Battle of the Colas!
This is the story of two ancient superpowers and a rivalry that began at the turn of the last century. And by ancient we mean just a bit more than a hundred years.
Theirs has always been a game of one-upmanship, a cutthroat competition that though began in the early decades of the last century, really reached its peak after the second world war. The worst decades of the discord were in the last few decades of the 1900s and although it never spilled out into an all out war, it has always threatened to.
Considering the influence of these superpowers around the world, most countries have been affected or somehow have been part of the conflict, from India to Latin America. The Twenty First century have seen the rivalry wane a bit, but ever so slightly. The undercurrents are still very palpable.
Most of you might have read about this rivalry – given a two word name; first, a four letter word beginning with C and the second a synonym strife. You guessed it right, we are writing about the (in)famous Cola Wars.
The tough rivalry between Pepsi and Coca Cola has its roots from the early days – Coke actually had coke (the other, not too legal anymore kind) as an ingredient and though both were initially marketed as healthy drinks, Pepsi presented itself as the healthier option of the two. The decades long tensions, exploded when Pepsi unveiled the Taste Test. Getting volunteers to blind taste the two drinks, Pepsi claimed a moral victory when it was chosen by most tasters as the better drink. Coke messed up by launching the New Coke, almost as a direct consequence of the taste tests and it was widely criticised. Coke went back to ‘Classic Coke’ and Pepsi claimed the episode a decisive victory.
The Cola Wars are most infamous for their mutually targeted comparative advertising and have been fought everywhere from your television screens to even space!
