Coke buys Pepsi

kernals12

Banned
From wikipedia:
On three separate occasions between 1922 and 1933, The Coca-Cola Company was offered the opportunity to purchase the Pepsi-Cola company, and it declined on each occasion.

So what if one of the most iconic corporate rivalries gets nipped in the bud? Does RC Cola become Coke's chief competitor?
 
If Coke bought Pepsi they would have control of WAY to much of the soft drink industry or, perhaps, the beverage industry in general.
 

kernals12

Banned
Anti-monopoly laws. The kind that got “Ma Bell” and Standard Oil broken up.
They’re designed to, supposedly, prevent any one company or business from controlling to much of whatever market they’re in.
Standard Oil was broken up in 1911.
Look up the Sherman Antitrust Act.
The law is quite sporadically enforced.
 
I misread your statement and changed my response.
Basically, I’m saying that they could get too big.
Enforcement really comes down to the administration in power at the time and, in some cases, the level of public outcry (ex. Standard Oil).
 

TruthfulPanda

Gone Fishin'
Anti-Trust legislation directed at a producer of a fizzy pop?
C'mon - it's irrelevant ...
Banks, railroads, telephones, petroleum OK - but an oversweetened bubbly?

So, Coca-Cola buys Pepsi,. keeps on growing larger and more complacent, then goes bust and smaller, more efficient firms step up to take up the slack - the way things should be :)
 

ASUKIRIK

Banned
The Original Coca Cola is still far better than Pepsi though.

As long as the management end up lazy enough to just use the original recipe, they can't fail.
 
If this happens in the 1920's-1930's, some other soda company will rise and becomes Coca Cola's main competitor. Pepsi is not destined to be the main rival of Coca Cola.
 
What were the market conditions like for their products in this era?
Racist: https://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2013/01/brief-history-racist-soft-drinks/318929/

So there's actually a good chance that despite the merger, the Coke might still keep the Pepsi brand around if only to cater to the consumer markets that their main brand doesn't really touch, and by the time of the civil rights act and stuff Pepsi the brand might be too ingrained for Coke to simply scrap it.

Wonder what will happen to Mountain Dew though, maybe Coke buys them too or perhaps they become a bigger powerhouse.
 
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Anti-Trust legislation directed at a producer of a fizzy pop?
C'mon - it's irrelevant ...
Banks, railroads, telephones, petroleum OK - but an oversweetened bubbly?

So, Coca-Cola buys Pepsi,. keeps on growing larger and more complacent, then goes bust and smaller, more efficient firms step up to take up the slack - the way things should be :)

@Winestu

Sherman Act is only effective against anti competition acts done by corporation(s) that enjoy dominant market power (i.e. a Monopoly or a cartel). However the 1914 Clayton Act requires requires that companies notify the
Federal Trade Commission and the Assistant Attorney General of the United States Department of Justice Antitrust Division of any contemplated mergers and acquisitions that meet or exceed certain thresholds.

It allows the Federal Trade Commission and Department of Justice to regulate all mergers, and gives the government discretion whether to give approval to a merger or not.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clayton_Antitrust_Act_of_1914
 
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