Pepsi nearly won the bitter battle to overtake Coca-Cola as America’s number one soft drink in the 1980s.
But now it has fallen behind Dr Pepper, which is now in second place. Of course, Coca-Cola still has a big lead.
Just 20 years ago, Dr Pepper’s sales were less than half of Pepsi’s. At the time, one in nine soft drinks purchased in the US was Pepsi, and Dr Pepper was only the sixth most popular after Sprite.
But 139-year-old Dr Pepper has grown its market share thanks to advertising pushes, new flavors and a boost from TikTok trends.
At the same time, drinkers have switched from standard Pepsi to low-sugar versions and rivals such as Dr Pepper.
The diagram belowbased on a report from Beverage Digestshows how the two’s market share has converged – with Dr Pepper now very slightly ahead.
Dr Pepper is now the nation’s second favorite soft drink, behind Pepsi
Coca-Cola is still the undisputed king of the $97 billion U.S. soft drink industry, with more than double the market share of all its rivals: 19.18 percent.
Pepsi’s market share is 8.31 percent and Dr Pepper now 8.34 percent.
The Pepsi brand remains the number 2 soft drink when you take into account the diet and sugar-free versions.
Invented in 1885 by Charles Alderton in Texas, Dr Pepper is older than Coca-Cola, which appeared a year later, and Pepsi, which was launched in 1893.
Despite coming in first place, Dr Pepper battled its rivals as they moved further away during the Coke Wars.
That bitter battle began in the 1960s when Pepsi launched its Pepsi Generation campaign, presenting the drink as a hip alternative to Coke for young people.
Pepsi, which also released famous ads featuring Michael Jackson in 1984, never quite caught Coca-Cola. But it came very close in the 1980s as the war intensified.
And — except for three years from 2010, when Diet Coke entered — regular Pepsi has ranked second since Beverage Digest started collecting data in 1985.
Dr Pepper has been helped by the rivalry between Coke and Pepsi, which often have exclusive deals with national restaurant chains so they only have one type of Coke.
For example, McDonald’s is Coke, but KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell are Pepsi. Subway, meanwhile, will move from Coca-Cola to Pepsi in 2025.
But Dr Pepper owner Keurig has deals with both parties, so it’s on almost all drink fountains, whether they’re Coke or Pepsi branded.
This distribution quirk has allowed the brand to introduce itself to more and more consumers, Andrew Springate, Dr Pepper’s chief marketing officer, told the WSJ.
Springate has pushed the brand to advertise heavily, including spending on college football campaigns.
The brand is now growing fastest among Gen Z drinkers, he explained.
Dr Pepper has been quick to capitalize on the trend of younger drinkers being interested in more unusual flavors. It has introduced variations such as strawberry and cream flavour.
Some of these younger consumers then also become fans of the brand’s original product, according to Springate.
A Dr Pepper bottle from 2005, when the drink had only half of Pepsi’s market share
Old billboard from Dr. Pepper on a downtown building in Pittsburg, Texas
The original Pepsi and Dr Pepper drinks are now neck-and-neck in market share in terms of volume
Coca-Cola is still the undisputed dominater of the $97 billion American soft drink industry
Dr Pepper has also benefited from popularity on TikTok, where a trend of people filling popular Stanley cups with ice and Dr Pepper has gone viral.
TikTok has also introduced the Dirty Doctor Pepper, a concoction of the soda with lime juice, coconut-flavored coffee creamer and optional liqueur.
The brand has tried to capitalize on its social media popularity by releasing its own Dr Pepper Creamy Coconut drink.
“Dr Pepper has used compelling marketing and exceptional market execution to capitalize on consumers’ growing desire for flavored soft drinks,” Duane Stanford, editor of Beverage Digest, told DailyMail.com.
“Dr Pepper has gone from being a Southern staple to a national competitor.”