Georgia's Coca-Cola vs North Carolina's Pepsi (better, Atlanta, people, difference)

[Newsboy]

FORGOT TO MENTION: Coca-Cola created the modern image of the bearded, red-suited Santa Claus. ENOUGH SAID!

P.S. -- Do people have warm fuzzy memories of Pepsi TV commercials? Collect turn-of-the-century Pepsi memorabilia? Is there even a reason for a Pepsi museum? I don't even think you can buy Pepsi outside the U.S. Coke, on the other hand, is available in practically every far-flung place on earth, from sub-Saharan Africa to Indo-China and Siberia Russia.

[Nightscape]

Originally Posted by Newsboy

FORGOT TO MENTION: Coca-Cola created the modern image of the bearded, red-suited Santa Claus. ENOUGH SAID!

P.S. -- Do people have warm fuzzy memories of Pepsi TV commercials? Collect turn-of-the-century Pepsi memorabilia? Is there even a reason for a Pepsi museum?I don't even think you can buy Pepsi outside the U.S.Coke, on the other hand, is available in practically every far-flung place on earth, from sub-Saharan Africa to Indo-China and Siberia Russia.

lol wut?
Coke is definitely more well known, but its Pepsi we're talking about here not dr.pepper or cactus cooler. You can find Pepsi almost everywhere.

[Southern Soul Bro]

Coca-Cola Vs. Pepsi???


This is kind of like when people have threads on here like "NYC Vs. Charlotte"


Coke FTW

[BeyondInfinity]

Originally Posted by dtran103

3-1 prefer Coke....until they do a blind taste taste, then it becomes 3-1 Pepsi. Coke is all marketing.

I did the Pepsi blind taste test a couple of years ago in Atlanta and ended up choosing Coke (I knew it was Coke because it was wasn't as sweet as the Pepsi and I never could stand the sweet taste of Pepsi).....The Pepsi marketer threw my vote out. I asked the marketer why and she told me because I saw the cans (I did not see the cans nor did I see them pour the drinks. It was a blind taste test for god's sake). I was baffled and asked her how could I have seen the cans if it was a blind taste test? She ignored me and grabbed another person (a$$hole ). Now I do not believe anything that says 3-1 or 2 to 1 prefer this brand over another because you never know if they skewed the numbers.

[chazk14]

Of all the colas or whatever you call them Dr. pepper destroys coke and pepsi taste wise. Coke is still better than pepsi though.

[TexasReb]

Several of y'all have mentioned the famous "taste test" and it brings to mind a "case study" we once went over extensively in a class I took (as part of a journalism minor) titled "Public Relations in Media".

I am sure some of you remember when Coca-Cola came out with the "New Coke"...and it went over like a lead balloon? As it was -- at the time -- I worked part-time at a local "big-chain" supermarket (and on the campus newspaper the other part! LOL) as well as going back to college, so got some interesting info from all angles.

In summary, it all traced to the fact that Pepsi just flat beat out Coke in the taste tests, and was rapidly gaining on the latter in terms of market shares. Coca-Cola was no longer a family owned consideration in Atlanta, but a huge conglomerate. So, typically, the Big City advertizing wheels, in order to counter the taste test and the growing Pepsi market, put two and two together....and came up with 8! LOL

Ah, Pepsi beats coke on taste tests. Therefore, lets "re-invent the wheel" and make a product which tastes more like Pepsi, do a major nationwide promo with this "New Coke" and viola! Talk about a recipe for disaster (no pun intended!).

Well, like I mentioned, I was working at a supermarket at the time, and saw first hand how the "New Coke" just bombed. It didn't taste anything like "real Coke" and for the first time in history, Pepsi really DID start to outsell Coca-Cola! The company got hate-mail and crank mail and angry demands to bring back "the real thing"! (pun intended). Which eventually they did, marketing it under the name of "Coke Classic"

Anyway, the general consensus in the supermarket industry was that this had been the plan all along. That is, some long-term ingenious strategy to briefly sell a new product which would initially sell out of public curiosity....then later, yank it and bring back the original product which would sell better than ever.

Actually -- as was part of the case study mentioned -- the truth was much simplier. The big executives -- far removed from main-stream America (and some later admitted it...after they were fired! LOL) -- just flat didn't realize how much "Coke" was so deeply-rooted in "Americana"...particularly in the South. That while it may well lose out to Pepsi in taste tests...such paled in comparrison to the fact there was something about the beloved Coke that held a sway much stronger among the American public. And the rest, as they say, is history!

On a related tangent, this map (which I am sure many of you have seen before), sorta illustrates some of the above by showing how "coke" is actually the preferred generic name for a soft-drink in the Southern United States:

308 - The Pop Vs Soda Map | Strange Maps | Big Think

P.S. I hasten to add I am not downplaying Pepsi's Southern origins in the least...just that it never had quite that connection that did Coca-Cola!

[Newsboy]

One of the main reasons there's so much Coke loyalty is the brand's ubiquitous -- it is literally EVERYWHERE. Every high school football stadium in the South has a scoreboard advertising Coke. Why? BECAUSE COKE DONATED THEM! And this marketing strategy was repeated over and over in many ways around the world, from giving Cokes to US soldiers during WWII to being an original spnsor of the modern Olympic Games. It's just a very good civic-minded company. Also, in the early years of expansion MANY southern families got rich on Coke stock or by buying the rights to bottle it in small towns (which were originally sold for $1). Today, a few of these original families still own the bottling rights (though most have been bought back by the company in Atlanta). In fact, there are actually two separate Coca-Cola Companies headquartered in Atlanta: one that makes the syrup and then sells it to independent bottlers around the world, and another that bottles it domestically. Pepsi, on the other hand, is just Pepsi.

[Akhenaton06]

Originally Posted by Newsboy

In fact, there are actually two separate Coca-Cola Companies headquartered in Atlanta: one that makes the syrup and then sells it to independent bottlers around the world, and another that bottles it domestically. Pepsi, on the other hand, is just Pepsi.

Great point; I just realized that not too long ago when scanning the Fortune 500 list for Georgia where both make an appearance.

[PepsiBlue]

Funny the perceptions that some people have about Pepsi and Coke. Just some facts. Pepsi is the #2 food/beverage company in the world. Nestle is #1. Kraft is #3. Coke is #5 after Anheuser Busch. Yes, Pepsi is that much larger. But, you say, Pepsi is Gigantic in India and China and things are different here in America. In America, Pepsi is #1 and in 2009 brought in 44.3 Billion in revenue worldwide. Coke? 31 Billion worldwide and not in the Forbes top 5 companies in America. [url=http://www.forbes.com/sites/investopedia/2010/11/02/americas-biggest-food-companies/]America's Biggest Food Companies - Forbes[/url]
Soooo, that Coke you think is the best? The number one CSD(carbonated soft drink) in Georgia, Coke's home state? Mountain Dew. Ya, that is a Pepsi brand. People are leaving colas. Younger females drink tea and water more than soda. Baby Boomers have turned away from soda to live longer. But males aged 15-45? Mountain Dew baby. Now, if we are going to talk about just cola, in the West coast and North East, where about 50% of the population of the US lives, Pepsi is the number one cola. In the mid-west? Pepsi. Florida? Pepsi. Mid-Atlantic? Pepsi. Coke owns Georgia and the "Deep South." So please, keep buying your coke. And when you are at Wal-Mart and look down in your cart and see a 12 pack of Coke, a 12 pack of Dew, a bag of Doritos, some Captian Crunch, a box of Near East couscous, some Aunt Jemima syrup, a box of Rice-a-Roni, a bottle of Tropicana Orange Juice, a bottle of Naked Juice, a 4 pack of Frappacino and some Gatorade, remember you just bought one Coke product and ten Pepsi products. Pepsi is so large and everywhere you dont realize how much you see them. Largest producer of water in India? Largest producer of milk in Russia? Largest producer of chips and yogurt in England? Guess who. What company distributes 22 seperate BILLION dollar brands? Pepsi. Which company distributes 2? Coke. But, you can't argue taste, some people have it and some people drink Coke. In all seriousness though. Coke is a giant, successful company. So is Pepsi. In the end, it is up to each individual to drink what they like. Just remember, sometimes you have to step out of your yard to see the big picture.

[Iconographer]

When I walk the streets of Paris, what do I see on the tables of the sidewalk cafes along with wine, Pernod and mineral water? Not Pepsi, that's for sure.