The history of Pepsi-Cola starts in 1896 in the town of New Bern in North Carolina, USA in a drugstore owned by the pharmacist Caleb Bradham. He came up with many recipes of new drinks to be served at the soda fountain of his drugstore.
Brad ham aim was to create a drink both delicious, healthy, aiding digestion and boosting energy. It would be free of impurities and it should not contain any strong narcotics. Eventually one of his drinks became very popular and the customers started to call it Brad’s drink. This was the beginning of Pepsi-Cola’s story and later, Brad ham’s vision was turned into a mission for the future company.
In 1905 Pepsi started with bottling franchises and registered its trademark in Canada and Mexico in 1908. At the same time the U.S. government enacted the Pure Food and Drug Act prohibiting substances such as arsenic, barium, uranium, etc. in food and beverages. Consequently, many soft drink manufacturers, including Coca-Cola, had to change their formulas. Pepsi exploited the situation against their main competitor Coca-Cola, by claiming that they already met federal requirements.
Distribution was modernized with motor vehicles and started to promote its products using famous public figures like Barney Olfield, an automobile race pioneer who endorsed Pepsi.
In the 1920’s and 1930’s the company experienced financial difficulties and went bankrupt twice in 1923 and 1931. In 1931 the company was sold and Charles G. Guth took over the presidency commanding a reformulation of the syrup recipe.
Few years later Walter S. Mack, Jr. was elected president and the company became a modern marketing company by using comic strips and Hollywood movie stars to advertise its products.
In 1959 Pepsi entered the former Soviet market in Moscow and acquired Mountain Dew in 1963 making it the second best selling drink ever produced by the company.
The Emergence of a Global Company
In 1965, the