
If the greatest marketing rivalry in history were decided solely by individual victories, Pepsi would probably be the world's leading soft drink brand today.

By the early 1970s, it seemed that one of the greatest business rivalries in history had already found its definitive winner. Coca-Cola was no longer simply the world's best-selling soft drink - it had become one of the most recognizable symbols of the American way of life.

Few corporate rivalries have influenced modern marketing as profoundly as the battle between Coca-Cola and Pepsi. For more than a century, the two soft drink giants have fought a war unlike any other - not with armies or weapons, but with billion-dollar advertising campaigns, celebrity endorsements, supermarket shelves, and, ultimately, consumers' taste buds.