Pepsi Challenge

The Pepsi Challenge has been an ongoing marketing promotion run by PepsiCo since 1975. It is also the name of a cross country ski race at Giant's Ridge Ski Area in Biwabik, Minnesota, an event sponsored by Pepsi.

Method

1975-2010

The challenge originally took the form of a single blind taste test. At malls, shopping centers, and other public locations, a Pepsi representative sets up a table with two white cups: one containing Pepsi and one with Coca-Cola. Shoppers are encouraged to taste both colas, and then select which drink they prefer. Then the representative reveals the two bottles so the taster can see whether they preferred Coke or Pepsi. The results of the test leaned toward a consensus that Pepsi was preferred by more Americans.

Coca-Cola ran a series of ads lampooning the Pepsi Challenge. In one of them, the subject preferred the taste of a tennis ball. (Yet another lampoon reportedly had chimpanzees comparing tennis balls.)

In 1981, Pepsi ran a "Pepsi Challenge Payoff" contest that would hand out a large prize to anyone who could gather Pepsi bottle caps that spelled out the word "challenge". Each bottle cap had a single letter beneath it. The letter "A" was the rarest, making it challenging to win the prize.