Coca-Cola vs Red Bull

John Stith Pemberton was a Confederate Army veteran and pharmacist in Atlanta, Georgia who was addicted to morphine following a war wound. In 1886, he created a syrup combining coca leaf extract and kola nuts — both of which contained stimulants — as a patent medicine intended to cure headaches and provide energy. A pharmacy soda fountain operator mixed the syrup with carbonated water by accident. The result was Coca-Cola. Pemberton sold it for five cents a glass at Jacob's Pharmacy in Atlanta, selling approximately nine glasses per day. He died in 1888, having sold most of his rights to the formula for approximately $1,750.

Asa Griggs Candler acquired the Coca-Cola formula and brand for $2,300 in 1891. Candler was a marketing genius: he distributed free sample coupons, provided pharmacies with free branded merchandise, and built the Coca-Cola brand through relentless promotion before the concept of brand marketing existed. By 1895, Coca-Cola was being sold in every state in the United States. Candler sold the company to a group of investors for $25 million in 1919.

The distinctive Coca-Cola contour bottle was designed in 1915 by the Root Glass Company in response to Coca-Cola's request for a bottle so distinctive that it could be identified by touch in the dark or when broken. The designer, Earl Dean, was inspired by the shape of a cocoa pod — a plant he had never actually seen. The contour bottle became one of the most recognised design objects in history.

Coca-Cola changed its formula in April 1985 — "New Coke" — in response to losing blind taste tests to Pepsi. The consumer response was the most intense corporate backlash in American history: 400,000 protest letters, jammed phone lines, and a "Society for the Preservation of the Real Thing" formed within days. Seventy-nine days later, Coca-Cola reintroduced the original formula as "Coca-Cola Classic." The episode was initially a disaster; it ended as the greatest accidental marketing event in history, reminding consumers how much they loved the original product.

Coca-Cola reported revenues of approximately $46 billion for 2024, selling products in every country on earth except North Korea and Cuba. The company serves approximately 2 billion portions per day. Warren Buffett, who began buying Coca-Cola shares in 1988 when they were depressed following the New Coke disaster, has described it as one of his greatest investments — Berkshire Hathaway owns approximately 9% of the company, generating hundreds of millions in annual dividends. The pharmacist who sold his formula for $1,750 had accidentally created one of the most valuable consumer franchises in history. The new CEO, James Quincey, has overseen a premiumisation strategy expanding into energy drinks, coffee, and higher-margin beverages to offset structural decline in full-sugar cola consumption.

While traveling in Thailand, Austrian marketing executive Dietrich Mateschitz discovered Krating Daeng, a non-carbonated energy drink sold to truck drivers by Chaleo Yoovidhya that cured his jet lag. The duo partnered, added carbonation, adjusted the flavor profile, and launched the distinct slim blue-and-silver can in Austria in 1987.

Red Bull purchased the underperforming Jaguar Racing Formula One team from Ford, rebranding it as Red Bull Racing. Instead of relying on traditional corporate sponsorship, the brand built its own elite internal constructor program, eventually winning multiple consecutive World Constructors' and Drivers' Championships.

The company executed one of the most viewed marketing events in human history with Red Bull Stratos, sponsoring Austrian skydiver Felix Baumgartner as he jumped from a helium balloon in the stratosphere. The live broadcast captured tens of millions of global viewers, cementing the brand's associations with extreme performance.

Red Bull GmbH posted record financial metrics for the 2025 fiscal year, with global sales volumes hitting 13.9 billion cans and group turnover growing to €12.196 billion. Co-owned by Mark Mateschitz and the Yoovidhya family, the private giant maintained its highly profitable, asset-light outsourced manufacturing model.