Coca-Cola and Pepsi have a fierce rivalry

The drink that became Coca-Cola was originally called 'Pemberton's French Wine Coca.'

Coca-Cola began developing Diet Coke to compete with a diet cola called Tab

Launched in 1963, Tab was successful in part because of its diet-conscious branding, with the name "tab" referring to the idea of "keeping a tab on your weight." Diet Coke made its debut in 1982.

Coca-Cola was created during a patent medicine boom

A "patent medicine" is a proprietary medicine that is ostensibly created and marketed under a patent, and, crucially, is available without prescription.

Visualize how Coca-Cola's secret formula has changed over time

Coca-Cola contained small amounts of cocaine until the early 1900s—but that's not the only time Coca-Cola has altered its recipe over the years. For instance, Coca-Cola transitioned from cane sugar to high-fructose corn syrup in the 1980s.

The Coca-Cola Company also owns Sprite, Smartwater, and many more brands

The parent company owns lots of beverage brands, from sodas to water, including Dasani, Minute Maid, Topo-Chico, and more. You can see all of the roughly 200 brands it owns on its website.

See an original Coca-Cola coupon—one of the earliest surviving coupons used in America—that helped popularize the soda brand in its early days.

John Pemberton only sold roughly 25 gallons of Coca-Cola syrup in its first year

That equates to roughly 9 drinks per day. But once he brought it to pharmacies that hooked the syrup up to their soda fountains, sales increased significantly, with roughly 2,000 gallons being sold two years later. This video about Coca-Cola's early history is narrated by actress Jenny Slate for a Comedy Central series called "Drunk History," so not all of it is intended to be entirely factually accurate.

Coca-Cola made up roughly 19.2% of US carbonated soft drink market share as of 2023

Separately, Diet Coke made up about 7.8% of US market share that year. Pepsi was responsible for 8.3% of market share, as was Dr. Pepper.

The Coca-Cola bottle was designed to be recognizable even when shattered

The contour bottle, which was designed and patented to prevent copycats in its distributed bottling system in 1915, would soon become one of the most identifiable shapes in commercial culture. The designers also made sure it could be easily identified even in the dark.

​​Andy Warhol made a Coca-Cola perfume called 'You're In'

The 100 spray-painted bottles were filled with a cheap citrusy perfume, practically begging audiences to ask if they were indeed filled with urine. The Coca-Cola Company sent a cease-and-desist letter shortly after learning of the project. IN 2017, a Japanese fashion brand remade the works without mentioning Coca-Cola.

Why Coke tastes different at McDonald's

Fans of the sugary soda Coca-Cola have noticed significant differences between its canned variety versus what pours forth from the fountain at McDonald's. Is there anything to the claim? Weird History Food takes a dive into this essential fast-food...

Unlike its Mexican counterpart, American Coca-Cola contains high-fructose corn syrup rather than sugar

There are a few reasons why American Coke turned away from sugar in the 1980s, but none of them are related to consumer health. This Reader's Digest article breaks down the history behind Coke's recipe change, explaining why the company continues using high-fructose cough syrup.

Pepsi dominates the list of the highest-rated Super Bowl commercials in history

The Super Bowl features the two best NFL teams, playing American football at the highest level. While the games may be forgotten by fans whose team didn’t make it, no one forgets the commercials.

Coca-Cola claims that only two people in the world know the full Coca-Cola formula

They are supposedly two Coca-Cola executives. Over the years, a number of handwritten formulas have surfaced to the public, but Coca-Cola has ruled all of them as inauthentic.

See how the Coca-Cola bottle's design has changed over the years, including the famous 1910's "hobbleskirt" bottle named for the once-popular tapered women's skirts that narrowed below the knee.

'Dirty soda' took off in Utah before exploding on TikTok

The concoction is a combination of Diet Coke, coffee creamer, and citrus. This Eater article delves into the history behind the sugary drink, pinpointing its start as a Mormon-friendly alternative to alcohol and caffeine. The explainer also explores why the drink became so popular on social media and offers helpful hints for crafting your own recipe.

Coca-Cola operates under an asset-light, divided structure

The "company" manages the brand itself, as well as its secret formula and syrup production. The capital-intensive "system" of independent bottlers, on the other hand, handles manufacturing and distribution.

Red and green became Christmas colors thanks to holly—and Coca-Cola

Holly's green leaves and bright red berries linked the colors to winter festivals for centuries, but Coca-Cola's 1931 Santa—painted by Haddon Sundblom in Coke-red robes—helped cement red and green as the modern Christmas palette.

'This American Life' once tried to recreate the original recipe for Coca-Cola

Given that the Coca-Cola formula is one of the company's most closely-guarded secrets, the radio show's team was surprised to come across a 1979 newspaper article with what looked like the original recipe for Coke.

The Stepan Company is the only US company with legal permission to import coca leaves

The Stepan Company works closely with Coca-Cola so that the soda giant can continue to use coca leaves for its beverages. Today, the cocaine from the coca leaves is removed before they are used to create Coca-Cola.

Differences in the ratio of sugars help distinguish Mexican and American Coke

Mexican Coke is sweetened with cane sugar (sucrose), which dissolves into equal amounts of fructose and glucose, whereas American Coke, which uses high-fructose corn syrup, contains more fructose than glucose.

7/11's Slurpee was named by an advertising executive who wanted to capture the sound someone made when they sucked the drink through a straw.

Gatorade was first designed for college football players in Florida's heat.

The long history of alcohol and sports

Spectators have long enjoyed alcohol at sporting events, dating back at least to ancient Rome. This article unpacks how companies leveraged this history to make beer a central part of sporting events and masculine culture.

The word 'coupon' comes from a French word meaning 'to cut.'

Pepsi uses augmented reality to prank people at a bus shelter

Commuters at a London bus stop have seen alien invasions, monsters from the sewers grabbing pedestrians and tigers running down the street as part of an elaborate advertising campaign.

These famous brands used to have different names

Did you know that Nike used to be called Blue Ribbon Sports? Or that Google was originally named BackRub? Getting a brand's name right is a tough job; there's an entire cottage industry of brand naming agencies to prove it. See which brands got it right the first time—and which ones might be better off with their current names—in this article.

A group of daring bootleggers created NASCAR

When Prohibition made alcohol illegal in 1920, it didn’t stop Americans from making and consuming it. The law drove the practice underground. Runners risked their lives to deliver moonshine and began racing among themselves.

From 1989 to 2022, Anheuser-Busch had exclusive alcohol ad rights to the Super Bowl

That meant if an alcohol company was not owned by Anheuser-Busch (and later after the merger, AB InBev), it could not advertise during the Super Bowl. This monopoly was part of how Budweiser became known for its Clydesdale Super Bowl ads.

Soda is one of the most overpriced items at restaurants

All restaurant food is marked up—that's how they turn profits, after all—but soda is one of the most egregious. Fountain soda is remarkably cheap, with restaurants often paying a few cents for each glass before selling it for a few dollars. Food publication The Takeout estimates that the typical markup is around 1,000%.

Anheuser-Busch sold half of its real estate holdings to survive Prohibition

The Budweiser parent company also created and sold out more than 25 different nonalcoholic products during this time, including but not limited to infant formula, frozen eggs, and specialized coffees and teas.

How energy drink company Red Bull makes money

Red Bull was founded by Dietrich Mateschitz and is one of the world's most successful energy drink companies. The brand's value comes from its aggressive marketing efforts among students, nightlife, and sports figures, equating the consumption of one of its cans with excitement and athleticism.

Monsanto got its start in the early 1900s producing saccharin

The company was originally called Monsanto Chemical Works and was founded in 1901 by John Francis Queeny who was then a wholesale drug buyer. He named the company Monsanto for his wife's maiden name. At first, the company began producing saccharin with borrowed equipment and secondhand machines, aiming to produce domestically what was then being imported from Germany. (Some users may encounter a paywall.)

America's ice cream obsession began under Prohibition, with the street treat acting as a legal vice that helped ease the pain of the Great Depression.

Beer companies turned Cinco de Mayo into a mass consumer event in the 1980s

Starting in the early 1980s, breweries including Anheuser-Busch, Miller, and Coors created Hispanic marketing departments and sponsored Cinco de Mayo events. By 2003, American beer companies spent over $5M annually on Cinco de Mayo advertising. Some users may experience a paywall.

Bottled water started as a 19th-century wellness trend

Selling drinking water in America began at resorts in New York and West Virginia, where tourists were encouraged to take the regenerative mineral water back to their homes.

Bud Light was created to compete in the lower-calorie light beer market

Arguably sparked by Miller Lite's successful 1975 launch, Anheuser-Busch rolled out Bud Light in 1982. The brand faced controversy in 2023 after a sponsorship deal with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney, sparking a Bud Light boycott.

Champagne has a rich history in hip-hop

The drink is both aspirational and a bragging right. Famous artists name-check brands like Cristal, and up-and-comers long for the day when sparkling wine will flow like water. The trend traces back to the early 1990s and Branson B., “hip-hop’s unofficial sommelier.” The Harlem-based artist would bring bottles of his favorite bubbly to parties, celebrations, and, crucially, recording studios, where friends like the Notorious B.I.G. were laying down some of rap’s foundational tracks.

Distinguishing club soda, seltzer, and sparkling water

The three forms of drinking water are similar, but their differences lie mostly in the presence and proportion of minerals and carbonation. Read this quick explainer on the major differences.

America's oldest companies still operating today

Did you know that the Ticonderoga pencil company dates back to 1795? Or that Baker's Chocolate started in 1765? This visualization depicts the oldest American companies that are still in operation today in a timeline—see it here.

The Army–Navy rivalry has a long history of mascot heists

For decades, spirited cadets and midshipmen have plotted covert missions to steal each other’s mascots—Army’s mule and Navy’s goat—turning the already fierce football rivalry into a game of elaborate pranks and counter-pranks.

Aspartame was a surprise discovery from a lab working on gastric ulcers

As with saccharin and cyclamate, the aspartame discovery arose from its discoverer tasting something sweet from his workplace. In 1965, American chemist James Schlatter licked a white powder off his finger as he picked up a piece of paper and was startled to discover it tasted sweet. He applied for a patent for the substance, and received it in 1970. It is now one of the most popular artificial sweeteners. (Some users may experience a paywall.)

Budweiser pioneered refrigerated rail transport for its beer in the 1870s

This enabled Budweiser to achieve national distribution long before competitors, fundamentally transforming the US beer industry. It was also among the earliest large-scale adopters to use pasteurization, allowing it to be shipped long distances without going bad.

The long history of an ancient Andean beer made from corn

And often chewed before brewed. From dank chicherias in small towns to gourmet big-city restaurants catering to tourists, the traditional fermented-corn beverage chicha is still being drunk throughout the Andes. Read more here.

There’s some confusion over who founded the Bavarian Brewery that later became Budweiser

While many traditional histories credit German immigrant George Schneider with founding the Bavarian Brewery in 1852, an investigation from St. Louis Magazine found that it was actually started in 1857 by a fascinating German physician named Dr. Adam Hammer.

Explore an archive of Budweiser’s past Super Bowl ads

With about 47 of them airing over the past few decades, Budweiser’s Clydesdale ads have basically become synonymous with the Super Bowl—but how many have you actually seen? From 1991 to 2024, this website includes many of Budweiser’s most famous Super Bowl ads.

Budweiser still uses the same yeast lineage derived from the one used in the 1800s

During the late 1800s when Budweiser beers hit the market, darker, all‑malt lagers dominated the US beer market. Budweiser was brewed with a single, consistent yeast strain that gave it a crisp uniform flavor, differentiating it from darker beers.

A Portland dive bar helped drive Pabst Blue Ribbon's early 2000s comeback by selling cans for $1 apiece.

Every Tootsie Roll can be traced back to a single, decades-old batch.

During Prohibition, Pabst Brewing Company switched from brewing its Blue Ribbon beer to making cheese.