Cola Wars

Essay by tongkhangCollege, UndergraduateA+, May 2005

download word file, 6 pages 4.8 2 reviews

Downloaded 131 times

Commercials and soft drinks have become a part of everyday life in America. The combination of these pop-culture creations has made resisting the temptation of sugar based carbonated beverages virtually impossible for most. A well-known soft drink war between Pepsi and Coca-Cola keeps new, edgy advertising techniques airing during commercial breaks of popular television viewing. Both companies have successfully sold their products despite different selling techniques used when it comes to advertising on television. The Pepsi Cola Corporation uses excellent marketing strategies, such as celebrity appearances, to sell their product, whereas Coca-Cola's realistic approach has placed them at the top of the soft drink industry. Not only do these competitive companies use television advertising to sale their beverages, but they also attract their consumers with their distinctive product packaging.

Even though the Pepsi Corporation has proven to increase their sales four times as fast as their competitor[s] (Richey), statistics have shown that Coca-Cola has been the leading seller of soft drinks for the past few years.

According to an editorial written by Matt Richey discussing the financial results of these companies throughout the year of 2000, "Coca-Cola generated $20.5 billion in sales; PepsiCo did $20.4 billion in sales" and the results were similar in the year 2001 as well. However, Pepsi's quickly increasing sales are a result of their television advertising featuring recognizable faces in the entertainment industry.

Celebrity endorsements are a way in which Pepsi attracts their customers. Memorable commercials starring famous personalities such as Faith Hill, Jeff Gordon, Halle Berry, Cindy Crawford, and adorable child star Hallie Eisenburg catch the attention of women and men, both young and old. According to Pepsi.com, "Pepsi was the first consumer product to use a celebrity endorser when Barney Oldfield, auto racing pioneer, appear[ed] in ads in 1909", and famous faces have...