Pepsi facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Pepsi

Type	Cola
Manufacturer	PepsiCo
Country of origin	United States
Region of origin	New Bern, North Carolina
Introduced	1893; 132 years ago (1893) (as Brad's Drink) 1898; 127 years ago (1898) (as Pepsi-Cola) 1961; 64 years ago (1961) (as Pepsi)
Color	Caramel E-150d
Variants	Diet Pepsi Pepsi Twist Pepsi Lime Pepsi Wild Cherry Crystal Pepsi Caffeine-Free Pepsi Pepsi-Cola Made with Real Sugar Pepsi Vanilla Pepsi Zero Sugar Pepsi Max Nitro Pepsi
Related products	Coca-Cola RC Cola

Pepsi is a fizzy soft drink with a cola flavor. It is made by a company called PepsiCo. As of 2023, Pepsi is the second most valuable soft drink brand in the world. Only Coca-Cola is worth more. These two brands have a long-standing competition known as the "cola wars".

Pepsi was first made in 1893 by Caleb Bradham. He called it "Brad's Drink" and sold it in his drugstore in New Bern, North Carolina. In 1898, it was renamed Pepsi-Cola. This new name was chosen because people thought it helped with digestion. The name was shortened to Pepsi in 1961. The first recipe included sugar and vanilla. Pepsi has faced tough times, even going bankrupt in 1923. But it was bought and brought back to life by Charles Guth.

Pepsi became very popular during the Great Depression. This was thanks to a larger 12-ounce bottle and smart ads. A famous jingle called "Nickel, Nickel" helped double its sales. It told people they could get twice as much Pepsi for the same price. In the mid-1900s, Pepsi started to focus on the African American market. This was a group that other companies often ignored. Pepsi showed Black people in a positive way in its ads. This helped its sales grow even more.

Pepsi has had some challenges, like a cancelled ad with Madonna. It also had a big problem with a contest in the Philippines. But Pepsi has stayed a major global brand. It does this with new marketing ideas and by sponsoring sports and entertainment. The "cola wars" with Coca-Cola led to famous taste tests called the "Pepsi Challenge". Pepsi has also grown in other countries. It even made a special deal to sell in the Soviet Union. Today, Pepsi keeps creating new drinks and marketing ideas. It remains a big part of the global soft drink industry.

The Story of Pepsi

Caleb Bradham's pharmacy, where Pepsi was first sold.

A plaque in New Bern, North Carolina, marking Pepsi's origin.

Pepsi was first created in 1893. It was called "Brad's Drink" and was invented by Caleb Bradham. He sold it at his drugstore in New Bern, North Carolina.

In 1898, the drink was renamed Pepsi-Cola. The "Pepsi" part came from the idea that it helped with dyspepsia (indigestion). The "Cola" part referred to its cola flavor. Some people thought the name "Pepsi" came from the digestive enzyme pepsin. But pepsin was never actually an ingredient in Pepsi-Cola.

The first recipe for Pepsi included sugar and vanilla. Bradham wanted to make a tasty drink that also helped with digestion and gave people energy.

The first Pepsi-Cola logo, used from 1898 to 1905.

In 1903, Bradham moved Pepsi's bottling from his drugstore to a warehouse. That year, he sold nearly 8,000 gallons of syrup. The next year, Pepsi was sold in small six-ounce bottles. Sales jumped to almost 20,000 gallons. In 1909, famous race car driver Barney Oldfield became the first celebrity to promote Pepsi. He called it "A bully drink...refreshing, invigorating, a fine bracer before a race." For the next 20 years, Pepsi used the slogan "Delicious and Healthful" in its ads.

A Pepsi-Cola advertisement from 1919.

In 1923, the Pepsi-Cola Company went bankrupt. This was mostly because of money lost from sugar prices changing a lot after World War I. The company's assets were sold. Later, Charles Guth, the president of Loft, Inc., bought the Pepsi trademark. Loft was a candy company with stores that had soda fountains. Guth wanted to replace Coca-Cola at his stores because Coca-Cola would not give him bigger discounts. So, Guth had his chemists create a new Pepsi-Cola syrup recipe.

Three times between 1922 and 1933, The Coca-Cola Company was offered the chance to buy Pepsi-Cola. But they said no each time.

How Pepsi Grew in Popularity

During the Great Depression, Pepsi became much more popular. This happened after it introduced a larger 12-ounce (355 mL) bottle in 1934. Before this, both Pepsi and Coca-Cola sold their drinks in smaller 6.5-ounce (192 mL) bottles for about five cents. Pepsi launched a radio ad campaign with a famous jingle called "Nickel, Nickel". The Tune Twisters first recorded it in 1940. The jingle encouraged people to get double the amount of drink for their nickel. The jingle went: "Pepsi-Cola hits the spot / Twelve full ounces, that's a lot / Twice as much for a nickel, too / Pepsi-Cola is the drink for you." This campaign was a big success during a time when money was tight. Pepsi's profits doubled between 1936 and 1938.

The Pepsi-Cola logo used from 1951 to 1971.

Pepsi's success under Guth happened while his candy business, Loft, was struggling. Because he used Loft's money and facilities to build Pepsi, the Loft Company sued Guth. They wanted to own the Pepsi-Cola company. A long legal fight followed, which Guth eventually lost.

Pepsi's Marketing Over the Years

The Pepsi logo used from 1971 to 1986.

The Pepsi globe and wordmark used from 1997 to 2003.

The Pepsi globe and wordmark used from 2014 to 2023.

The current Pepsi globe, launched in 2023.

From the 1930s to the late 1950s, "Pepsi-Cola Hits The Spot" was a very popular slogan. It was used on radio, in movies, and on early television. The jingle had many different versions. Young actress Polly Bergen often sang the classic jingle to promote Pepsi.

Film star Joan Crawford became a spokesperson for Pepsi after she married Pepsi-Cola president Alfred N. Steele. She appeared in ads and TV shows for the company. Crawford also made sure Pepsi drinks were seen in her later movies. When Steele died in 1959, Crawford joined Pepsi-Cola's Board of Directors. She stayed on the board until 1973.

Pepsi has appeared in many movies. These include Back to the Future Part II (1989), Home Alone (1990), and Wayne's World (1992). It was also in Fight Club (1999) and World War Z (2013). Director Spike Lee has also featured Pepsi in his films.

Pepsi's marketing has also had some issues. In 1989, Pepsi planned a big ad campaign with Madonna's song "Like a Prayer". But it was cancelled because of strong reactions to the song's music video. In 1992, the Pepsi Number Fever contest in the Philippines went wrong. Pepsi accidentally gave out 800,000 winning bottle caps for a big prize. This led to serious problems and unrest.

In 1996, PepsiCo launched a very successful marketing plan called Pepsi Stuff. This program let people collect points from Pepsi products to get prizes. A project called "Project Blue" was launched in other countries. It included big events, like painting a Concorde airplane blue. A banner was even placed on the Mir space station. The "Project Blue" design was tested in the U.S. in 1997. It was released later that year for Pepsi's 100th anniversary. This is when the logo started to be called the Pepsi Globe.

In 2008, Pepsi announced it would change its logo. Many of its products were rebranded in early 2009. Pepsi, Diet Pepsi, and Pepsi Max started using all lowercase letters for their names. The blue and red globe logo became a series of "smiles." The white band in the middle would curve at different angles for different products. In March 2023, Pepsi showed off a new logo. It is a modern version of the "vintage" Pepsi logo. The main color for branding will also change from blue to black.

Reaching Different Groups of People

Walter Mack became the new president of Pepsi-Cola in the 1940s. Mack supported new ideas and noticed that Pepsi's ads often ignored African Americans. Or, they used old-fashioned and unfair images of Black people. Before the 1940s, many white-owned companies in the U.S. did not try to sell to the "Negro market."

Mack realized that Black people were a group that Pepsi could reach. He thought Pepsi could gain more sales by advertising directly to them. He hired Hennan Smith, an advertising expert, to lead an all-Black sales team. This team had to be stopped during World War II.

A 1940s Pepsi ad for African Americans. A young Ron Brown is the boy reaching for a bottle.

In 1947, Walter Mack started his efforts again. He hired Edward F. Boyd to lead a team of twelve men. They created ads that showed Black Americans in a positive way. One ad showed a smiling mother holding a six-pack of Pepsi. Her son, a young Ron Brown (who later became a U.S. Secretary of Commerce), reached for a bottle. Another ad campaign was called "Leaders in Their Fields." It featured 20 important African Americans, like Nobel Peace Prize winner Ralph Bunche.

Boyd also led an all-Black sales team around the country to promote Pepsi. At that time, racial segregation and Jim Crow laws were still common in the U.S. Boyd's team faced a lot of unfair treatment. This included insults from other Pepsi workers and threats from groups like the Ku Klux Klan. But the team used its anti-racism stand to its advantage. They pointed out that Coke was slow to hire Black people. They also noted that Coke's chairman supported a segregationist governor. Because of this, Pepsi's sales among African American soft-drink buyers grew a lot in the 1950s. Black consumers were three times more likely to buy Pepsi than Coke. After the sales team visited Chicago, Pepsi's sales there passed Coke's for the first time.

A journalist named Stephanie Capparell talked to six men who were on the team in the late 1940s. The team worked very hard, seven days a week, for many weeks. They visited stores, churches, schools, and community centers. They also got famous jazz musicians like Duke Ellington to promote Pepsi. They tried to reach every group, big or small.

Pepsi's ads avoided old-fashioned and unfair images. Instead, they showed Black customers as confident, middle-class people. These ads showed they had good taste in soft drinks. Pepsi bottles were also twice the size, which was good for saving money.

This focus on the Black market caused some worry within Pepsi. The company did not want to seem too focused on Black customers. They feared it might push away white customers. After Mack left the company in 1950, the Black sales team lost support and was eventually stopped.

In 1952, Harvey C. Russell Jr. took over from Boyd. Russell was known for his marketing campaigns aimed at Black youth in New Orleans. These campaigns were held at places where many Black children gathered. Children could collect Pepsi bottle caps and trade them for prizes. For example, at a "Pepsi Day at the Beach" event in 1954, children could ride amusement park rides for Pepsi bottle caps. By the end of the event, 125,000 bottle caps were collected. This campaign was a big success. Once children ran out of caps, they had to buy more Pepsi to get more.

The Big Competition: Pepsi vs. Coca-Cola

In the 1970s, the competition between Pepsi and Coca-Cola grew stronger. Pepsi started doing blind taste tests in stores. These were called the "Pepsi Challenge". These tests showed that more people liked the taste of Pepsi over Coca-Cola. Pepsi's sales began to rise. Pepsi then started the "Challenge" all over the country. This intense competition became known as the "cola wars".

In 1985, The Coca-Cola Company changed its formula. This new drink was called New Coke. Some people believe New Coke was made specifically to fight the Pepsi Challenge. However, many customers did not like New Coke. So, Coca-Cola quickly brought back its original formula as "Coca-Cola Classic".

In 1989, singer Billy Joel mentioned the rivalry in his song "We Didn't Start the Fire". The line "Rock & Roller Cola Wars" refers to how Pepsi and Coke used famous musicians in their ads. Coke used Paula Abdul, while Pepsi used Michael Jackson. Both companies then tried to get other musicians to promote their drinks.

According to a 2008 report, PepsiCo had 30.8% of the U.S. soft drink market. The Coca-Cola Company had 42.7%. Coca-Cola sells more than Pepsi in most parts of the U.S. But Pepsi sells more in some areas like central Appalachia, Montana, North Dakota, and Utah. In Buffalo, New York, Pepsi sells twice as much as Coca-Cola. As of 2024, Pepsi is the third most popular soft drink in the United States. It lost its second-place spot to Dr. Pepper.

Overall, Coca-Cola still sells more than Pepsi in almost all parts of the world. But there are exceptions. Pepsi sells more in Oman, India, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, the Dominican Republic, Guatemala, and some Canadian provinces. These include Quebec, Newfoundland and Labrador, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick.

Pepsi has long been the favorite drink of French-Canadians. It keeps its lead by using local Québécois celebrities in its ads. PepsiCo created the Quebec slogan "here, it's Pepsi" (Ici, c'est Pepsi). This was a response to Coca-Cola ads that said "Around the world, it's Coke" (Partout dans le monde, c'est Coke).

As of 2012, Pepsi was the third most popular fizzy drink in India. It had 15% of the market. Sprite and Thums Up were ahead of it. Coca-Cola was fourth, with only 8.8% of the Indian market. Coca-Cola was India's top soft drink until 1977. It left India because of new laws that required Indian shareholders to own most of a company. Coca-Cola did not want to share its secret formula.

In 1988, PepsiCo entered India. It formed a partnership with the Punjab government and Voltas India Limited. This partnership sold Lehar Pepsi until 1991. That's when foreign brands were allowed. PepsiCo then bought out its partners in 1994. In 1993, The Coca-Cola Company returned to India.

Pepsi bottles in Soviet period style in a supermarket in Kyiv, Ukraine.

In Russia, Pepsi first had a bigger market share than Coke. But this changed after the Cold War ended. In 1972, PepsiCo made a special deal with the Soviet Union government. PepsiCo could sell Stolichnaya vodka in Western countries. In return, Pepsi could be sold in the Soviet Union. This made Pepsi the first foreign product allowed for sale in the Soviet Union.

Just like Coca-Cola became a cultural symbol, Pepsi and its link to the Soviet system also made it an icon. In the early 1990s, people started using the term "Pepsi-stroika." This was a play on "perestroika," the reform policy of the Soviet Union. Some people saw this policy as a way to bring Western products into the country. Pepsi, being one of the first American products in the Soviet Union, became a symbol of this relationship.

In 1992, after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Coca-Cola was introduced to Russia. Coca-Cola became linked with the new system, and Pepsi with the old. Coca-Cola quickly gained a large market share. By 2005, Coca-Cola had 19.4% of the market, and Pepsi had 13%.

Pepsi was introduced in Romania in 1966. This happened during the early opening-up policies of Nicolae Ceaușescu. A factory opened in Constanța in 1967. This was also a barter deal, similar to the one in the USSR. Romanian wine was sold in the United States in exchange for Pepsi. The drink quickly became popular, especially among young people. But due to strict rules in the 1980s, Pepsi became hard to find. From 1991, PepsiCo entered the new Romanian market. It still remains more popular than Coca-Cola, which came to Romania in 1992.

Pepsi did not sell soft drinks in Israel until 1991. Many people thought Pepsi avoided Israel because of fears of an Arab boycott. Pepsi, which had a big business in Arab countries, said it was for economic, not political, reasons.

Pepsiman: The Pepsi Hero

A person dressed as Pepsiman.

Pepsiman is an official Pepsi mascot from Pepsi's Japanese branch. He was created around the mid-1990s. Pepsiman had three different costumes, each matching the current Pepsi can design. Twelve commercials were made featuring him. In the ads, he would appear with Pepsi for thirsty people.

Pepsiman always showed up at the perfect moment with the drink. After delivering the Pepsi, he would sometimes face a difficult situation. This would often lead to him getting hurt in a funny way. Pepsiman is mostly silent. He has no face, just a hole that opens when he gives out a Pepsi. There was also a smaller mascot, Pepsiwoman. She appeared in a few ads for Pepsi Twist. She looked like a female Pepsiman wearing a lemon-shaped mask.

In 1994, Sega-AM2 released a game called Fighting Vipers for the Sega Saturn. Pepsiman was a special character in this game. His special ability was to "quench one's thirst." He does not appear in any other versions or sequels. In 1999, KID developed a video game for the PlayStation called Pepsiman. In the game, players control Pepsiman. They run, skateboard, roll, and stumble through different areas. Players must avoid dangers and collect Pepsi cans. The goal is to reach a thirsty person, just like in the commercials.

Even though the game was not a big financial success, Pepsiman has become very popular with fans. This is because of its over-the-top and silly idea.

Pepsi in Sports

Pepsi has official sponsorship deals with major sports leagues. These include the National Football League (NFL), National Hockey League (NHL), and National Basketball Association (NBA). From 2007, and again from 2013 to 2022, Pepsi sponsored the NFL's Super Bowl halftime shows. Pepsi was also a sponsor of Major League Soccer until 2015. It sponsored Major League Baseball until 2017. Both leagues then signed deals with Coca-Cola. From 1999 to 2020, Pepsi had the naming rights to the Pepsi Center. This is a sports and entertainment building in Denver, Colorado.

In 1997, after his deal with Coca-Cola ended, retired NASCAR Cup Series driver Jeff Gordon signed a long-term contract with Pepsi. He raced with Pepsi logos on his car for about two races each year. Pepsi has been one of his sponsors ever since. Pepsi has also sponsored the NFL Rookie of the Year award since 2002.

Pepsi has the first global sponsorship deals with the UEFA Champions League and the UEFA Women's Champions League. These deals started in the 2015–16 season. Pepsi, along with its sister brand Pepsi Max, became a global sponsor of these soccer competitions.

Pepsi also sponsors international cricket teams. The Pakistani national cricket team is one of the teams sponsored by Pepsi. The team wears the Pepsi logo on their test and ODI match clothing.

The Buffalo Bisons, an American Hockey League team, were sponsored by Pepsi-Cola in their later years. The team used Pepsi's red, white, and blue colors. They also changed the Pepsi logo to include the word "Buffalo." The Bisons team stopped playing in 1970. This made way for the Buffalo Sabres of the NHL.

Pepsi has also been a sponsor of the Carolina Hurricanes of the National Hockey League. This sponsorship started when the team moved to North Carolina in 1997.

In 2017, Pepsi was the jersey sponsor for the Papua New Guinea national basketball team.

What's in Pepsi?

In the United States, Pepsi is made with several ingredients. These include carbonated water, high fructose corn syrup, caramel color, sugar, phosphoric acid, caffeine, citric acid, and natural flavors. A can of Pepsi (12 fluid ounces) has 41 grams of carbohydrates (all from sugars). It also has 15 milligrams of sodium, 0 grams of fat, and 0 grams of protein. There are 38 milligrams of caffeine and 150 calories in one can.

Pepsi has 10 more calories and two more grams of sugar and carbohydrates than Coca-Cola. Caffeine-Free Pepsi has the same ingredients but without the caffeine.

Some countries, like Sweden and the Netherlands, have recently changed their Pepsi recipe. They reduced the sugar and added artificial sweeteners. These include Acesulfame K and Sucralose. PepsiCo Europe made this change to cut sugar in all their drinks by 25% by the end of 2025. This new recipe was also introduced in the United Kingdom in March 2023. However, there are no plans to bring this formula to North America.

Different Kinds of Pepsi

Fictional Drinks

Pepsi Perfect: This was a special, vitamin-enriched Pepsi. It appeared in the movie Back to the Future Part II. The movie showed it in scenes set in the year 2015. Later, Pepsi released this as a limited-edition drink. Only 6,500 bottles were made and sold for $20.15 each. These bottles have since been sold for hundreds of dollars online.

See also

In Spanish: Pepsi para niños