Coca-Cola

Coca-Cola is… sugar water. And somehow it’s also America, Christmas, summertime, friendship and happiness. Today we tell the story of how The Coca-Cola Company amazingly transmogrified a beverage into emotion in all of our collective psyches, and ALSO built one of the most incredible scale economy businesses of all-time. And oh yeah, there’s also cocaine, WW2, Mad Men, Warren Buffett, James Dean, Bill Cosby, Michael Jackson, Michael Ovitz, Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, McDonald’s and Monsanto. So cozy up to the fire with your favorite images of Santa Claus and Polar Bears and enjoy an ice-cold episode of Acquired — always delicious, always refreshing.

Sponsors:

• Legora: https://bit.ly/acquiredlegora
• Vanta: https://bit.ly/acquiredvanta
• ServiceNow: https://bit.ly/acquiredservicenow26
• Statsig: https://bit.ly/acquiredstatsig26

Links:

• Sign up for email updates and vote on future episodes!
• The Hilltop ad / Mad Men finale
• Pepsi Challenge commercials
• Pepsi’s Michael Jackson commercials
• Coke’s Bill Cosby commercials
• Two liter bottles inflating
• Worldly Partners’ Multi-Decade Coca-Cola Study
• For God, Country, and Coca-Cola
• Secret Formula
• All episode sources

Carve Outs:

• SkiErg
• Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
• Claude
• Nike Vomero Plus
• Hermanos Gutiérrez

More Acquired!

• Get email updates with hints on next episode and follow-ups from recent episodes
• Join the Slack
• Subscribe to ACQ2
• Merch Store!

© Copyright 2015-2026 ACQ, LLC

• (00:00) - Start
• (00:41) - Intro
• (05:52) - Patent Medicines & the Birth of an Industry
• (12:13) - Dr. John Pemberton & the "Miracle Drug" Cocaine
• (16:40) - Creating the Secret Formula (1886)
• (22:14) - Frank Robinson's Genius & the First Coupon
• (30:39) - Asa Candler & Building a National Brand (1890s)
• (39:49) - The $1 Bottling Deal: A Fortuitous Mistake
• (52:21) - Protecting the "Real Thing": Lawsuits & the Contour Bottle
• (01:03:24) - Robert Woodruff: The Boss Takes Over (1923)
• (01:12:06) - Creating Lifestyle Advertising & Santa Claus
• (01:23:58) - Standardization, Gas Stations & Early Global Growth
• (01:32:39) - Pepsi: The First Real Competitor Emerges
• (01:40:41) - World War II: The Greatest Sampling Program in History
• (01:49:25) - The Cola Wars Begin & the McDonald's Partnership (1950s)
• (02:16:10) - The Pepsi Challenge (1975)
• (02:32:03) - New Coke: The Worst Marketing Blunder Ever (1985)
• (02:59:06) - Buffett's Investment & the "Total Beverage Company"
• (03:27:56) - Analysis: Why Did Coca-Cola Work?
• (03:33:24) - 7 Powers
• (03:40:15) - Quintessence
• (03:48:21) - Carve-Outs + Outro

‍Note: Acquired hosts and guests may hold assets discussed in this episode. This podcast is not investment advice, and is intended for informational and entertainment purposes only. You should do your own research and make your own independent decisions when considering any financial transactions.