The REAL Differences Between Coke And Pepsi People

Business Insider ^ | 13 May 2011 | Alana Horowitz

[smokingfrog]

You probably can't describe the difference between Coke and Pepsi. Perhaps one cola seems sweeter, but you couldn't certainly distinguish them in a taste test. Yet you know without a doubt which one you like more.

The fierce brand loyalties of Coke vs. Pepsi are a marvel of American marketing.

Slightly older, Coca-Cola was always the dominant brand.

Pepsi gained market share in the middle of the century with a series of ad campaigns. In 1975 the first Pepsi Challenge claimed that people preferred Pepsi in a blind taste test. The brand was also marketed as the soda of the new generation, with celebrity spokespeople like Michael Jackson.

Today America's preference is firmly divided by demographics, according to research by Hunch.com. Surprisingly there's a big divide based on wealth and education.

• Coke drinkers are more likely to have graduated college. They also tend to speak more than one language.

• Pepsi fans are less likely to have attended college or speak more than one language.

• Coke people are classy eaters. They're big sushi fans and they've probably tried caviar.

• Pepsi people prefer classic American snacks, like Cheese Whiz and Spam.

• Coke drinkers read the New York Times.

• Pepsi people prefer USA Today.

• Coke drinks consider themselves well traveled. They're also more likely to own a passport.

• There's a good chance that a Pepsi drinker hasn't been on vacation in over 6 months.

• Coke drinkers will show up early.

• Pepsi people will show up on time or late.

• If you prefer Coca Cola, you've probably been to an art gallery.

[normy]

Yeah but you're going back too far, before the Pepsi sell out and the CEO comparing the USA to the middle finger and in Texas where I live everything is Coke, even if it's Pepsi. In other words

"What kind of coke you drinkin?"

"Pepsi"

Unless of course you are drinking Dr. Pepper, then you call it by name.

But of course I'm just having fun, one of my best friends who is a right wing, small business owning, Christian republican drinks nothing but Pepsi. Damn Communist

[Liberty Valance]

[FrankR]

I would suppose the preferences vs democraphic/social makeup for a survey question like this would be as varied as their are people in the country.

Surveys seem to have a side-effect of labeling people. If you see someone drinking or buying Pepsi it could be that Pepsi is on sale this week. Our grocery store alternates between sales on Pepsi and Coke...I've never seen them both on sale at the same time - I think it's price fixing.

Seriously, I've been drinking sodas since about 1947, and Pepsi IS sweeter, or more "syrupy" than Coke. When I was a teenager, I preferred Pepsi...but after I got grown I've always preferred Coca-Cola.

I get a 12-pk of Big-K for a little over a buck, and Cokes and Pepsi seem to range somewhere between 3.50 and 4.00 bucks for a 12-pack. To an old soda drinker like me who saw Cokes go from 5-cents, to 6-cents, to a dime, fifteen, a quarter and beyond...I just cannot bring myself to pay $4 for a 12-pack when Big-K (to me) is much cheaper and just as good.

[smokingfrog]

[AEMILIUS PAULUS]

I agree that there has been a change in taste over the years. Early on I came to like PEPSI in a glass bottle. (Remember HIRES Root Beer?)

[B4Ranch]

>>I drink coke and never been to an art gallery, so there!<<

Yeah, but you’ve got that high falutin attitude. /s

[skr]

Coke has more bite; Pepsi is too sweet.

[Keith in Iowa]

Quite the soda fountain. :)

[PeaRidge]

You probably know that Coca-Cola got its start early in the 1900s in Pharmacy and small department store lunch counters in the South. Besides lemonade or tea, a “Coke” was about the only soft drink available.

To reach more of the public, it began to be bottled and distributed through general stores in a 6 1/2 oz. bottle.

Competitors emerged, and Pepsi began to compete at labor intensive work site lunch counters in hot climates with its ten oz. serving. It offered more cool beverage and sugar for the same price.

Therefore, the brand of drink took on a class distinction in the South, which is reflected today by ordering by brand. Other locations, North and West simply saw the drinks as ‘pop’ or ‘soda’ without volume, taste, or origin discrimination.

[Melinda in TN]

Same here. It’s all “coke”. You call it a soda here and people look at you nasty because they know you “aren’t from around here”. LOL

[ApplegateRanch]

Yep; Pepsi tastes like crap, and Coke tastes like kerosene.

I drink (when I can find it) Royal Crown/RC-Cola; I use Coke for mixing with rum; and buy Pepsi to serve to some friends who inexplicably won’t drink anything else.

[I still care]

I prefer coke. It has a sweeter, more “vanilla” taste as opposed to Pepsi, which tastes lighter to me, more “citrusy”.

That said, the answer to this may be simple marketing strategies on the part of the companies. For instance, the area of the country and newspapers advertised in.

[PoloSec]

Pepsi tastes like Coke that was opened two days ago.

[genxer]

me too

[runninglips]

Cola drinks always have been something I couldn’t see drinking. Nesbitts Orange, Hires Root Beer, and 7up were king. I can still recall the actual smell of the lemon and lime flavorings as you popped the bottle of a 7up. I used to buy them from the gas station, pulled from the ice cold water for a dime.

[smokingfrog]

CHERRY DR. PEPPER Gene Simmons

[RowdyFFC]

Pffffffffffft. I’m a Coke drinker and I’ve never been on time anywhere in my life, except to work...and that was due to crosstown traffic rather than loyalty, lol

For me, it’s not about branding, it’s about taste. Pepsi tastes like it’s got dirt in it, ugh!

[x]

Yeah but you're going back too far, before the Pepsi sell out and the CEO comparing the USA to the middle finger

I guess so.

I still associate Pepsi with Joan Crawford, not that strange Indian Indra Nooyi chick.

Joan was many things, but an America hater she wasn't.

[ErnBatavia]

Dr. Pepper has really changed; unbeknownst of his, we bought a case on sale six months ago and wifey/I both noted that the formula has changed -- to the sh*t side.

I really should give the remaining 22 cans to the homeless shelter or sumpin, because it's pretty undrinkable.