsi
engaged in a "cyber-war" with the re-introduction of Pepsi Stuff in 2005 & Coca-Cola retaliated with Coke Rewards. This cola war has now concluded, with Pepsi Stuff ending its services and Coke Rewards still offering prizes on their website. Both were loyalty programs that give away prizes and product to consumers after collecting bottle caps and 12 or 24 pack box tops, then submitting codes online for a certain number of points. However, Pepsi's online partnership with Amazon allowed consumers to buy various products with their "Pepsi Points", such as mp3 downloads. Both Coca-Cola and Pepsi previously had a partnership with the iTunes Store.
In 1985, Coca-Cola and Pepsi were launched into space
aboard the Space Shuttle Challenger
on STS-51-F
. The companies had designed special cans (officially the Carbonated Beverage Dispenser Evaluation payload or CBDE) to test packaging and dispensing techniques for use in zero G conditions. The experiment was classified a failure
by the shuttle crew, primarily due to the lack of both refrigeration
and gravity.
The "Coca-Cola Space Dispenser" (Fluids Generic Bioprocessing Apparatus-1, or FGBA-1) was designed to provide astronauts the opportunity to enjoy Coca-Cola and Diet Coke in the weightless environment of space, and to "provide baseline data on changes in astronauts' taste perception of beverages consumed in microgravity." It held 1.65 liters each of Coca-Cola and Diet Coke. An astronaut would dispense the carbonated drink of choice into a "Fluids Transfer Unit" or sealed drinking cup through a quick connect on the dispenser. To save power, the dispenser would chill the liquid on demand via cooling coils between the storage container and the quick connect fitting. The FGBA-1 and 18 of the "Fluid Transfer Units" flew aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery
in 1995. (STS-63)
Further development led to a Coca-Cola fountain dispenser (Fluids Generic Bioprocessing Apparatus-2 or FGBA-2) intended as "a test bed to determine if carbonated beverages can be produced from separately stored carbon dioxide, water and flavored syrups and determine if the resulting fluids can be made available for consumption without bubble nucleation and resulting foam formation". This unit dispensed Powerade
sports drink in addition to Coca-Cola and Diet Coke. This unit flew on STS-77
aboard Space Shuttle Endeavour
in 1996. Unfortunately, the FGBA-2 did not work as expected.
. This time it was due to the launch of Virgin Cola
, as well as Sainsbury's store brand
Classic Cola, which, unlike most store brand colas, was designed to look like a top product worthy of competition. For a few years both colas were competitive with Coca-Cola and Pepsi; at one point Coca-Cola even sued Sainsbury's claiming the design of the Classic Cola can was too similar to Coke's. However, today, both Virgin and Classic Cola are far behind the two major brands.
The high-publicity marketing also continued into the 1990s. In 1997, the Spice Girls
(then at their peak) signed a multi-million pound sponsorship deal with Pepsi
. They starred in three Pepsi
commercials; released two limited edition singles with Pepsi, "Move Over
" and "Step To Me"; featured on Pepsi packaging; and performed two live concerts in Istanbul organised and sponsored by the company.
Comparative advertising
Comparative advertising is an advertisement in which a particular product, or service, specifically mentions a competitor by name for the express purpose of showing why the competitor is inferior to the product naming it...
of mutually-targeted television advertisements and marketing campaigns since the 1980s between soft drink manufacturers Coca-Cola Company
The Coca-Cola Company
The Coca-Cola Company is an American multinational beverage corporation and manufacturer, retailer and marketer of non-alcoholic beverage concentrates and syrups. The company is best known for its flagship product Coca-Cola, invented in 1886 by pharmacist John Stith Pemberton in Columbus, Georgia...
and PepsiCo Incorporated
PepsiCo
PepsiCo Inc. is an American multinational corporation headquartered in Purchase, New York, United States, with interests in the manufacturing, marketing and distribution of grain-based snack foods, beverages, and other products. PepsiCo was formed in 1965 with the merger of the Pepsi-Cola Company...
.
Competition
Many of the brands available from the three largest soda producers, The Coca-Cola Company, PepsiCo and the Dr Pepper Snapple GroupDr Pepper Snapple Group
Dr Pepper Snapple Group Inc. is an American soft drink company, based in Plano, Texas.It was spun off from Britain's Cadbury Schweppes, on May 5, 2008, with trading in its shares starting on May 7, 2008...
, are intended as direct, equivalent competitors. The following chart lists these competitors by type or flavor of drink.
| Flavor/type | PepsiCo | The Coca-Cola Company | Dr Pepper Snapple Group |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cola | Pepsi Pepsi Pepsi is a carbonated soft drink that is produced and manufactured by PepsiCo... |
Coca-Cola Coca-Cola Coca-Cola is a carbonated soft drink sold in stores, restaurants, and vending machines in more than 200 countries. It is produced by The Coca-Cola Company of Atlanta, Georgia, and is often referred to simply as Coke... |
RC Cola |
| Diet Diet food Diet food refers to any food or drink whose recipe has been altered in some way to make it part of a body modification diet... Cola |
Diet Pepsi / Pepsi Light Diet Pepsi Diet Pepsi is a no-calorie carbonated cola soft drink produced by PepsiCo, introduced in 1964 as a variant of Pepsi-Cola with no sugar. First test marketed in 1963 under the name Patio Diet Cola, it was re-branded as Diet Pepsi the following year, becoming the first diet cola to be distributed on a... Pepsi ONE Pepsi ONE Pepsi ONE is a sugar-free cola, marketed by PepsiCo in the United States as an alternative to regular Pepsi and Diet Pepsi.... Pepsi Max Pepsi Max Pepsi Max is a low-calorie, sugar-free cola, marketed by PepsiCo as an alternative to Pepsi and Diet Pepsi.It differs from Pepsi in that it contains aspartame, potassium benzoate, acesulfame potassium, calcium disodium EDTA and panax ginseng extract while it does not contain high fructose corn... |
Diet Coke / Coca-Cola Light Diet Coke Diet Coke is a sugar-free soft drink produced and distributed by The Coca-Cola Company. It was first introduced in the United States on August 9, 1982, as the first new brand since 1886 to use the Coca-Cola trademark... Tab Tab (soft drink) Tab, stylized as TaB, is a diet cola soft drink produced by the Coca-Cola Company, first introduced in 1963. The soda was created by Coca Cola after the successful sales and marketing of Diet Rite cola, owned by The Royal Crown Company; previously, Diet Rite had been the only sugarless soda on the... Coca-Cola Zero Coca-Cola Zero Coca-Cola Zero or Coke Zero is a product of the Coca-Cola Company. It is a low-calorie variation of Coca-Cola specifically marketed to males, who were shown to associate 'diet' drinks with women.... |
Diet Rite Diet Rite Diet Rite is a brand of no-calorie soft drinks originally distributed by the RC Cola company. It was introduced in 1958 and initially released as a dietetic product, but was marketed to the general public as a healthful beverage in 1962... Diet RC Cola |
| Cherry-flavored cola | Pepsi Wild Cherry Pepsi Wild Cherry Pepsi Wild Cherry is a cherry-flavored cola first introduced in 1988 by Pepsi. A sugar-free version is also available, with zero calories, named Diet Pepsi Wild Cherry.-Availability:The drink is officially available only in the US... |
Coca-Cola Cherry Coca-Cola Cherry Coca-Cola Cherry, originally introduced as Cherry Coke, is a cherry-flavored version of Coca-Cola. It is produced and distributed by The Coca-Cola Company and its bottlers in the United States and some international markets.-History:Long before its official introduction in 1985, many diners and... |
Cherry RC Cherry RC Cherry R.C. is a cherry-flavored version of the RC Cola soft drink that competes with Coca-Cola Cherry and Pepsi Wild Cherry. This was the first cherry cola beverage to actually contain "Real Cherry Syrup." The beverage is a product of Dr Pepper Snapple Group.... |
| "Pepper"-style | Dr Slice | Mr. Pibb / Pibb Xtra Pibb Xtra Pibb Xtra, a variation on previous product Mr Pibb, is a soft drink marketed by The Coca-Cola Company. As of 2011, it is sold in most of the United States.-History:... |
Dr Pepper Dr Pepper Dr Pepper is a soft drink, marketed as having a unique flavor. The drink was created in the 1880s by Charles Alderton of Waco, Texas and first served around 1885. Dr Pepper was first nationally marketed in the United States in 1904 and is now also sold in Europe, Asia, Canada, Mexico, Australia ... |
| Orange Orange soft drink Orange soft drinks are carbonated orange drinks.... |
Mirinda Mirinda Mirinda is a brand of soft drink originally created in Spain, but with global distribution. The word Mirinda means "admirable, wonderful" in Esperanto.... Tropicana Twister Tango Tango (drink) Tango is a carbonated soft drink sold primarily in the United Kingdom and Ireland and from 2010 in Sweden, Norway and Hungary as well, first launched by Corona in 1950. Corona were bought by the Beecham Group in 1958, and Beecham Soft Drinks were bought by Britvic in 1987... Slice Slice (soft drink) Slice is a line of fruit-flavored soft drinks manufactured by PepsiCo and introduced in 1984, with the lemon-lime flavor replacing Teem.Varieties of Slice have included apple, fruit punch, grape, passionfruit, peach glaze, Mandarin orange, pineapple, strawberry, Cherry Cola, "Red", Cherry-Lime, and... |
Fanta Fanta Fanta is a global brand of fruit-flavored carbonated soft drinks from the Coca-Cola Company. There are over 90 flavors worldwide. The drink debuted in Germany in 1941 and originally sold only in Europe.-History:... Minute Maid Minute Maid Minute Maid is a product line of beverages, usually associated with lemonade or orange juice, but now extends to soft drinks of many kinds, including Hi-C... |
Crush Sunkist Sunkist (soft drink) Sunkist is a brand of primarily orange flavored soft drinks launched in 1979.Sunkist was first licensed by Sunkist Growers to the General Cinema Corporation, the leading independent bottler of Pepsi-Cola products at the time... |
| Lemon-lime Lemon-lime Lemon-lime is a common carbonated soft drink flavor, consisting of lemon and lime flavoring. Sprite and 7 Up are the most popular examples.-Description:... |
Teem Teem Teem is a lemon-lime-flavored soft drink produced by The Pepsi-Cola Company. It was introduced in 1964 as Pepsi's answer to 7 Up and Coca-Cola's Sprite.... Sierra Mist Sierra Mist Sierra Mist is a lemon-lime flavored caffeine-free soft drink, introduced by PepsiCo in 2000 and rolled out nationally in the United States in 2003. PepsiCo owns the rights to the similar 7 Up brand outside the U.S... 7 Up 7 Up 7 Up is a brand of a lemon-lime flavored non-caffeinated soft drink. The rights to the brand are held by Dr Pepper Snapple Group in the United States, and PepsiCo in the rest of the world, including Puerto Rico, where the concentrate is manufactured at the Pepsi facility in Cidra... (in countries other than US) |
Sprite Sprite (soft drink) Sprite is a transparent, lemon-lime flavored , caffeine free soft drink, produced by the Coca-Cola Company. It was introduced in the United States in 1961. This was Coke's response to the popularity of 7 Up, which had begun as "Bib-Label Lithiated Lemon-Lime Soda" in 1929... Lemon & Paeroa Lemon & Paeroa Lemon & Paeroa, also known as L&P, is a sweet soft drink manufactured in New Zealand. Traditionally made by combining lemon juice with carbonated mineral water from the town of Paeroa, it is now manufactured by multi-national Coca-Cola.... |
7 Up 7 Up 7 Up is a brand of a lemon-lime flavored non-caffeinated soft drink. The rights to the brand are held by Dr Pepper Snapple Group in the United States, and PepsiCo in the rest of the world, including Puerto Rico, where the concentrate is manufactured at the Pepsi facility in Cidra... (in US) Schweppes |
| Other citrus flavors | Mountain Dew Mountain Dew Mountain Dew is a citrus-flavored carbonated soft drink brand produced and owned by PepsiCo. The original formula was invented in the 1940s by Tennessee beverage bottlers Barney and Ally Hartman and was first marketed in Marion, VA, Knoxville and Johnson City, Tennessee. A revised formula was... Kas Kas Kas is the brand name of soft drink produced by PepsiCo. It comes in grapefruit, orange , lemon , bitter , and apple flavors. Kasfruit juices are also offered in multiple flavors... Izze Izze Izze is the brand name of a line of carbonated juice drinks produced by the IZZE Beverage Company in Boulder, Colorado, which is owned by PepsiCo. The drinks consist of 70% fruit juice from concentrate, and 30% seltzer water... |
Mello Yello Mello Yello Mello Yello is a caffeinated, citrus-flavored soft drink produced and distributed by The Coca-Cola Company. It was introduced on March 1, 1979 to compete with PepsiCo's Mountain Dew. There have been three flavored variants of Mello Yello. Mello Yello Cherry was released in response to Mountain Dew... Vault Vault (soft drink) Vault is a carbonated beverage that was released by The Coca-Cola Company in June 2005. It is touted as an artificially flavored hybrid energy soda. Coca-Cola is marketing Vault as a combination with the slogan "Drinks like a Soda, Kicks like an Energy Drink," as well as "The Taste. The Quench... Fresca Fresca Fresca is a citrus diet soft drink made by The Coca-Cola Company. First introduced in the United States in 1966, the drink is now sold throughout the American continent... Lift Lift (soft drink) Lift is a range of soft drinks produced by The Coca-Cola Company that has been available in Australia, New Zealand, Latin America, Germany, Austria, and Eastern Europe since the 1970s, which is carbonated and flavored with fruit juice.... |
Squirt Sun Drop Wink Wink (soft drink) Wink is a primarily grapefruit-based soft drink, although it also contains other citrus flavours. It is currently owned and manufactured by Canada Dry in North America, a subsidiary of the Dr Pepper Snapple Group. It was introduced by Canada Dry in 1965.... Orangina Orangina Orangina is a carbonated citrus beverage made from orange, lemon, mandarin, and grapefruit juice. The concept of Orangina originated at a trade fair in France and was first marketed in Algeria by the French Algerian Léon Beton... |
| Ginger ale Ginger ale Ginger ale is a carbonated soft drink flavored with ginger. Dr. Thomas Cantrell, an American apothecary and surgeon, claimed to have invented ginger ale and marketed it with beverage manufacturer Grattan and Company. Grattan embossed the slogan "The Original Makers of Ginger Ale" on its bottles... |
Patio Patio (soda) Patio Diet Cola was a brand of diet soda introduced by Pepsi in 1963. It was created in response to Diet Rite Cola, which was the first diet cola on the market. Debbie Drake was Patio Diet Cola's spokesperson. In 1964, Patio released orange, grape, and root beer flavors... |
Seagram's Ginger Ale Seagram The Seagram Company Ltd. was a large corporation headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, Canada that was the largest distiller of alcoholic beverages in the world. Toward the end of its independent existence it also controlled various entertainment and other business ventures... |
Canada Dry Canada Dry Canada Dry is a brand of soft drinks owned since 2008 by the Texas-based Dr Pepper Snapple Group. For over a century Canada Dry has been known for its ginger ale, though the company also manufactures a number of other soft drinks and mixers... Vernors |
| Root beer Root beer Root beer is a carbonated, sweetened beverage, originally made using the root of a sassafras plant as the primary flavor. Root beer, popularized in North America, comes in two forms: alcoholic and soft drink. The historical root beer was analogous to small beer in that the process provided a drink... |
Mug Root Beer Mug Root Beer Mug Root Beer is a brand name of root beer made by the Pepsi company.Mug was first produced by the Belfast Beverage Company in San Francisco, California during the early 1950s. Its name was changed to Mug Old Fashioned Root Beer. In the late 1960s, Sugar Free Mug was introduced... |
Barq's Barq's -External links:* - Official website* - The History of Root Beer... Ramblin' Root Beer Ramblin' Root Beer Ramblin' Root Beer was a root beer made by the Coca-Cola Company. The product disappeared after Coca-Cola acquired Barq's in 1995. A famous ad campaign for the product featured Sarah Jessica Parker.... (until 1995) |
A&W Root Beer A&W Root Beer A&W Root Beer is a brand of root beer, primarily available in the United States and Canada, that was started in 1919 by Roy Allen. In 1922, Allen partnered with Frank Wright. They combined their initials to create the brand "A&W" and inspired a restaurant chain which was founded 1922. The first A&W... Hires Root Beer Hires Root Beer Hires Root Beer is a soft drink which is currently marketed by Dr Pepper Snapple Group. The manufacturer considers it the longest continuously made soft drink in the United States; however, Vernor's ginger ale is even older dating back to 1866.- History :Hires Root Beer was created by... IBC Root Beer IBC Root Beer The Independent Breweries Company was a syndicate founded in St. Louis, Missouri by the combination of Griesediecks' National Brewery, Columbia , the Gast brewery in Baden, A.B.C., and Wagner Brewing Company. This combination was ill fated due to high overhead with too many executives and low... |
| Cream soda Cream soda Cream soda is a sweet carbonated soft drink, often flavored with vanilla.-History and development:A recipe for cream soda—written by E.M. Sheldon and published in Michigan Farmer in 1852—called for water, cream of tartar, Epsom salts, sugar, tartaric acid, egg, and milk, to be mixed together, then... |
Mug Cream Soda | Barq's Red Creme Soda Barq's -External links:* - Official website* - The History of Root Beer... |
A&W Cream Soda A&W Cream Soda A&W Cream Soda is a cream soda carbonated soft drink introduced by A&W Root Beer in 1986.- Ingredients :A&W Cream Soda contains carbonated water, high fructose corn syrup and/or sugar, sodium benzoate, natural and artificial flavors, caramel color, citric acid, vanilla extract, caffeine.... IBC Cream Soda IBC Root Beer The Independent Breweries Company was a syndicate founded in St. Louis, Missouri by the combination of Griesediecks' National Brewery, Columbia , the Gast brewery in Baden, A.B.C., and Wagner Brewing Company. This combination was ill fated due to high overhead with too many executives and low... |
| Juices | Tropicana Tropicana Products Tropicana Products is an American based company, and was founded in 1947 by Anthony T. Rossi in Bradenton, Florida, U.S.A. Since 1998, it has been owned by PepsiCo, Inc. Tropicana's headquarters are in Chicago, Illinois.-Anthony T. Rossi:... Dole Dole Food Company Dole Food Company, Inc. is an American-based agricultural multinational corporation headquartered in Westlake Village, California. The company is the largest producer of fruits and vegetables in the world, operating with 74,300 full-time and seasonal employees who are responsible for over 300... (prepackaged only, under license) |
Minute Maid Minute Maid Minute Maid is a product line of beverages, usually associated with lemonade or orange juice, but now extends to soft drinks of many kinds, including Hi-C... Fruitopia Fruitopia Fruitopia is a fruit-flavoured drink introduced by The Coca-Cola Company in 1994 and targeted at teens and young adults. According to New York Times business reports, it was invented as part of a push by Coca-Cola to capitalize on the success of Snapple and other flavored tea drinks. The brand... Simply Orange Simply Orange The Simply Orange Juice Company is an Apopka, Florida-based company that was founded in 2001 and is currently a brand of The Coca-Cola Company. They make a number of not-from-concentrate orange and other fruit juices that are sold chilled in a distinctly shaped plastic bottle... |
Mott's Mott's Mott's is a company involved in producing apple-based products, particularly juices and sauces. The company was founded in 1842 by Samuel R. Mott in Bouckville, New York, who made apple cider and vinegar. Mott products were exhibited at Philadelphia's Centennial Exposition in 1876 and Chicago's... Nantucket Nectars Nantucket Nectars Nantucket Nectars is a beverage company created by Tom First and Tom Scott who met at Brown University in 1985. After graduation they headed to Nantucket where they started Allserve, a floating convenience store servicing boats in Nantucket Harbor, delivering everything from newspapers to... Snapple Snapple Snapple is a brand of tea and juice drinks which is owned by Dr Pepper Snapple Group and based in Plano, Texas. The brand was founded in 1972. The brand achieved some notoriety due to various pop-culture references including television shows.-History:... |
| Iced tea Iced tea Iced tea is a form of cold tea, often served in a glass with ice. It may or may not be sweetened. Iced tea is also a popular packaged drink. It can be mixed with flavored syrup, with common flavors including lemon, peach, raspberry, lime, passion fruit, and cherry... |
Lipton Lipton Lipton is a brand of tea currently owned by Unilever.-History of Lipton Tea:Lipton was created at the end of the 19th century by a grocer, Sir Thomas Lipton, in Glasgow, Scotland. In 1893, he established the Thomas J. Lipton Co., a tea packing company with its headquarters and factory in Hobo ken,... (ready-to-drink products only, under license from Unilever Unilever Unilever is a British-Dutch multinational corporation that owns many of the world's consumer product brands in foods, beverages, cleaning agents and personal care products.... ) |
Nestea Nestea Nestea is a brand of iced tea manufactured by Nestle and distributed by Nestle company's beverage department in the United States and byBeverage Partners Worldwide , a joint venture between The Coca-Cola Company and Nestle, in the rest of the world. It competes with Unilever/Pepsi's Lipton Iced Tea... (manufactured by Nestlé Nestlé Nestlé S.A. is the world's largest food and nutrition company. Founded and headquartered in Vevey, Switzerland, Nestlé originated in a 1905 merger of the Anglo-Swiss Milk Company, established in 1867 by brothers George Page and Charles Page, and Farine Lactée Henri Nestlé, founded in 1866 by Henri... in the US and by a joint venture between Nestlé and Coca-Cola elsewhere) |
Snapple Snapple Snapple is a brand of tea and juice drinks which is owned by Dr Pepper Snapple Group and based in Plano, Texas. The brand was founded in 1972. The brand achieved some notoriety due to various pop-culture references including television shows.-History:... |
| Sports drink Sports drink A sports drink beverage is designed to help athletes rehydrate when fluids are depleted after training or competition. Electrolyte replacement promotes proper rehydration, which is important in delaying the onset of fatigue during exercise... s |
Gatorade Gatorade Gatorade is a brand of sports-themed food and beverage products, built around its signature product: a line of sports drinks. Gatorade is currently manufactured by PepsiCo, distributed in over 80 countries... Propel Propel Fitness Water Propel Water is brand of flavored bottled water that is advertised for having antioxidants and vitamins. It is a beverage product of Gatorade and is marketed by PepsiCo.- Launch :... |
Powerade Powerade Powerade is a sports drink manufactured and marketed by The Coca-Cola Company. First introduced in 1988, its primary competitor is PepsiCo's Gatorade... Aquarius Aquarius (sports drink) Aquarius is a mineral sports drink manufactured by The Coca-Cola Company. It originated in, and was first introduced in 1983 in Japan as a grapefruit-flavored sports drink, as a response to a competitor's brand of sports drink called Pocari Sweat. It was introduced to Spain and Portugal in 1991,... Relentless Relentless (drink) Relentless is the brand name of an energy drink created in February 2006 by The Coca-Cola Company. It has been compared to energy drinks such as Red Bull, and is known for its sweet taste. The drink has also been the subject of court proceedings for breach of trademark by Relentless Records... |
All Sport All Sport All Sport is a brand of sports drink similar to Gatorade and Powerade. It was created by PepsiCo, as their response to The Coca-Cola Company's Powerade and Stokely-Van Camp's Gatorade, now owned by PepsiCo... |
Marketing campaigns
Coca-Cola and Pepsi-Cola focused particularly on rock stars; notable soft drinkSoft drink
A soft drink is a non-alcoholic beverage that typically contains water , a sweetener, and a flavoring agent...
promoters included Mariah Carey
Mariah Carey
Mariah Carey is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, and actress. She made her recording debut with the release of her eponymous studio album in 1990, under the guidance of Columbia Records executive Tommy Mottola, whom she later married in 1993...
, KISS
KISS (band)
Kiss is an American rock band formed in New York City in January 1973. Well-known for its members' face paint and flamboyant stage outfits, the group rose to prominence in the mid to late 1970s on the basis of their elaborate live performances, which featured fire breathing, blood spitting,...
, Tina Turner
Tina Turner
Tina Turner is an American singer and actress whose career has spanned more than 50 years. She has won numerous awards and her achievements in the rock music genre have led many to call her the "Queen of Rock 'n' Roll".Turner started out her music career with husband Ike Turner as a member of the...
, Britney Spears
Britney Spears
Britney Jean Spears is an American recording artist and entertainer. Born in McComb, Mississippi, and raised in Kentwood, Louisiana, Spears began performing as a child, landing acting roles in stage productions and television shows. She signed with Jive Records in 1997 and released her debut album...
, David Bowie
David Bowie
David Bowie is an English musician, actor, record producer and arranger. A major figure for over four decades in the world of popular music, Bowie is widely regarded as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s...
, Rod Stewart
Rod Stewart
Roderick David "Rod" Stewart, CBE is a British singer-songwriter and musician, born and raised in North London, England and currently residing in Epping. He is of Scottish and English ancestry....
, Michael Jackson
Michael Jackson
Michael Joseph Jackson was an American recording artist, entertainer, and businessman. Referred to as the King of Pop, or by his initials MJ, Jackson is recognized as the most successful entertainer of all time by Guinness World Records...
, Madonna
Madonna (entertainer)
Madonna is an American singer-songwriter, actress and entrepreneur. Born in Bay City, Michigan, she moved to New York City in 1977 to pursue a career in modern dance. After performing in the music groups Breakfast Club and Emmy, she released her debut album in 1983...
, and Ray Charles
Ray Charles
Ray Charles Robinson , known by his shortened stage name Ray Charles, was an American musician. He was a pioneer in the genre of soul music during the 1950s by fusing rhythm and blues, gospel, and blues styles into his early recordings with Atlantic Records...
(for Pepsi) and Whitney Houston
Whitney Houston
Whitney Elizabeth Houston is an American singer, actress, producer and a former model. Houston is the most awarded female act of all time, according to Guinness World Records, and her list of awards include 1 Emmy Award, 6 Grammy Awards, 30 Billboard Music Awards, 22 American Music Awards, among...
, Paula Abdul
Paula Abdul
Paula Julie Abdul is an American singer-songwriter, dancer, choreographer, actress and television personality.In the 1980s, Abdul rose from cheerleader for the Los Angeles Lakers to highly sought-after choreographer at the height of the music video era before scoring a string of pop music-R&B hits...
, Weird Al Yankovic, George Michael
George Michael
George Michael is a British musician, singer, songwriter and record producer who rose to fame in the 1980s when he formed the pop duo Wham! with his school friend, Andrew Ridgeley...
, Christina Aguilera
Christina Aguilera
Christina María Aguilera is an American recording artist and actress. Aguilera first appeared on national television in 1990 as a contestant on the Star Search program, and went on to star in Disney Channel's television series The Mickey Mouse Club from 1993–1994...
, Max Headroom
Max Headroom (character)
Max Headroom is a fictional British artificial intelligence, known for his wit and stuttering, distorted, electronically sampled voice. The character was created by George Stone, Annabel Jankel, and Rocky Morton in the mid nineteen eighties, and portrayed by Matt Frewer as "The World's first...
, and Elton John
Elton John
Sir Elton Hercules John, CBE, Hon DMus is an English rock singer-songwriter, composer, pianist and occasional actor...
(for Coca-Cola
Coca-Cola
Coca-Cola is a carbonated soft drink sold in stores, restaurants, and vending machines in more than 200 countries. It is produced by The Coca-Cola Company of Atlanta, Georgia, and is often referred to simply as Coke...
).
Coca-Cola
One example of a heated exchange that occurred during the Cola Wars was Coca-Cola making a strategic retreat on July 11, 1985, by announcing its plans to bring back the original 'Classic' Coke after recently introducing New CokeNew Coke
New Coke was the reformulation of Coca-Cola introduced in 1985 by The Coca-Cola Company to replace the original formula of its flagship soft drink, Coca-Cola...
.
Pepsi-Cola
Pepsi ads often focused on celebrities choosing Pepsi over Coke, supporting Pepsi's positioningPositioning (marketing)
In marketing, positioning has come to mean the process by which marketers try to create an image or identity in the minds of their target market for its product, brand, or organization....
as "The Choice of a New Generation." In 1975, Pepsi began showing people doing blind taste test
Blind taste test
In marketing, a blind taste test is often used as a tool for companies to compare their brand to another brand. For example, the Pepsi Challenge is a famous taste test that has been run by Pepsi since 1975 as a method to show their superiority to Coca-Cola. Taste tests are also a tool sometimes...
s called Pepsi Challenge
Pepsi Challenge
The Pepsi Challenge has been an ongoing marketing promotion run by PepsiCo since 1975. It is also the name of a cross country ski race at Giant's Ridge Ski Area in Biwabik, Minnesota, an event sponsored by Pepsi.-Method:...
in which they preferred one product over the other, and then they began hiring more and more popular spokespersons to promote their products. In their hope to win the Cola Wars a Concorde was painted blue with PEPSI written across it in white lettering.
In the late 1990s, Pepsi launched its most successful long-term strategy of the Cola Wars, Pepsi Stuff
Pepsi Stuff
Pepsi Stuff was a major loyalty program launched by PepsiCo, first in North America on March 28, 1996 and then around the world, featuring premiums — such as T-shirts, hats, denim and leather jackets, bags and mountain bikes — that could be purchased with Pepsi Points through the Pepsi Stuff...
. Consumers were invited to "Drink Pepsi, Get Stuff" and collect Pepsi Points on billions of packages and cups. They could redeem the points for free Pepsi lifestyle merchandise. After researching and testing the program for over two years to ensure that it resonated with consumers, Pepsi launched Pepsi Stuff, which was an instant success. Tens of millions of consumers participated. Pepsi outperformed Coke during the summer of the Atlanta Olympics - held in Coke's hometown - where Coke was a lead sponsor of the Games. Due to its success, the program was expanded to include Mountain Dew
Mountain Dew
Mountain Dew is a citrus-flavored carbonated soft drink brand produced and owned by PepsiCo. The original formula was invented in the 1940s by Tennessee beverage bottlers Barney and Ally Hartman and was first marketed in Marion, VA, Knoxville and Johnson City, Tennessee. A revised formula was...
, and into Pepsi's international markets worldwide. The company continued to run the program for many years, continually innovating with new features each year.
The Pepsi Stuff promotion became the subject of a lawsuit
Lawsuit
A lawsuit or "suit in law" is a civil action brought in a court of law in which a plaintiff, a party who claims to have incurred loss as a result of a defendant's actions, demands a legal or equitable remedy. The defendant is required to respond to the plaintiff's complaint...
. In one of the many commercials, Pepsi showed a young man in the cockpit of a Harrier Jump Jet
Harrier Jump Jet
The Harrier, informally referred to as the Jump Jet, is a family of British-designed military jet aircraft capable of vertical/short takeoff and landing operations...
. Below ran the caption "Harrier Jet: 7 million Pepsi Points." There was a mechanism for buying additional Pepsi Points to complete a Pepsi Stuff order. John Leonard, of Seattle, Washington, sent in a Pepsi Stuff request with the maximum amount of points and a check for over $700,000US to make up for the extra points he needed. Pepsi did not accept the request and Leonard filed suit. The judgment was that a reasonable person viewing the commercial would realize that Pepsi was not, in fact, offering a Harrier Jet. In response to the suit, Pepsi added the words "Just Kidding" under the portion of the commercial featuring the jet as well as changing the "price" to 700 million Pepsi points (see Leonard v. Pepsico, Inc.
Leonard v. Pepsico, Inc.
Leonard v. Pepsico, Inc., 88 F. Supp. 2d 116, , aff'd 210 F.3d 88 , more widely known as the Pepsi Points Case, is a contracts case tried in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York in 1999, in which the plaintiff, John Leonard, sued PepsiCo, Inc...
).
Coca-Cola
Coca-Cola
Coca-Cola is a carbonated soft drink sold in stores, restaurants, and vending machines in more than 200 countries. It is produced by The Coca-Cola Company of Atlanta, Georgia, and is often referred to simply as Coke...
and Pepsi
Pepsi
Pepsi is a carbonated soft drink that is produced and manufactured by PepsiCo...
engaged in a "cyber-war" with the re-introduction of Pepsi Stuff in 2005 & Coca-Cola retaliated with Coke Rewards. This cola war has now concluded, with Pepsi Stuff ending its services and Coke Rewards still offering prizes on their website. Both were loyalty programs that give away prizes and product to consumers after collecting bottle caps and 12 or 24 pack box tops, then submitting codes online for a certain number of points. However, Pepsi's online partnership with Amazon allowed consumers to buy various products with their "Pepsi Points", such as mp3 downloads. Both Coca-Cola and Pepsi previously had a partnership with the iTunes Store.
In space
Space
Space is the boundless, three-dimensional extent in which objects and events occur and have relative position and direction. Physical space is often conceived in three linear dimensions, although modern physicists usually consider it, with time, to be part of a boundless four-dimensional continuum...
aboard the Space Shuttle Challenger
Space Shuttle Challenger
Space Shuttle Challenger was NASA's second Space Shuttle orbiter to be put into service, Columbia having been the first. The shuttle was built by Rockwell International's Space Transportation Systems Division in Downey, California...
on STS-51-F
STS-51-F
STS-51-F was the nineteenth flight of NASA's Space Shuttle program, and the eighth flight of Space Shuttle Challenger...
. The companies had designed special cans (officially the Carbonated Beverage Dispenser Evaluation payload or CBDE) to test packaging and dispensing techniques for use in zero G conditions. The experiment was classified a failure
Failure
Failure refers to the state or condition of not meeting a desirable or intended objective, and may be viewed as the opposite of success. Product failure ranges from failure to sell the product to fracture of the product, in the worst cases leading to personal injury, the province of forensic...
by the shuttle crew, primarily due to the lack of both refrigeration
Refrigeration
Refrigeration is a process in which work is done to move heat from one location to another. This work is traditionally done by mechanical work, but can also be done by magnetism, laser or other means...
and gravity.
The "Coca-Cola Space Dispenser" (Fluids Generic Bioprocessing Apparatus-1, or FGBA-1) was designed to provide astronauts the opportunity to enjoy Coca-Cola and Diet Coke in the weightless environment of space, and to "provide baseline data on changes in astronauts' taste perception of beverages consumed in microgravity." It held 1.65 liters each of Coca-Cola and Diet Coke. An astronaut would dispense the carbonated drink of choice into a "Fluids Transfer Unit" or sealed drinking cup through a quick connect on the dispenser. To save power, the dispenser would chill the liquid on demand via cooling coils between the storage container and the quick connect fitting. The FGBA-1 and 18 of the "Fluid Transfer Units" flew aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery
Space Shuttle Discovery
Space Shuttle Discovery is one of the retired orbiters of the Space Shuttle program of NASA, the space agency of the United States, and was operational from its maiden flight, STS-41-D on August 30, 1984, until its final landing during STS-133 on March 9, 2011...
in 1995. (STS-63)
Further development led to a Coca-Cola fountain dispenser (Fluids Generic Bioprocessing Apparatus-2 or FGBA-2) intended as "a test bed to determine if carbonated beverages can be produced from separately stored carbon dioxide, water and flavored syrups and determine if the resulting fluids can be made available for consumption without bubble nucleation and resulting foam formation". This unit dispensed Powerade
Powerade
Powerade is a sports drink manufactured and marketed by The Coca-Cola Company. First introduced in 1988, its primary competitor is PepsiCo's Gatorade...
sports drink in addition to Coca-Cola and Diet Coke. This unit flew on STS-77
STS-77
STS-77 was the 77th Space Shuttle mission and the 11th mission of the Space Shuttle Endeavour. The mission began from launch pad 39B from Kennedy Space Center, Florida on 19 May 1996 lasting 10 days and 40 minutes and completing 161 revolutions before landing on runway 33.-Crew:-Mission...
aboard Space Shuttle Endeavour
Space Shuttle Endeavour
Space Shuttle Endeavour is one of the retired orbiters of the Space Shuttle program of NASA, the space agency of the United States. Endeavour was the fifth and final spaceworthy NASA space shuttle to be built, constructed as a replacement for Challenger...
in 1996. Unfortunately, the FGBA-2 did not work as expected.
Second Cola War
During the 1990s, a "second cola war" was reported in the United KingdomUnited Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
. This time it was due to the launch of Virgin Cola
Virgin Cola
Virgin Cola is a carbonated cola soft drink produced by Silver Spring and part of the Virgin Group. It was launched in 1994.- History :Virgin Cola was set up during the early 1990s in conjunction with Cott, a Canadian company that specialises in bottling own-label drinks...
, as well as Sainsbury's store brand
Store brand
Store brands are a line of products sold by a retailer under a single marketing identity. They bear a similarity to the concept of House brands, Private label brands in the United States, own brands in the UK, and home brands in Australia and generic brands...
Classic Cola, which, unlike most store brand colas, was designed to look like a top product worthy of competition. For a few years both colas were competitive with Coca-Cola and Pepsi; at one point Coca-Cola even sued Sainsbury's claiming the design of the Classic Cola can was too similar to Coke's. However, today, both Virgin and Classic Cola are far behind the two major brands.
The high-publicity marketing also continued into the 1990s. In 1997, the Spice Girls
Spice Girls
The Spice Girls were a British pop girl group formed in 1994. The group consisted of Victoria Beckham , Melanie Brown, Emma Bunton, Melanie Chisholm and Geri Halliwell. They were signed to Virgin Records and released their debut single, "Wannabe" in 1996, which hit number-one in more than 30...
(then at their peak) signed a multi-million pound sponsorship deal with Pepsi
Pepsi
Pepsi is a carbonated soft drink that is produced and manufactured by PepsiCo...
. They starred in three Pepsi
Pepsi
Pepsi is a carbonated soft drink that is produced and manufactured by PepsiCo...
commercials; released two limited edition singles with Pepsi, "Move Over
Move Over
"Move Over" is a promotional single released by the Spice Girls in 1997, as part of their Pepsi endorsement. The song was included on the group's album Spiceworld, released later the same year and was included on the group's Greatest Hits album in 2007....
" and "Step To Me"; featured on Pepsi packaging; and performed two live concerts in Istanbul organised and sponsored by the company.