Pepsi

HISTORY

In 1893 American pharmacist Caleb B. Bradburn developed a sweet, cola-flavored, carbonated beverage, which was known as "Brad's Drink". It was intended to cure stomach pains and was sold for five cents a glass at soda fountains.

Bradburn's original recipe was a concoction of rare oils, carbonated water, cola nuts, vanilla and sugar.

Caleb D. Bradburn renamed his syrup Pepsi Cola on August 28, 1898, partly in imitation of Coca-Cola and partly as he was marketing it as a cure for peptic ulcers.

The pharmacy of Caleb Bradham, with a Pepsi dispenser. By Sandstein - Wikipedia

As the syrup developed in popularity in the early 1900s, Bradham launched the Pepsi-Cola Company in the back room of his pharmacy. The business continued to grow, and he moved the bottling of the drink from his drugstore to a rented warehouse. On June 16, 1903, "Pepsi-Cola" became an official trademark.

In 1903, Bradham sold 7,968 gallons of his syrup. The next year, Pepsi was sold in six-ounce bottles, and sales increased to 19,848 gallons.

Automobile race pioneer Barney Oldfield was the first celebrity to endorse Pepsi-Cola in 1909. He described it as "A bully drink...refreshing, invigorating, a fine bracer before a race".

1919 newspaper ad for Pepsi-Cola

During the Great Depression, Pepsi gained popularity following the introduction in 1936 of a 12-ounce bottle. Initially priced at 10 cents, sales were slow, but when the price was slashed to five cents, sales increased substantially. Pepsi-Cola's profits doubled between 1936 to 1938.

In 1948 Continental Can Company and Pepsi-Cola launched the first major soft drink in steel cans. Twelve ounces of Pepsi sold for ten cents.

Pepsi was one of the first to advertise directly to African-Americans, with advertisements in the 1940s portraying them as "self-confident middle-class citizens", as well as the hiring of an all-black sales team to promote Pepsi around the country. By the 1950s, African-Americans were three times more likely to buy Pepsi than Coca Cola.

James Dean begun his acting career with an appearance in a Pepsi commercial on December 13, 1950.

Movie actress Joan Crawford became a spokesperson for Pepsi, after marrying then Pepsi-Cola President Alfred N. Steele. She appeared in commercials on behalf of the company and had images of the soft drink placed prominently in several of her later films. When Steele died in 1959, Crawford was appointed to the Board of Directors of Pepsi-Cola.

During the making of the 1962 movie What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?, Bette Davis had a Coca-Cola machine installed on the set because of her co-lead Joan Crawford's affiliation with Pepsi. Crawford got her revenge by putting weights in her pockets when Davis had to drag Crawford across the floor during certain scenes.

Patio was created by the Pepsi-Cola Company in 1964. It was the first Diet Pepsi cola and the first diet soft drink to be distributed nationally throughout the US.

In 1975, Pepsi introduced the "Pepsi Challenge," a blind taste test campaign that claimed Pepsi was preferred over Coca-Cola.

When Coca Cola introduced New Coke on April 23, 1985, Pepsi ran full-page newspaper ads celebrating its launch. These ads poked fun at Coca-Cola, claiming victory in the "cola wars."

PEPSICO

PepsiCo was formed in 1965 with the merger of the Pepsi-Cola Company and Frito-Lay, Inc.

PepsiCo came to own a Soviet fleet in 1989. In a bizarre agreement, Russia sold PepsiCo

17 submarines, a frigate, a cruiser, and a destroyer in 1989 to keep soda flowing into its citizens’ mouths.

In 1995, PepsiCo launched Josta, the first energy drink introduced by a major US beverage company (one that had interests outside energy drinks). Pepsi discontinued the product after four years.

In 1996, PepsiCo spun off its restaurant division, which included the Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, and KFC chains, into a new company called Tricon Global Restaurants, which later became Yum! Brands, Inc.

PepsiCo's global headquarters building is located in Purchase, New York.

PepsiCo World HQ By Peter Bond from Philadelphia, Wikipedia

Today PepsiCo is a global food and beverage leader with net revenues of more than $65 billion and a product portfolio that includes 22 brands that generate more than $1 billion each in annual retail sales. Based on net revenue, PepsiCo is the second largest food and beverage business in the world.

PepsiCo's main businesses are – Quaker, Tropicana, Gatorade, Frito-Lay and Pepsi-Cola.

FUN FACTS

Brazilian footballer Ronaldinho lost a $750,000 deal with Coca-Cola because he took a sip from a Pepsi.

The traditional color of Pepsi is blue. The brand is often associated with the color blue and it is a significant part of its branding and marketing. 

The Pepsi logo features a circle with a red top half, a blue bottom half and a wavy white line in the middle. 

The iconic Pepsi globe logo has undergone several redesigns throughout the years, with the current version being introduced in 2008.

Canadian can of Pepsi

Pepsi is one of the most popular soft drinks in the world, and it is estimated to be the second-largest selling carbonated soft drink brand behind its main rival, Coca-Cola. 

According to the Beverage Digest, PepsiCo had a 31.8% share of the U.S. carbonated soft drinks market in 2020, and the company reported that Pepsi generated over $20 billion in global retail sales in 2019.