Pepsi very nearly won its bitter battle to take over from Coca-Cola as America’s number one soda in the 1980s.
But now it has slipped behind Dr Pepper – which is now in second spot. Coke, of course, is still well out in the lead.
As recently as 20 years ago, Dr Pepper’s sales were under half those of Pepsi. At the time, one in nine sodas bought in the US were Pepsi, and Dr Pepper was only the sixth most popular behind Sprite.
But 139-year-old Dr Pepper has increased its market share with advertising pushes, new flavors and a boost from TikTok trends.
At the same time, drinkers have moved from the standard Pepsi to low sugar versions and rivals like Dr Pepper.
The chart below, based on a report from Beverage Digest, shows how market share for the two has converged – with Dr Pepper now very slightly ahead.
Dr Pepper is now the nation’s joint second favorite soda drink alongside Pepsi
Coke is still the undisputed king of the $97 billion US soda industry with more than double the market shares of any of its rivals at 19.18 percent.
Pepsi’s market share is 8.31 percent, and Dr Pepper now 8.34 percent.
The Pepsi brand remains the overall No 2 soda – when taking into acount the diet and zero sugar versions.
Dr Pepper, invented in 1885 by Charles Alderton in Texas, is older than Coca-Cola, which came a year later, and Pepsi, launched in 1893.
Despite coming first, Dr Pepper struggled against it rivals who pulled furher away during the cola wars.
That bitter battle began in the 1960s when Pepsi launched its Pepsi Generation campaign – casting the drink as a hip alternative to Coke for younger people.
Pepsi, which also famously rolled out adverts with Michael Jackson in the 1984, never quite caught Coke. But it got very close in the 1980s as the war intensified.
And – apart from three years from 2010 when Diet Coke muscled in – regular Pepsi has held the No 2 spot since Beverage Digest began collecting data in 1985.
Dr Pepper has been helped by the rivalry between Coke and Pepsi – which tend to have exclusive deals with national restaurant chains so they only have one type of cola.
For example, McDonald’s is Coke but KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell are Pepsi. Subway, meanwhile, is moving from Coke to Pepsi in 2025.
But Dr Pepper-owner Keurig has deals with both sides, so it is on almost all drinks fountains whether they are branded Coke or Pepsi.
This quirk in distribution has allowed the brand to introduce itself to more and more consumer Dr Pepper’s chief marketing officer Andrew Springate told the WSJ.
Springate has pushed the brand to go big on advertising including splashing out on college football campaigns.
The brand is now growing fastest among Gen Z drinkers, he explained.
Dr Pepper has been quick to jump on the trend for younger drinkers to be interested in more unusual flavors. It has introduced variations such as its strawberries and cream flavor.
Some of these younger consumers then then also become fans of the brands original product according to Springate.
A Dr Pepper bottole from 2005 – when the drink had only half the market share of Pepsi
Old Dr. Pepper advertising sign on a downtown building in Pittsburg, Texas
The original Pepsi and Dr Pepper drinks are now neck and neck in market share by volume
Coke is still the undisputed dominator of the $97 billion US soda industry
Dr Pepper has also benefitted from popularity on TikTok where a trend of people filling up popular Stanley cups with ice and Dr Pepper have gone viral.
TikTok has also introduced the Dirty Doctor Pepper, a concoction of the soda with lime juice, coconut-flavored coffee creamer and optional liquor.
The brand has sought to capitalize on its social media popularity by bringing out its own Dr Pepper Creamy Coconut drink.
‘Dr Pepper has used compelling marketing and exceptional marketplace execution to capitalize on consumers’ growing desire for flavored sodas,’ Duane Stanford, editor of Beverage Digest told DailyMail.com.
‘Dr Pepper has graduated from southern staple to a national competitor.’
