Names vary regionally (“pop” in New England. “soft drinks” or “cola” in the South), as do local favorites. Yet, Coca-Cola, Pepsi and related non-alcoholic carbonated beverages have built global empires, as emblematic of contemporary America as tea in Japan or wine in France. Over a century strong cultural associations have been forged between these drinks and child and teenage sociability (1950s soda jerks and soda fountains or 1990s fast-food packages). Meanwhile, darker associations have been drawn between aggressively marketed sodas and poor nutrition or tooth decay while teen folklore has identified coke and aspirin as a contraceptive (or whispered about drugs hidden in innocent beverages).

Atlanta pharmacist John Pemberton created “Coke” in 1886, a “temperance” version of his previous Bordeaux-coca combination. Mixing fruit flavors, spices, coca and kola, Pemberton added carbonated water in 1887 before selling out to pharmacist Asa Candler. Candler expanded sales through regionalized syrup production and local bottling franchises. In the 1920s, the Woodruff dynasty took Coke worldwide, including to the frontlines of the Second World War. Advertising and placement in fast food, foreign policy and children’s sight made Coke an American staple, reinforced with catchy jingles like “I’d like to teach the world to sing.” The company diversified into diet drinks and other markets, but faced a major misstep in 1985, with a change in its highly secretive formula. The Atlanta-based company recovered with 1992 Olympic sponsorship, Coke memorabilia, stressing American nostalgia, and insistent placement through advertising and monopolistic sales arrangements.

Pepsi, created by a North Carolina pharmacist in the 1890s, grew slowly until after the Second World War, when markets expanded through advertising pitched towards a younger “Pepsi Generation.” By the 1970s, it pulled even in-store sales and skirmished over both fast-food placements and international diplomacy (Nixon took Pepsi to China). Like Coke, Pepsi seeks monopolistic placements, whether in schools or on airlines. Pepsi and Coke diversification encompasses lemon-lime sodas, fruit drinks and related products. Competitors have included Dr Pepper (with snappy youth-oriented ad campaigns) and Royal Crown Colas, fruit flavors (orange, grape and peach Nehi), creme soda and root/birch beer and chocolate sodas. Asian and Latino stores supply coconut, vegetable and sugarcane beverages, while 1990s competition for non-alcoholic markets has been heightened by bottled, flavored iced teas and sparkling waters, often with European cachet (albeit conglomerate ownership).