Under Richard Nixon big international wheeling dealing...
China got Coke and Russia got Pepsi.
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Rival Pepsi Dealt Defeat as Chinese Decide Things Go Better With Coke
By Hobart Rowen and Bradley Graham
December 20, 1978
China, home for the largest population of tea drinkers in the world, has decided to go in for the real (carbonated) thing.
Coca-Cola Co. yesterday announced it has signed a deal with the People's Republic of China that will make it the only cola inside the Great Wall.
The agreement was a major victory for America's largest soda-pop bottler and, at the same time, dealt a major defeat to Pepsico, maker of Pepsi Cola and Coca-Cola's arch rival in the international cola war. It also added a little extra fizz to the Sino-Soviet split.
Pepsi has enjoyed a virtual monopoly in the Soviet Union that began with the detente of the Nixon years. Now, on the eve of normalization of relations with the People's Republic, it is Coke's turn.
Over both deals falls the shadow of the White House. Donald Kendall, chairman of Pepsico, is a close friend of former president Nixon. J. Paul Austin ,chairman of Coca-Cola, is a major financial supporter of the president.
Austin, in announcing the deal in Atlanta, said his company's business pursuits were unrelated to the negotiations that led to the diplomatic recognition of China. He also said his firm did not consult with the Carter administration in making the deal.
"Traditionally we carry on our own relations," he stated. We had no advice from anybody. We have been quietly negotiating with China for the better part of 10 years."
Austin noted that Coke will be the first American consumer product to go on sale in the People's Republic. The company will begin sending both bottles and cans-bearing the Coke trademark in English and Chiese-to China next month and expects to build a bottling plant in Shanghai by the end of next year.
Austin said the Chinese inscription on Coke cans will translate as "can mouth, can happy," which the Chinese will interpret to convey the idea of "very refreshing." The Chinese pronunciation will approxiamtely come out ot"Coca-Cola."
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When the Soviet Union Paid Pepsi in Warships
The company had a long, strange relationship with the U.S.S.R.
Pepsi was the first "capitalist" product sold in the Soviet Union. ITAR-TASS PHOTO AGENCY / ALAMY
On April 9, 1990, American newspapers reported on an unusual deal. Pepsi had come to a three billion dollar agreement with the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union had long traded Stolichnaya vodka in return for Pepsi concentrate. But this time, Pepsi got 10 Soviet ships.
This wasn’t the first time that Pepsi sold soft drinks in return for a flotilla. The previous year, the company even received warships. This situation—a soft drink conglomerate briefly owning a fairly large navy—was the unusual result of an unusual situation: a communist government buying a product of capitalism from the country it considered its greatest rival.
It began with a rare exchange of culture. In the summer of 1959, the U.S.S.R. held an exhibition in New York, and the United States reciprocated. The American National Exhibition in Sokolniki Park, Moscow, featured American products: cars, art, fashion, and an entire model American house. A number of still-familiar brands sponsored exhibits and booths, including Disney, Dixie Cup Inc, IBM, and Pepsi.
Richard Nixon and Nikita Khrushchev at the Kitchen Debate. NATIONAL ARCHIVES/16916096
China got Coke and Russia got Pepsi.
~~~
Rival Pepsi Dealt Defeat as Chinese Decide Things Go Better With Coke
By Hobart Rowen and Bradley Graham
December 20, 1978
China, home for the largest population of tea drinkers in the world, has decided to go in for the real (carbonated) thing.
Coca-Cola Co. yesterday announced it has signed a deal with the People's Republic of China that will make it the only cola inside the Great Wall.
The agreement was a major victory for America's largest soda-pop bottler and, at the same time, dealt a major defeat to Pepsico, maker of Pepsi Cola and Coca-Cola's arch rival in the international cola war. It also added a little extra fizz to the Sino-Soviet split.
Pepsi has enjoyed a virtual monopoly in the Soviet Union that began with the detente of the Nixon years. Now, on the eve of normalization of relations with the People's Republic, it is Coke's turn.
Over both deals falls the shadow of the White House. Donald Kendall, chairman of Pepsico, is a close friend of former president Nixon. J. Paul Austin ,chairman of Coca-Cola, is a major financial supporter of the president.
Austin, in announcing the deal in Atlanta, said his company's business pursuits were unrelated to the negotiations that led to the diplomatic recognition of China. He also said his firm did not consult with the Carter administration in making the deal.
"Traditionally we carry on our own relations," he stated. We had no advice from anybody. We have been quietly negotiating with China for the better part of 10 years."
Austin noted that Coke will be the first American consumer product to go on sale in the People's Republic. The company will begin sending both bottles and cans-bearing the Coke trademark in English and Chiese-to China next month and expects to build a bottling plant in Shanghai by the end of next year.
Austin said the Chinese inscription on Coke cans will translate as "can mouth, can happy," which the Chinese will interpret to convey the idea of "very refreshing." The Chinese pronunciation will approxiamtely come out ot"Coca-Cola."
~~~~~~~~~~~
When the Soviet Union Paid Pepsi in Warships
The company had a long, strange relationship with the U.S.S.R.
Pepsi was the first "capitalist" product sold in the Soviet Union. ITAR-TASS PHOTO AGENCY / ALAMY
On April 9, 1990, American newspapers reported on an unusual deal. Pepsi had come to a three billion dollar agreement with the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union had long traded Stolichnaya vodka in return for Pepsi concentrate. But this time, Pepsi got 10 Soviet ships.
This wasn’t the first time that Pepsi sold soft drinks in return for a flotilla. The previous year, the company even received warships. This situation—a soft drink conglomerate briefly owning a fairly large navy—was the unusual result of an unusual situation: a communist government buying a product of capitalism from the country it considered its greatest rival.
It began with a rare exchange of culture. In the summer of 1959, the U.S.S.R. held an exhibition in New York, and the United States reciprocated. The American National Exhibition in Sokolniki Park, Moscow, featured American products: cars, art, fashion, and an entire model American house. A number of still-familiar brands sponsored exhibits and booths, including Disney, Dixie Cup Inc, IBM, and Pepsi.
Richard Nixon and Nikita Khrushchev at the Kitchen Debate. NATIONAL ARCHIVES/16916096