Which Came First- Coke or Pepsi?

Explorefrederickmd
2 min readAug 19, 2020

As we have spent more time outdoors and in the park, we have downed our fair share of Coke and Pepsi. This got us thinking, which came first and which is the better pop? Coke and Pepsi and two of the the largest brands in the world. Their history is as complicated as the feuds and arguments over which is better and of course, which came first. Below is what we have found while tasting history.

A Brief History of Pepsi

Pepsi was originally called “Brads Drink” and came about in New Bern, North Carolina in 1893. These sodas were first sold in drugstores. Strangely enough, the idea for “Brads Drink” was not only to increase energy and improve digestion, but also to pack as sweet and savory tase. The soda’s name eventually changed from “Brad’s Drink” to “Pepsi-Cola” in 1898 and the Pepsi-Cola Company was born in 1902.

As Coke gained in popularity, Pepsi struggles financially and entered bankruptcy during the Great Depression. But in 1975, Pepsi created the “Pepsi Challenge,” a blind taste test showing that more people preferred Pepsi over Coke. Pepsi has since closed the gap that was made by Coca-Cola and has grown to the empire it is today.

A Brief History of Coca-Cola

Coca-Cola emerged in 1886, when a pharmacist, Dr. John S. Pemberton, in Columbus…

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