All language subtitles for A.History.of.the.World.in.Six.Glasses.S01E03.720p.WEB.h264-BAE

Citizens free worshipers
and motorists everywhere.

Welcome to another installment

Of the history of the world
in six glasses.

I've got my dancing partner
and bar regular here

At my favorite bar, my bar,
and we've got the great sharp

Witted, iron tongued
kevin nealon.

I was wondering where
my tongue was so heavy.

We're here
to talk about soda today,

Which is really
the youngest drink

That we're talking about
in our series.

Danny, let's go.
One quick question, sir.

Is there anything you don't know
about liquids?

It depends
what what liquid you're.

You know, on my phenols, my
polyphenols, I'm still a little.

I used to have the molecular
structure memorized

And dried out for it,
but I can't.

Beer and wine
are thousands of years old.

Coffee and tea go almost
not far back, but soda is barely

A hundred years old and change.

So first question.

Do you guys drink
soda of any kind of variety?

I haven't drink soda
in about 12 years.

Oh, maybe 15 years.

I used to drink a lot of diet
coke.

You could tell
how much weight of loss that

You're in.

But the sodas, I like
or the little cokes and the wax

Little bottles, I'm at that big,
and you put away your mouth

And a little liquid comes out
and just chew on them.

I would have like
three of those a day,

But I just eat the wax,
leave the soda be.

So let's bring some soda.

I'm willing to go off the wagon.
Let's try. It. Right.

I am tom standage.

I'm the author of this book
about the history of drinking

And the drink that symbolizes

The modern era
is, of course, coca-cola.

What tom calls the modern
era is really the american era.

The story of soda starts
small and mom and pop stores

And pharmacies
and soda fountains,

But it quickly develops
into a powerful example

Of american ambition
and know how

The kind of soda today
represents complicated

Supply chains

That are a mastery of logistics,
science,

Marketing
all had a global scale.

So if you open a coke or pepsi
or a 7up anywhere in the world

And they truly are

Everywhere in the world, it's
going to taste exactly the same.

There's
something very democratic,

Small d democratic about soda.

But first,
let's talk about bubbles.

What we call soda today of
kind of fizzy drinks in general.

So there were always springs
that produced some slightly

Fizzy water
and people would drink that

And say it had sort of health
giving properties.

But it's not until essentially
the 1800s that people start

To figure out
how you can add bubbles to water

And then how you can
mix flavors with that.

And that's really
what leads to all of that.

And so soda drinks
that we have today.

Look at all these varieties,
orange crush bubbles up

Root beer.
We've got classic root beer.

Classic root the root beer.

Come on, let's have a
look. There.

You should take this.

Oh, so, peach.

Oh, man. A little ice cream in
there would be great.

What do you call soda
floats? Yeah, ice cream float.

Here we go. Next.

All right, so for the root beer.

Beer. Cheers, gentlemen. Here's

O. And unlike any of

The other drinks we've talked
about, soda happens naturally.

Slightly fizzy water
bubbles up from natural springs,

And people liked the fizzy taste
it made on the tongue.

It was just like water,
but with an attitude.

And you know how it goes.

When people find a good thing,

They always ask
the same question

Can we make this
a little better? Even?

Can we get a little more fizz,
more taste more, just more?

And the story of soda

More than any other drink we're
talking about

Is about ingenuity and science.

And everyone's
favorite ingredient, money.

The thing to remember about soda
is that it's

Pretty much just like water,
which means the story of soda

Is mostly the story
of putting things into water.

Things like sugar and caffeine
and a lot of other

Interesting things
we'll get to later.

And taking things out of water
like sugar and caffeine

And a lot of other interesting
things we'll get to later.

The soda time
line is pretty straight.

It starts with natural fizzy
water,

Fanta manufactured fizzy water,
and then to portable

Manufactured fizzy water
and then well then to coca cola.

But before you can do
any of that,

You need to figure out
how to get the bubbles in there,

How to get the bubbles
to stay in there,

And how to keep everything
from exploding.

And that means that soda doesn't
start in the tea

Or coffee plantation or the
wheat field or the vineyard.

Soda starts in the lab.

The gas in carbonated.

Water is held.

Imprisoned.

You might say.

In the liquid.

We actually

Have a couple of scientists
to thank for modern soda.

Joseph
priestley is the scientist

Who in the 1760s observed
that there is gas of some kind

Bubbling out of the fermentation
vats where beer is being made.

He decides to investigate
the properties of this gas.

At the time
it's called fixed air,

But we call it today
carbon dioxide.

And he also figures out
how to what he calls impregnate

Water with carbon dioxide,
and that is soda water.

That is fizzy water.

But he doesn't think of
commercializing this idea.

And it's thomas henry who says,
well, hang on a minute,

We could sell it.

And so he starts selling fizzy
water and claiming

It has all sorts of medicinal

Benefits
and people pools at the time,

For example, that it protected

You from scurvy,
which it doesn't.

But those were
the sorts of things

That people were claiming.

So as with pretty much
all our other drinks,

It starts off as a medicine.

People are always
telling themselves

That something they like
is good for them.

Beer and wine and spirits
were supposed

To have healing properties.

Ancient chinese doctors

Would prescribe
qi to their patients

And coffee was supposed
to be good for the brain.

But all of those drinks, to be
fair, actually do something.

He can do a lot of things.

Coffee wakes you up

And we know that alcohol
can magically transform

You into an interesting
and hilarious person.

I guess what I mean is
those drinks do something.

But what does soda
do? It just makes you burp.

Pardon me?

People described all kinds
of properties to fizzy water.

They thought it could kill
being paralyzed.

It could kind of make stupid
people clever.

It make people strong.

I mean, you name it,
they thought it could do it.

So that doesn't cure anything.

When I was a kid, we'd
go to the doctor,

And every time we're sick,
we go to the doctor

And the prescription
was two aspirin and two

Tablespoons of ginger ale.

A little coke, sir.

I never got to go, sir. No.

Still today, for indigestion,
we drink ginger ale.

You know the cure of soda,
if you can call it that, is

The fizz, the gas that tickles
your nose and makes you burp.

That's also the fun of soda.
By the way.

Ask anyone who's ever taken
a can of coke

Out of the refrigerator,
shaking it up

And put it back for the
next poor soul to discover.

But once joseph

Priestley invented a way
to get the fizz into the water,

Some enterprising businessman

Had to figure out a way
to keep it there

Long enough to package it, ship
it and sell it because flat

Soda water is just water
and you can get water for free.

And the first rule
of capitalism is

Take something
that's usually free of charge,

But do something special to it
and people will give you money.

But a second rule

Is that the first rule
only works

If you can get the product
to the people.

And then in 1783,

Someone figured out
how to do this with soda water.

His name may ring a bell.

So to obtain
commercialize really quickly,

So within a few years
is the way to make carbonated

Water being discovered.

People like john jacob
schweppe came along and started

Selling artificially
carbonated water in brussels.

And so pretty much
straight away.

So that becomes a business.

Like every great invention,
schweppes process inspired

More inventions.

In 1813, chemist charles
prince invented the soda siphon.

That's the bottle you see
in all those slapstick movies.

And that meant soda
could finally travel.

People started

Selling full soda siphons,

Which were collected when empty
and refilled at the factory,

Sort of like that
old timey milk bottle.

So now they could make soda
and keep soda,

Which meant
it was time to make soda.

Tastes
like anything. Like everything.

Soda was no longer about fizz.

It was about fizz and flavor.

Much of it was about branding
and selling

The potential cures right that
your products could provide.

But it was also about
identifying

Particular ingredients, right,
that might actually help

You feel better.

Our lawyers want us to make it
clear

That soda doesn't cure anything.

It has zero
medicinal properties.

It was used in the 19th century

And what they call
patent medicines.

Those were medicines invented
and patented by shady characters

Who made all sorts of claims

That were totally unsupported
by evidence.

Sort of like today with crystals
and jade eggs and wheatgrass

And all that stuff.

But back then, patent medicines
were a very big business,

So it's only natural
that fizzy water

Would enter the market
as part of a new miracle cure.

But again, doesn't cure
anything.

The thing to remember

Is that back then
people were sick all the time.

They drank too much hooch,
smoked too much tobacco,

And they ate
basically no vegetables.

And the water
they drank was dirty,

So they were having headaches

And upset
stomachs and constipation

And the opposite
of constipation.

People back then were a mess.

So it's not hard to see how

A little sip of flavored
soda water

Might make them feel better.

It might not be a long lasting
feeling better,

But it might be temporary.

The salesmanship release
make the sale of the product

Happen, right?

So you might never hear
whether or not it worked.

In the end.

The story of soda moves
to america

And becomes, in a lot of ways
the story of america itself.

In 1807, a professor
of chemistry at yale university,

Benjamin sillman, began making
and selling bottled fizzy water.

And then a few years later,

Joseph hopkins in philadelphia
reinvented the whole thing.

He invented the soda fountain,

Which meant that lots
and lots of fizzy

Water could be dispensed
directly into glasses.

Hawkins delivered a classically
american innovation.

He didn't just invent a process.

He invented the business,
the soda fountain,

A place to sit and sip
and be with other people.

The center of american life
in the 19th century was born.

We had the best soda place
in our town.

It was like a throwback
to the forties.

It was.

You go in there
and there's like a bar,

And the guy behind the counter,

He was probably about 75
and it looked

Like he worked in this place
for 100 years.

I remember he would say, I want
a dash of something in there.

You want a dash of this?
You want a dash of that?

You know,
they make it right there.

And it was the coolest thing.

And then, you know, they closed
because there was a mob

Shooting in front of the place.

So van drove by
and they let some guy in a phone

Booth
have it now by phone booth.

For people that are younger
now, you

Could see hours. You know,

All your
soda fountains are fancy.

They are over the top.

You can't put enough decoration
in other words, a lot of bling.

And plus, you're catering mostly
to women in that time period.

The men are going to
the saloons.

In bars and saloons
all over america.

Bartenders
were inventing cocktails

And then these soda fountains,
they were doing

The exact same thing,
just without alcohol.

A lot of times in a town there
may be several soda fountains,

So it became very competitive.

They would come up with
new concoctions, new mixtures,

And they may use six
different flavors in one drink.

It was a very experimental time.

So you have this kind of random
flavor combinations.

And if people were playing
more akin to sodas

And you name it,
it went into soda at some point.

Remember cream soda,
I hot springs.

So soda.

I don't know what this is.

Oh, it's a grape. Grape.

So that's the sugar
that went like cherry.

That would be delicious.

This is what you dreamt out
in europe.

That's it.
I would have been drinking

Coca-cola on, huh, grandma?

Oh, wow.

So, coffee, soda? Wow.
I never heard of that.

I'm going to chug this

And drive my freightliner
to cleveland. Oh.

He's like

The soda fountain
was a great place to be.

It was a night out on the town
to go to the soda fountain.

Even when you could get pap
in a bottle, it still was me.

My mom and dad went to the
verner soda fountain on dates.

It was just it was a cool thing
to do and a lot of fun.

Let's stop here for a minute.

An 1866 detroit soda
fountain operator, james verner,

Created one of the earliest
soft drink

Brands in america, berners
ginger ale.

You can still buy it,
but if you buy it in michigan

Or anywhere in the midwest,

You call it
what that guy calls it pop.

Well, this is the thing.

There's a vernacular in canada.

We say soda
or pop. In massachusetts.

They call it a tonic.

Some places call it fizz to.

Tell me what you call that fizzy
drink in a bottle or cannon.

I will tell you where you are
from.

It's not soda.

That's a contentious.

Term in the midwest.

It is pop soda.

It's pop here.

Normally, I say pop.

I don't say the soda part.

The soda fountain
may have served

Soft drinks for now anyway,
but they served up

What americans
want more than anything.

Choice.

Of course.

Well, the soda fountain was

The wholesome american place
where everyone came to gather.

And, you know, I did that. Yeah.

When I was a teenager
or sarasota,

I was a soda to the seven dwarfs
and king edward.

So, yeah, it was.

I wasn't very good at it.

So the term soda jerk
doesn't sound very nice thing

To call somebody,
but it was actually because

There was a skill to mixing

The extract with the soda water

And it was the jerking motion
that had to be done correctly.

So that you didn't explode

The drink all over the counter
or all over yourself.

And so you went boom like this
just right.

And so that's why
it was the motion

They made that they
were called the soda jerk.

So the

Pop guy from
brenner's is keith wunderlich,

And he wrote the book
on berners.

Literally,

He has the most amazing
collection of berners

Soda fountain objects.

You can imagine he's a soda
fountain.

Ologist versus ginger ale.

Started in a pharmacy back
in 1866.

James verner was a pharmacist
and lots of pharmacists

Were messing
with different kinds

Of soda pop
or different kinds of concoction

Cans, many of them medicinal
with some ingredients

That would not be considered
a soft drink today.

Okay,
we're going to stop right here.

You see how nervous he got
right there?

That's
because it's all fun and games

And pure old fashioned americana

Until you discover what people
were putting into those sodas.

So tell us, keith,
what was some of that stuff

Up? You had lithium.

Lithium, lithium. That's right.

In fact,
where you list the ingredients.

Right on the label,
carbonated water, sugar,

Citric acid,
lithium, soda citrate.

Just to clarify,

Lithium as a chemical element

With the symbol eli
and atomic number three.

Lithium is used in batteries.

It's highly reactive

And it's used as a fuel
in thermonuclear weapons.

Lithium based drugs are useful
as a mood stabilizer,

An antidepressant,
and the treatment

Of mental illness
such as bipolar disorder.

And they put it in seven up.

Now, our attorneys want us
to make it clear

That lithium
is no longer in 7up.

It's just a refreshing
lemon lime soda these days

Without an atomic number
or psycho pharmacological use.

But just to be clear, lithium
was in seven up until 1948,

And they weren't hiding it
either.

We had a combination
of mineral salts.

Lithium and sodium. Citrate.

When 7up was introduced
in the 1920s,

It was called them label
lithium added lemon lime soda,

Which isn't
the friendliest sounding name.

But wait, it gets worse

Or better
depending upon how you feel

About the drug enforcement
administration.

Scheduled narcotics.

But then what do you expect?

They put soda
fountains in pharmacies.

I mean, that's where they kept
drugs in the first place.

But right now

We're talking about something
spicy but not illegal.

Gilda radner used to drink this.

She used to put this
on her cereal.

No way. Really?

Burners. Yeah.

And you could see

It's not quite like any ginger
drink you've ever had.

It's the oldest soda in america.

It's from detroit
where gilda was from.

There's ginger ale.

Or it's like kleenex or cola
or it's a brand name.

It's. It's.

It's just burners, bold taste,
140 calories per bottle.

It's very good.

I don't know what it would be.

Sure it doesn't have the kick
that ginger ale has.

Ginger did have some health
benefits, but james verner

Actually created this
as a strong soft drink.

He wanted something
that would compete with alcohol.

He wanted a strong
standalone drink that

People could enjoy, yet

Have some sort of
like a bite to it,

Like people were getting
from alcohol in those days.

But a venerable,
venerable american brand

And actually
the origin of the word

Pop comes from here
because the corks

And the tops
and the burners would pop off

Because it was so fizzy
and carbonated.

So burners,
a great american brand.

And they said, give me a pop,
give me a pop burners.

It was a wired on top.

And when you took it off,

It was like a bottle of
champagne went pop.

That's our story
and we're sticking to it.

Okay. So we got the fizz
into the water.

We stabilized it.
We created a soda fountain.

The soda jerks experimented
with flavors and ingredients.

All that's really left in
the story

Is a guy named john pemberton,
a pharmacist from atlanta,

Who was tinkering with flavors

Around the same time
as james brewer

And came up with a vaguely
narcotic quack medicine

That eventually became the most
recognized brand on earth.

I'll let
you guess which one that is.

Of all the drinks that

We're talking about
in this wonderful series, coke

Feels more american than it is
the american drink, danny.

I mean, come
on, it's very american.

Coke was originally invented
as just a sirup,

And it was sent

To drug stores and pharmacies,

And they had the soda machines
there,

And it was sent in as a sirup
and mixed there.

And then pemberton hooked up
with a guy named frank robinson.

They basically marketed

It, came up with the name
and they formed the company.

John pemberton, as a pharmacist,
was exploring

Various kinds of ingredients
that could help

Treat the ailments
of his potential.

Consumers notice
how awkward everyone is

Because no one wants to say
the word.

They say ingredients and help
anything but what it is,

Which is cocaine.

That's right.

Cocaine was totally unregulated
at the time up until 1914.

So you can weasel
word in any way you want.

But those soda fountain
pharmacists were pushing

The hard stuff.

As were lots of drug
use around the country

And snake oil
salesman of various types.

He was inspired
by an italian producer

Who made a drink called
vin mariani,

Which was a coca of wine,

And it made people feel
very nice indeed.

So john pemberton was inspired
to make his own drink,

Which he called french
wine coca.

Then mariani
was wine plus cocaine.

So they put cocaine into wine

And then into bottles
and sold it.

Now, doctors
say when cocaine and wine are

Added, it
increases the potency of both.

So people in Italy
were drinking wine with cocaine,

And that explains
why it was so hard

To get anything done in Italy.
I mean, why bother?

Everybody's feeling great.

Well, early
on, I think most people know

There was a slight
bit of cocaine in coca cola.

And gentlemen,
a lot of times would come in

To soda fountain drug stores

Early in the morning for a
pick me up and might do it

Several times during the day,
but that would keep them up.

But with the rising temperance
movement in the late

19th century, john pemberton
realizes taking the red wine out

Will allow his drink

To be marketable to a wider
kind of consumer base.

So he's seeking ingredients,
right, that will give you that

Kind of buzzy uplift, right,
without the alcohol.

And he turns to coca and cola

And puts them together
to make this drink.

Coca cola.

By the turn of the 20th century,
people realized that selling

Cocaine by the bottle
wasn't such a great idea.

In 1902, that was outlawed
by the state of georgia,

Which meant that john pemberton
needed to figure out

How to make coca cola
without the cocaine.

Today, coca
cola still has cocaine leaves.

It's still used,
but they are cocaine ized.

So there was originally
a very small amount of cocaine

In the original drink,
and that was a patent medicine.

It was very popular
after the us civil war.

There were a lot of veterans

Who wanted
essentially painkillers

And this was a very popular form
of painkiller.

But coca leaves
still have cocaine in them.

So in order to make coca cola,

You need to get the cocaine out
somehow.

So we go back to the place

Where soda started
all those years ago.

We go back to the lab.

So by 1903,

Coca cola has contract
to the chemical company

To dig cocaine, ice, coca leaves
and sell them to the coca-cola

Company under the name
merchandise number five.

Merchandise number five
is a combination of cocaine,

Ice, coca
leaf and coconut extract.

D cocaine, ice.

How does that work?

Well, the basic process is this.

Coca leaves
go to a factory in new jersey.

I'm serious.

It's in maywood, new jersey,
and it is allowed

By federal regulation to import
coca leaves.

Now, importing coca leaves
has been illegal since 1921,

But this one company,
the maywood chemical works,

Was declared exempt
at that time.

That's how powerful
coca-cola was and still is.

They need coca
leaves to make the real thing

And they will get them
at the factory.

The leaves are cocaine ized

And the coca goes
to coca-cola company

To make the most popular
drink on earth.

And what's left

Hundreds of millions of dollars
worth of cocaine a year

Is either used up
by pharmaceutical companies

To make numbing agents
for dentists.

Or it's burned up.

So while the temperance movement
and eventually prohibition

Was a great boon to coca cola
because it didn't have alcohol,

Those same forces of concern
about people's

Consumption of drinks
that had ingredients

That were potentially risky
or unknown, eventually

Brought coca cola
under the focus of both kind

Of popular movements
and government regulators.

The government went after coca
cola in a court case

And they said basically,

You know,
kids are going to be drinking it

Because it's got caffeine in it.

So they say the government
tried to stop coca cola from

From being produced.

Once they got the cocaine out,
they turned to

The other important
but legal ingredient, caffeine.

And then in another typical
american move, we go to court.

In 1909, a judge ruled

That coca-cola could have
as much caffeine as it wanted.

But in 1916, the supreme court
overruled that judge and said,

Not so fast.

So back to the lab
to take the caffeine out.

Back then, coke

Had about as much caffeine
as a red bull does today.

I mean, I guess
we're just used to it now.

Prohibition was sort of

Great news for coca cola
during the 1920s.

Prohibition
means that people are looking

For alternatives to to alcohol
and coca cola is a social drink.

You can go and get a coke

And someone when you can't
get a beer with them.

What's interesting

Is that when prohibition
comes to an end,

You might have thought
that sales of coke would fall,

But actually coca cola by that
point has become so embedded

In the in the social fabric,
people are so used to it,

It seems to be meeting
a different

Need from alcoholic drinks.

And so it became
even more popular.

So we put the bubbles in
and kept the fears

And added some flavor
and taken out the hard drugs.

Except, of course, for caffeine.

There's still plenty of that
and a lot of sodas.

But now it really comes down
to marketing.

I mean, why do we want to drink
this fizzy brown water?

The marketing tells us why,

Because we want to be
with our friends.

We want to be young and cool
because we want to take a break

And relax
because we want to feel good.

Bartender hey, bob.

We like the

Best about a can of soda

By favorite sound.

Yeah, yeah.

All right.

This is different from the coke
we had as kids

Because the formula
has changed a little bit.

It was from a hijacked
truck. It was.

And that's all we actually. All.

It's all liquor.

All boasted here, so
I can't make a profit otherwise.

I mean, but anyway, here we go.

I get it. I get it.

There had been advertising
for years and years, of course,

But coke invented something
bigger.

Coke invented marketing

Where the brand was wrapped up
in emotion

And image in a classic,
unchanging trademark,

Recognizable
wherever you were in the world.

The greatest marketing plan
that ever happened in

Soda was actually the first one
coca cola did.

So this is back in 1892.

And what coca cola realized is
people didn't really know

The flavor of coca cola said

Basically their big problem was
how do you get people

To try to strength
for the first time?

So what they did is created
the coupon.

They gave out millions
of coupons where people could

Take these coupons to any soda
fountain

And get a free coca cola.

And this introduced
millions of people to coca cola

And made it the
most popular soda in america.

But peter drucker,

The famous management professor,

Said, and I'll paraphrase it,
that coca-cola is fundamentally

An advertiser with access
to a distribution system.

And it's true.

So much of their business
is the production

Of the image around the drinks.

Inherently,
there's no use for soda.

It's just a drink. It's
nothing special.

So the marketing has to sell
everything about it.

Coca cola, for example.

It's about being american.

It's about happy times, it's
about the world coming together.

And all of that
comes from marketing.

Otherwise it's just brown
sugar water.

Coca cola has been associated
with america

And sort of the globalization
of american culture

Throughout the 20th century.

It's it's
globalization in a bottle.

You could go anywhere
in the world and

You'll see the coke logo.

In the war right in the warrant
for the coca

Cola went along with the troops,
is that right?

Yes, it went everywhere.

The first overseas

Bottling institutions
and bottling installments

And factories for coca
cola were in the military bases.

In world

War two when the us troops
went over to europe

And to the pacific to fight coca
cola went with them.

It was seen

As a kind of a central war
supply part of their rations.

They would get pulses of cocoa,
the whole ships

Taking photos of coca cola
to war zones to make sure

People have their coca cola.

That's a sign of just

How american surgery is that
it's an essential item in war.

You can't just leave the soda
behind.

And in fact,

There were executives of coca
cola who were made,

You know, colonels and majors
that were called

The coca cola colonels.
They were given military rank.

Coca cola was as important
as planes and tanks.

It was a very important
part of the rule.

It wasn't soldiers.

It was and it spread american
values around the world.

But not only that,
they were doing this

During the war.

Soldiers that smoke
can put their cigarets and

Keep your claim.

They were
just kicking the butts back a

Little to.

Where
there is a powerful leader.

There's always someone
trying to take their place.

And as coke got big.

Pepsi. Was nipping at its heels.

Or are you a coke
or pepsi person?

I would say coke.

Pepsi, pepsi, pepsi.

No, coke. Remember we did that.

Yes. Burger montgomery.

Yeah. You were the one.

I was. I was. I was there.
I was. Yeah.

Bill murray and your brother.

Yeah, well,
you know the context of that.

Yeah.
How come back to that scene?

Well, you know, that that place
that you guys are sitting on

That live.

My dad,
my uncle paul had a place

Called the olympian
lunch, logan square, chicago.

And back then that, you know,
they were just starting out

In the business
and coke would come in

And they would charge,

You know,
2% retail or wholesale to them.

Pepsi would come in
and offer free canisters,

Sirup, clocks, signage outside.

So I guess you might have
an allegiance to pepsi

Because they would
go to your family.

You've been very good
to my family.

That was pretty good,
in my opinion, was.

Pepsi cola was invented in 1894,

But it doesn't
really get anywhere

Until the 1930s
when under new management,

The company comes up
with a brilliant wheeze,

Which is it offers twice

As much in a bottle
at the same price as coca cola.

And a vicious marketing

Battle breaks out
between the two companies,

And this actually boosts
sales of both drinks.

Ultimately, coca cola
has become the dominant cola,

But that's really the point
at which pepsi cola steps off.

Are we get that's sort of
the beginning of the cola wars.

So the way that they. Gain
market share.

Was they simply offered twice
as much in the bottle for five.

Cents.

You'd get a six ounce
bottle of coke

For $0.05, you get a 12 ounce
bottle of pepsi and a clock

And yeah, I mean, they were
really able in that market.

So it is basically water, right?

So you add the

Carbon dioxide to it,
then you out the sirup

So you can make it very,
very cheaply.

So it's a classic example

Of where you can offer
much more of it

For basically no more money

And that looks like
much better value.

And so you get these bigger

And bigger sizes

And then you get the

Sort of backlash against that
where some parts of the world

Start to have soda taxes
and start to try to limit

The size that you can
that you can buy.

But because it's essentially
just water with bits

Added to it,

It doesn't cost very much to
sell it in enormous quantities.

The rivalry between coke
and pepsi was really kind of

In the trenches.

I mean,

They would go into supermarkets
and they would try

And put their displays
in front of their rivals,

Displays,
you know, on the ground.

It was very insistent
as a vending machine

That I'm going
to put one across the road.

So they were going for
with each other.

But it was also a marketing
thing that benefited them both.

The excitement
about the cola war

Basically increased
sales of soda all around.

So while they were fighting for

Basically
a sliver of market share,

It was growing the whole soda
market.

And pepsi was always good
at promotion. In fact, it.

Was the first drink
behind the iron curtain,

Whether with an american label
on it.

During the height of the rivalry
between pepsi cola

And coca cola,

Pepsi tended to do better

In places that didn't want to
align themselves with america.

So it would do better every day
behind the iron

Curtain in the soviet bloc
and that sort of thing.

So there was a sort of

Geopolitical angle to which cola
you preferred and liking coca

Cola sort of meant
that you supported america.

Pepsi wanted to romania.

And guess so the ambassador
for pepsi was worldwide.

Who was oh, you can imagine

Mr. Nixon in the nixon.

You were the
ambassador were indeed I was.

Cheering code for the cola
became very political.

So what you have with richard
nixon when he was vice

President,
he went over to moscow in 1959

To american exhibition
and showed the soviet union

What america had, and he invited
coca cola to come coke

And said, no way,
we're not coming over to russia.

They hate us over that.

So they invited pepsi instead.

And that began a relationship
between richard nixon and pepsi

That lasted four years.

So nixon becomes
president in 68.

First, me

And when the coca cola machines
in the white house income

Pepsi vending machines

And the nixon government helps
pepsi become the first american

Consumer products sold in
the soviet union, richard nixon.

But his vice president goes
to the soviet union and meets

Nikita khrushchev,

And they all photograph drinking
pepsi together.

And this is a great coup
for pepsi cola

That they're drinking
pepsi and not coke.

But also it's seen as an example
of sort of american culture.

It's seen as a coup by america
as well, that they've got the

The head of the soviet union

Drinking this very sort of
quintessentially american drink.

So while

The nixon presidency was going

On, coco was like, well,
we need our own president.

So they teamed up with this
georgia

Peanut
farmer called jimmy carter,

And they give him access
to the coca cola jets and their

Team helps in this image.

And he's just a down, down home

Peanut farmer and basically
helps him get elected.

And then jimmy carter

Repays that by helping coca-cola
get into china.

So so that kind of good 20 year
period, the code of war was

Was reflected and he was kind of
getting into the white house.

So the great cold war rivalries

Between the united states,
china and russia were reflected

In the great cola rivalries
between coke and pepsi.

It's a sign of how powerful
american culture was

And is that the two biggest
soft drinks on earth

Are coca-cola from atlanta,
georgia,

And pepsi cola
from newburn, north carolina.

And yet all of this
geopolitical maneuvering raises

The question,
which one is better?

Well, people have been

Taste testing
and arguing this forever.

Okay, ready?

One, two, three. Again

All right, let's cola
first, coca-cola.

I'm going to do the bottle.

Now, patsy, patsy, patsy.

With coke.

Then that
I cannot discern a difference.

Do you think pepsi and coke

Ever merge as companies
and they just makes it

That'd be like russia
and the united states

Deciding to throw

All all in together
and cut borders

And just kind of move in to bed
together.

I probably yeah, you're
right about now.

These are businesses, after all.

And as the cold war politics
gave way to the feelgood

Hippie era,
so did the marketing.

Depending upon which brand
you preferred,

You were either a member
of the new youth generation

Or part of a world wide, groovy
movement singing on a hillside.

Their biggest campaign
was really

When they created
the international people

And that big commercial
where they were singing like

This was a community event
to have coca-cola together.

I like to teach the.

World to sing, sing with me.

All my life.

With this company.

And here
is what all of those groovy

Hippies aren't singing about all
of the sugar in those drinks.

That song should be called
I want to give the world type

To diabetes.

Original coca
cola was made with cane sugar

And then it started to be made
with high fructose corn sirup.

And then recently,
because they have been

Clampdowns
and government saying, you know,

People are drinking
too much sugary soda.

So so they tax it
if it contains sugar in it.

So there's been a real incentive
to find ways

Of making it taste the same,
while including much less sugar

And using other
artificial sweeteners instead.

But that's really
whether the debate

About the sorts of health
impacts of soda have ended up

That it wasn't a health drink,

It was actually an anti health
drink,

It was making people unhealthy
and obese.

What I will drink alone

Is a bottle of the mexican coca

Cola because of the sugar cane
opposed to the sirup.

That's what I want.

Well,
how would you like to compare

Those two beverages right now?

Because I have

From another boosted truck,
this one south of the border

And a can coke.

One of the biggest differences
between cane sugar and high

Fructose corn sirup is the price

Cane sugar grows in steamy
climates and stocks.

It's complicated to harvest,
but high fructose corn sirup

Comes from corn, which grows
abundantly in the midwest

And which is a lot cheaper
and easier to harvest.

So as you might imagine, high
fructose corn

Sirup has supplanted
cane sugar in most soft drinks.

But experts like jim say
they can taste the difference.

So let's see.

I've got some cane sugar, coke
in a bottle and some corn sirup.

Coke in a can.

Let taste test begin.

Okay, I'm going to clear
and I'm going to go.

I'm planning on going.

Hmm. I
don't think this is sweeter.

I think this is sweeter.

Oh, this is by far
really by far over this.

I don't notice
a difference. Hmm.

Oh, no.

Cane sugar is where it's
just a little messy.

It's one of those little.

Okay,

I got that.

That game I know from childhood.

I don't get beat on that one.

I get wet, but I don't get beat.

I'm going to show you how
canadians drink their coca cola.

Yeah, baby.

Oh, yeah.

I'm loving a little rye
and coke.

Oh, right, right, yeah.

Rye and coke and a cigaret.

You know, you'd do for,
like, down here. Your dog.

A lot of classic canadian now,

Lots of coca cola.

So they put the bubbles in,
they took the cocaine out,

They took the caffeine down,
they put some rye in.

But in the 1960s they started
to take the sugar out too,

Because people began to realize

That soda did something else
besides make you burp.

It also made you fat.

Diet soda
started in the fifties.

Initially, they were aimed
to people who had diabetes,

So they were kind of,

You know, pharmacy

Kind of drinks for people
who wanted to avoid sugar.

But they really started
taking off as the sixties

Approached and diet culture
kind of really took hold.

People started
becoming more interested

In what they were drinking

And how much sugar
they were drinking.

And so we're requesting a pop
that didn't have as much sugar.

You started getting brands
like tab and recent

Coca cola did tab
rather than diet

Coke was because it was worried
that if you made a diet coke

That wouldn't taste
as good as the real thing.

So it didn't want to sully its
main brand.

So it may have instead.

My friend
used to drink tons of tab.

You look in

His backseat on the floor tab
there would tab that well,

That was kind of the first diet
soda coca cola product.

Actually that tab though
had a real chemical.

Yeah, it was full of aspartame.

How do you make a drink?

Taste sweet
if you can't use sugar?

Well, you go back to the place
where the story started.

The lab saccharin was discovered
in a lab in 1897.

Cyclamate was discovered in
1937, the same way by mistake.

While all the scientists
were looking for something else.

No one paid much attention then,
because no one

Was worried about too much sugar
then.

But by the 1950s and 1960s,
the search was on for a better

Tasting sugar substitute
that was safe to drink.

So right

Now, coke zero has aspartame
and as a sole thing, potassium,

Which both sound
totally safe and delicious. Oh,

It's hard to beat. That

Is quite possible.

So what is the difference?

It still has product
caffeine in it.

Just no sugar whatsoever.

You've got your phosphorus.

Plus it's got we are not going
to tell you what's in it.

Let's try the diet coke.

All right.

I get your ears out.
You're really

Is that that's beautiful.

It's like three nuts.

Okay, so we had that.

It's I can still taste it
on the sweetness

Even though there was no sugar
here.

Diet coke,

I still don't understand.

What is the difference
between zero and diet coke?

Once your caffeine content
that there is a say on the sign

You're up price
this is 34 milligrams this 46.

Let me see is there something
on the bottom.

Ja ja, ja, ja, ja,
ja, ja is all in the bottle.

Oh here it is on this side. Oh,
no butter right here.

Makes it all the time.
As a drink.

As a drink. There's a drink.

You can buy sugar free, caffeine
free coca cola,

Which is basically brown water
with chemicals and fizz,

But it's still got the same
basic tastes.

Something else, too.

It's got memories
and associations

And a lot of emotions
tied up in it.

That's
how powerful marketing is. It's

The one brand I cannot.

Drink is the one that landed me
in jail at 14 years old

For public intoxication
and last seen in new york.

A soda pop?

Yes. Which one?

A soda pop named fanta.

Are. So

I was.

Attending st
pius, the 10th minor

Preparatory seminary for boys.
Go ahead.

And we decided my classmates
and myself,

That we would want to go down
to the new york state

And have some fun
where you could drink at 18.

So we all got into a vauxhall
viva.

There were a very small english
compact car.

There were seven of us.

We crammed in there
and we drove down.

We went
and we bought a jug of prince

Igor vodka
and a big massive jug of fanta.

Ooh, sounds like the right mix.
Yeah.

And then we went into a field
that we saw

By the side of the road,
and we had cups there

And we mixed the two
and I'm there

Looking at my friends
and weaving, you know,

Rocking back and forth.

And I looked past my friends
and I see this figure coming

Across the adjacent field
towards the fence,

And he's holding a rock salt
shotgun.

Well, the farmer,

Yeah, he opened up on us
with this rock

Salt shotgun, you know,
aiming it over our heads

And then eventually
at our torsos.

We ran out of there,

Got in the car,
raced in the town, raced away.

Then we go in to the local diner
and we get in there.

We're sitting down
and still joking around

And we're being real loose.

And the woman takes our order,
you know,

And then she comes back
about 5 minutes later

And folds her arms and in walks
the chief of police.

And she said, you're all under
arrest for public intoxication

Off the jail.

We go on the scene in new york,
spent the night there.

Now, I was 14 at.

The time, and you're not allowed
to lock up a minor.

In new york state.

He was so afraid when my father
came down to bail me out

That we were going to sue

The state of new york
for locking up a minor.

And I said, relax, dad.

I told him I was 18.

I lied.

To this day, I cannot drink or
even look at a bottle of wine.

Why don't try wines right now?

What do you have
a little bit here?

Try this one time.

Oh, maybe

I can bust my fanta phobia here
today, though.

You're not going to be able
to throw up on us here.

You know, without
the vodka, it's not bad. And,

Yeah, without the jail stay.

It's not bad. Then.

Then all the excitement
is missing.

But the drama.

Now, the old soda fountain,
there were almost

Limitless flavors
you can mix and match

To get just the right taste.

But then coke and pepsi

Came along and big footed
their way into the marketplace.

Now it seems like
there are new flavors

And varieties and bottles
coming up all the time.

It's almost as
if soda is going back to its.

Roots.

Without the lithium
or the cocaine.

Of course,

What we're going to do now
is go back to the.

Old fashioned way of drinking
soda.

Now, these are from the sahara
coal company and indiana.

They have an old fashioned
fountain there.

They supply us with our flavors
today. Wow.

Gentlemen, what's your pleasure?

I'm going to try jerry.
All right.

Sorry, jerry.

Let me get you some ice, sir.

I could drink around
that chocolate.

The jury is really.

That's very concentrated.

That's the thing.

The water is part of the element
also, so.

No, sorry about that.

All right.

Here we.

Okay, you wanted this, okay.

And then we have the blue light,
like the machine here.

Here we go.

And a nice, nice stopping that.

Oh, look at that. Oh,
I like that.

You don't need much soda

In all the serve
you put in while we go.

One for the landlord.

Danny, I just got a call
from the landlord.

Not happy with,
which has happened.

All right, here,
go back to here.

Here we go. Like this.

A little more like that. Sorry

If the users are nice.

I'll take that
environmentally friendly straw.

Nice.

How do you like my soda?

This can't beat that. I like it.

There is something
missing here, danny.

Yeah. Vodka blocker.

You nailed it, baby.

There's a certain nostalgia
to drinking soda

At an old time soda fountain.

But the global impact of drinks
like coke and pepsi comes

From how modern and uniform
they are.

These are crowd
pleasing products available

All over the world
and sold at a price

That pretty much
everyone can afford.

Maybe the artist andy warhol
put it best

He did a series of paintings
of coca-cola bottles

And he explained his feelings
about the drink.

This way you could be watching
tv and see coca cola.

You know,
the president drinks coke,

But elizabeth
taylor drinks coke.

And just think you can drink
a coke, too.

A coke is a coke.

No amount of money
can get you a better coke.

Warhol was right.

There's no special coke or rare
exotic pepsi or artisanal 7up.

And that's why the story of soda

And the story of america
are so intertwined.

It's democracy in a can.

What a pleasure

Having you at my soda
fountain bar sitting right here.

Thank you very much.

And think of it

From a little bit of sirup
and some fuzzy water.

100 years later,
coca cola is the most recognized

Brand on earth.

If the british empire
gentlemen were built on tea,

Surely the american century
was built on coca cola.

God bless him.

The most generous nation
on earth is.

You've been such good sports.

I'm going to insult you

And you should act accordingly.

Now, I could have used the soda
gun behind the bar.

That's the modern version
of the soda fountain.

Or maybe even just opened
a bottle of club soda.

But I chose the old
fashioned siphon

Because it's been
a comedy staple since forever.

You can't have

One of these on the screen
without having some fun.

I don't like illinois
and I don't like connecticut.

And I want you gentlemen
out of this bar.

Emily, I want you gone,
gone, gone, gone, gone.

Oh, two charlatans.

You're horrible.

It wasn't me.

It wasn't me.

It was my wasn't working either.

You got a good shot at it.

I was doing a good.