Coke vs Pepsi - Cocaine is King | 1

Audible subscribers can listen to all episodes of business wars ad-free right now. Join Audible today by downloading the Audible app. It's late November 1885. A man knocks on the door of the Red Brick townhouse in Atlanta that belongs to Confederate veteran and respected pharmacist, John Pemberton. Well, hello, come on in. Pemberton, in his 50s, motions to his customer to have a seat. He leans in to have a look at his patient. A long beard dangles off his chin like strands of Spanish moss from a tree branch. Now, what troubles you, sir? I've got a headache. My throat sore and my chest is Fleming. Maybe a common exhaustion? Well, I feel physically exhausted. Maybe I've got heart disease or liver condition. Could that be a duck? Well, possibly, but don't worry. I've got just the remedy for you. It's called French wine coca. It's got all the health benefits of wine plus the amazing, curative powers from the Bolivian coca plant. Truth is, everyone in Atlanta knows about Pemberton's great nerve tonic. It contains about a third of a line of cocaine, and nothing creates repeat customers like addiction. The drinks advertised as an aphrodisiac and a cure for whatever ails you. Everything from depression to heart disease. Pemberton sells hundreds of bottles a day. Okay, I guess I better get some while I can. What do you mean? Get it while you can. I guess you didn't see the papers today, doc, huh? Atlanta's going dry. Of course, Pemberton knows about the temperance movement raging across the South. But he curses himself for not seeing this day coming and acting sooner. Christian women's clubs have been holding prayer meetings outside saloons, shaming the men going in and out. County after county is going dry. For Pemberton, this is terrible news. After trying for years to make money in the snake oil business, French wine coca is his first big success. Thanks, doc, for the French wine coca. After his customer leaves, a worried Pemberton dons his apron and heads into his basement where there are boxes and boxes of coca leaves. He knows it's only a matter of time before his French wine coca will be targeted. It's not the cocaine that'll get the authorities attention, though. It's the wine. He's got to develop a temperance drink, something without wine. But the still has coca. He knows he has to do this fast. He might be able to come up with a solution faster if it weren't for his own ailments. And they are literally killing him. I'm Leon Nefak. What happens when only fans become more than just a side hustle? Only fantasy is an in-depth look at the world's newest profession and how the rules of human intimacy are being rewritten online. Listen wherever you get your podcasts, or binge all episodes of only fantasy, add free, only un-audible. When a charming neurosurgeon rode into western town selling a persona of confidence and care, patients trusted him. He wore cowboy boots in the operating room and became sought after by patients. He promised to heal them. Instead, he left a trail of broken bodies. This is a story of greed, betrayal, and a fight for justice. Listen to Dr. Death, the cowboy, wherever you get your podcasts, or binge the entire series right now, only with audible. From Wondry, I'm David Brown. This is Business Wars. The rivalry between the world's best known brands is legendary and dates back more than 120 years, and it's still bubbling on. Who among us hasn't taken the Coke vs Pepsi test? The world seems to be divided over who's in what camp? In our six-part series, Coca-Cola vs Pepsi, we dig into the epic struggle for the global soda market that's worth more than $360 billion today. Now, may no mistake, the drinks these two companies sell might be sweet, but the war between them? Well, it's mighty bitter. And this is Episode 1. Cocaine is King. It's December 1885, and John Pemberton is in his basement. He's bent over a brass pot of simmering syrup. He crumbles colonuts and coca leaves into the mixture. He dips a spoon into the pot and gingerly tastes the sugary goo. Pemberton shudders from the bitter taste. Colonuts might be rich in caffeine, but they taste horrible. Pemberton empties a bag of sugar into the pot and tastes again. Ah, much better. The next ingredient is the flavoring oil, an original blend of orange, lemon, cinnamon, nutmeg, and more. Then, a few drops of citric acid to give his soda a pleasing tang. The final touch is a dose of caramel coloring. Seasoned snake oil peddlers like Pemberton love caramel coloring. Its dark brown hue is ideal for hiding flies, ash, and other stuff that accidentally falls into their concoctions. Just as Pemberton prepares to taste his syrup again, there's an ock at the door. He opens the door to find a pudgy man with a droopy white mustache and an eorish demeanor. Good day, Mr. Pemberton. My name is Frank Robinson. I run an advertising agency. I believe I can help you sell even more of your marvelous French wine coca. Are you just in time? I'm working on a new recipe right now. Please come on in. Try it. Robinson steps inside and sees the simmering pot. He can smell the sugar wafting off of it. Here, Mr. Robinson, try my latest creation. A new temperance drink for the soda phones. Pemberton pours a dollop of his syrup into a glass, adds soda water, and vigorously mixes the two together. Robinson takes a sip and his eyes light up. Oh, this tastes wonderful. I plan to ask whether you'd hire me to do your advertising, but having tasted your wonderful new drink. I'd like to go further, sir. Would you consider letting me become your business partner? Pemberton looks at him curiously, interested, but cautious. Robinson presses on. With your recipe and my advertising skills, this beverage could become world famous. It's spring, 1886. After weeks of refinement, Pemberton's soda recipe is ready. But what it still lacks is a name. So Pemberton asks his new business partner to "crisp" in his drink. After a few days' thought, Robinson makes a suggestion. You said the drink contains both coca leaves and cola nuts. How about coca cola? I think that has a very nice alliteration. At first, all goes well. Atlanta soda fountains start selling coca cola and the early advertising generates real interest. But then Pemberton and Robertson's partnership suddenly hits the skids. The source of the problem dates back to the Civil War. In April, 1865, Pemberton was among the Confederate troops at the Battle of Columbus, Georgia, where the Confederacy made one last unsuccessful stand. A union soldier swung his saber of Pemberton, slicing open his abdomen. Miraculously, Pemberton survived. But that war wound continued to plague him, inflicting sudden bursts of terrible pain. He found relief in morphine, but wound up hooked on the powerful painkiller. 20 years later, the drug still has him in its clutches. With Pemberton high on morphine and curled up in his bed most of the time, production of coca cola grinds to a halt. And with no product to sell, Pemberton goes broke. Desperate for money, he goes behind Robinson's back and sells trunks of the business to anyone willing to part with cold hard cash. On learning of Pemberton's betrayal, Robinson confronts his bedridden former business partner. "We were partners. How could you do this?" "I needed the money." "Message, the patent and trademark identifies me and me alone as the creator of coca cola." "Not that it matters. I'm sick. I'll die in this bed." "It's too late. Coca cola is gone." Its new owners, a bunch of hapless opportunists. Robinson is left heartbroken. Though he's been shut out of the business, he still believes in Coca-Cola and is determined to find a way to regain the company. Even months later, he's still telling everyone who will listen about Pemberton Soda and his shattered dream. One person Robinson tells his tale of Wo2, is Asa Candler. He's a prosperous pharmacist on the lookout for a new product. That's why Robinson seeks Candler out. He tries to regale him with the potential of Coca-Cola, but Candler just tombs out Robinson's tiresome Coca-Cola stories. One morning, Candler wakes with a severe relentless headache. As his head throbs, Candler recalls Robinson telling him that Coca-Cola cures headaches. And he thinks, "What harm could it do?" Candler steps onto the streets of downtown Atlanta and heads to a nearby Soda Fountain. After dodging street cars and weaving through the crowds, Candler makes a b-line to the fountain counter and sits down in front of the Soda Jirt. Good morning. I glass a Coca-Cola, please. The Soda Jirt passes Candler a glass of brown liquid, fizzy bubbles pop in his face. Candler takes a few sips of his first Coca-Cola. Not bad, he thinks. And then, moments later, he's amazed at his headache, subsides, and then vanishes. A few days later, Candler writes to his brother about this exciting discovery. You know how I suffer with headaches? Well, some days ago, a friend suggested I try Coca-Cola. I did, and was relieved. I tried it again, had the same effect. So I decided to put my money into it. Candler tracks down the people Pemberton sold the business to and buys them out for $750. Then, in the summer of 1888, Candler visits Pemberton to buy up his shares, the final third of the business. As Candler enters Pemberton's bedroom, the stench of sweat, vomit, and sickness practically overwhelms him. The sight of Pemberton is shocking. He's bedridden, empty vials of morphine on his bedstand. He's dying from gastroenteritis. But as depressing a sight as this is, it does not deter Candler from completing his mission. Missed a Pemberton, it pains me to see you this way. I do wish you a speedy recovery. I came here today because I want to buy your steak in Coca-Cola. How much will you pay? $550. Pemberton accepts. At least this way, he can leave some money for his family. In August of 1888, a few weeks after accepting Candler's offer, Pemberton passes away at age 57. Candler's first move on gaining control of Coca-Cola is to change the recipe. First, he adds more sugar. Next, he cuts the Coca-leaf to a trace. Cocaine is losing its allure and people now say it's harmful and addictive. Best to get out in front of this, Candler thinks. The only thing stopping him from removing the Coca-leaf entirely is his fear that doing so could invalidate the Coca-Cola trademark. New recipe in place, Candler puts Robinson the marketing genius back in charge of promoting Coca-Cola. The promotional budget is small, but Robinson makes every cent count. In a break with the dense, worthy advertisements of the age, Robinson boils down Coca-Cola's message to just five words. Drink Coca-Cola, delicious and refreshing. Robinson plasters that message everywhere. He puts it on street cars in newspapers on leaflets and paints it on walls. He also hands out tons of free Coca-Cola branded merchandise, including calendars, clocks and glass plates. For a while, it keeps Coca-Cola sales rising. But by 1892, both know that they need to do more. To raise money for more promotional work, Candler forms the Coca-Cola company and invites people to invest in it. He hopes to raise $50,000, but only gets $10,000. Then, Robinson suggests a novel solution. Let's give out promotional coupons that people can redeem its soda fountains for a free glass of Coca-Cola. What? You want to give away the drink? Have you gone insane? Now, to understand Candler's incredulous reaction, you have to understand that no one had ever tried this. So there's zero evidence it'll actually work. Mr. Candler hear me out. Now, some people have never tried Coca-Cola. These coupons will give them free Coca-Cola's. Yes, that's right, free. But once they taste it, they'll become a regular drink, because I'm sure of it. We'll get the money back from increased sales. Candler mulls over Robinson's idea. It sounds dangerously expensive, but Robinson's arguments make sense. Candler approves the plan. Over the next few months, people are showing up at soda fountains waving their coupons. Hundreds of thousands of people try Coca-Cola, and they like it. The drink becomes the South's favorite soda. But not everyone thinks Coca-Cola's success is due to Robinson's ingenious promotion. Candler might have changed the recipe, but many still regard Coca-Cola as the cocaine soda. Rumors spread about the drink being habit-forming. Newspapers claim Coca-Cola drives people insane. Soda fountains customers give the drink cocaine-inspired nicknames, names like Coke, Dope, or a shot in the arm. This bothers Candler. He's a devout Methodist. He loathes the idea of his drink being cast as something unholsum. In 1903, he hires chemists to remove every last molecule of cocaine from the Coca-Leaves used in Coca-Cola. The change makes no difference to the drink's popularity. Soon, the market is full of competitors trying to cash in on Coca-Cola's success. Candler despises them all. He sees them as parasites feeding on his hard work. So he tells his lawyers to sue each and every one for trademark infringement. What follows is a game of courtroom whack-a-mole that drags on for decades. As soon as Coca-Cola hammers one imitator out of existence, another seems to pop up in its place. And with so many copycats to stamp out, some inevitably slip through the net. Among them is a soda from North Carolina, a soda that markets itself as a drug-free alternative to Coca-Cola. And its name is Hepsy Cola. North Carolina has a very important point. If North Carolina is a drug-free alternative, it's a drug-free alternative, and it's a drug-free alternative that is based on Euro-Avoid. It's known that North Carolina is a drug-free alternative. Unlike any other, Dr. Death, the cowboy, is the story of a charming neurosurgeon who rode into Western town selling a persona of confidence and care. This season is about a doctor who was never truly held accountable for the patients whose lives he ruined. The story of greed, betrayal, and a fight for justice that will leave you questioning who to trust. Listen to Dr. Death, the cowboy, wherever you get your podcast, or binge the entire series right now, only with Audible. It's early 1898. And Caleb Brattam is bored. It's been a quiet afternoon at his soda fountain in Newburn, North Carolina. He's already cleaned the marble counter and swept the floor. Now he's out of chores. He decides that some music might make the day go more quickly. So he heads over to the store's coin-operated Pia Nola. Brattam's always been interested in new technology, and he loves this primitive jukebox. He digs into his pocket and inserts a nickel. The machine's paper piano rolls begin to turn with a new spring in his step. Bratum returns to the counter just as a bedraggled man enters. Bratum's face, writings, at last, a customer. But he's clearly hungover. Good afternoon, sir. What can I get for you on this fine day? The man tries to balance himself on one of the stools by the soda fountain counter. You got anything for a headache? A headache pounding. You're in luck. I have a perfect soda for headaches. I created it myself. It's a drug-free cola. I've been making and selling it here for several years. Yeah, sure, sure. Sounds good. Just pour me a glass of that stuff, will you? Bratum plops some of his cola syrup into the glass and then pumps in the soda water. He slides the drink over to the customer. The man takes a sip. Hmm, that's good. What do you call it? People call it "brads drink." After me, Caleb Bratum. The man gives Bratum a sideways look. He may be hungover, but he knows a lame name when he hears one. Brads drink. Oh, man. You got to give it a better name than that. In August, 1898, Bratum drink gets a better name. It's now called Pepsi Cola, and Bratum has big plans for it. He's seen Coca-Cola's huge success and believes his cola could become just as popular. Bratum starts selling his syrup to other North Carolina soda fountains. Then he runs advertisements in local newspapers proclaiming Pepsi Cola as a health drink. They can cure not only headaches, but in digestion too. In 1902, overflowing with confidence, Bratum finds the Pepsi Cola company. Coca-Cola sees Bratum is just another imitator, but there's more to him than that. You see, new technology is about to disrupt the soda business, and it just so happens that Bratum is an early adopter. At the time, bottling soda is largely done by hand. It's slow, imprecise, and dangerous. Bottles filled with overcarbinated soda often explode. But Bratum's been reading about the latest bottling machines. Machines that will accelerate production. They will have hygiene and reduce the number of exploding bottles. Bratum's plan is to get ahead of the curve. He builds a bottling plant and starts selling bottled Pepsi to people in rural communities, people who don't live near a soda fountain. Then Bratum persuades independent bottling plants to start producing Pepsi instead of their own cola. In return, each plant gets a local monopoly on the production and sale of bottled Pepsi. Bratum makes his money by selling Pepsi syrup to those bottlers. By 1915, Bratum is a soda millionaire. Coca-Cola's attitude toward the new technology could not have been more different. Coca-Cola boss Asa Canberr thinks there's no future in bottled soda. So in 1899, when two Chattanooga lawyers start bugging him for the rights to bottle Coca-Cola, he ignores them. But the pair persist. For weeks, Canberr brushes them off hoping they'll go away. But they don't. Eventually, Canberr agrees to a meeting. Now gentlemen, I'm not interested in putting Coca-Cola in bottles. I just want you to understand that bottling plants are dirty places that produce inferior products. Now, I'm worried that if we bottle Coca-Cola, we'll ruin its good name. The lawyers promise to maintain high standards in their bottling plans, and that they, not Canberr, will pay for the bottling network. They just want the right to bottle Coca-Cola. Canberr is finally won over. And he signs a contract. Under the deal, the lawyers get exclusive rights to bottle Coca-Cola in most of the United States. They'll buy all their syrup from the Coca-Cola company. As the lawyers pack their papers to leave, Canberr warns them, "I still don't believe you'll succeed. So if you boys fail, don't y'all come running back to me for help." But the lawyers do not fail. Instead of opening bottling plants themselves, they carve the U.S. into tiny territories and sell franchises to bottle Coca-Cola in those areas. And they're killed by the opportunity to get a lucrative, never-ending Coca-Cola franchise. Hundreds of plants sign up. Everyone gets rich. The Coca-Cola company profits from the syrup itself to the lawyers. The lawyers then make immense fortunes selling that syrup that are marked up price to the bottling plants. The bottlers make their money from selling the bottled Coca-Cola they produce. And almost by accident, Coca-Cola has created a national soda bottle. A bottling network in record time. But as 1920 approaches, both Coca-Cola and Pepsi run into trouble, the problem is sugar. The government has ended the sugar price controls it imposed during World War I. And now the price of sugar is shooting up and up. This is bad news for soda companies. Coca-Cola is the most expensive part of any glass of cola and prices for it are soaring. The industry panics. As a hedge, Coca-Cola and Pepsi buy huge stockpiles of sugar. But then the cost collapses and the Coca-Cola companies are stuck with piles of over-priced sugar. Unable to cover the losses, Bratum cuts production. But with less Pepsi being produced, sales drop, making the company's situation even worse. Bratum battles to save the company. But it's too late. In March 1923, the Pepsi-Cola company goes bust. Bratum's dream is over. But while Pepsi and other Coca-Cola companies go down in flames, Coca-Cola survives and then thrives. To recover from its sugar losses, the Coca-Cola company secures a multi-million dollar loan by using its secret formula as collateral. Armed with its loan, Coca-Cola can keep expanding even as the sugar crisis causes its competitors to crumble. With plenty of cash and little opposition, Coca-Cola cleans up. By the end of the 1920s, Coca-Cola is ingrained in daily American life. It seems unimaginable that anyone will ever be able to challenge Coca-Cola for the soda crown. But then something truly unexpected happens. Pepsi-Cola comes back from the dead. Follow Business Wars on the Audible app or wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen to all episodes of Business Wars ad-free by joining Audible. In the next episode of Pepsi vs Coca-Cola, the meanest man in the candy business takes on the Coca-Cola cops and puts Pepsi back in the game. I'm your host, David Brown. Tristan Donovan wrote this story. He's the author of Fizz, How Soda Shook Up the World. Karen Lo is our senior producer and editor. Jenny Lauer is our editor and producer. Sound designed by Bay Area Sound. Our executive producer is Marshall Lewey, created by Ernan Lopez for Wondering. I'm Leon Nefak. Best known is the co-creator of Slow Burn and Fiasco. I had of course heard of only fans. It always with a distant and quiet skepticism, a silent judgment you might say. Who is actually using this platform? Um, I am. Hi, I'm only fans creator and comedian Gracie Canon. I work from home, now I'm on only fans. And in case you guys don't know, only fans is, ask your husband. My journalistic curiosity got the best of me when I found out that my own sister had started at OnlyFans account. I'm not a sister, just a clarify. Turns out a lot of what I thought I knew about OnlyFans was wrong. I felt like I wasted 3.5 years for something that wasn't real. What happens when connection comes with a price tag? Listen to OnlyFantasy wherever you get your podcasts. Or binge all episodes of OnlyFantasy ad free right now, only on Audible. Start your Audible subscription in the Audible app or on Apple podcasts.