European Coca-Cola versus European Pepsi.

I know that in America Coke and Pepsi are pretty much interchangeable. Sure, people have their preferences, and if I had to guess I’d say Coke probably controls a larger share of the USA market. If I were in America and you were to ask me Coke or Pepsi, I’d say Dr Pepper. Ha. But seriously, if I had to choose between one of the two, I’d probably pick Pepsi. Nothing against Coke—I actually typically like Coke’s advertising more than Pepsi’s (remember those Pepsi ads with Britney Spears and Shaq?), but the fact of the matter is I like the taste of Pepsi just a hint more. I like them both fine. And if I’m in the mood for a sugary, cola-flavored soft drink, either would do just fine. But then, for that matter, off-brand cola-flavored soft drinks are fine with me too. Pepsi would still probably be my favorite, but only by a very small margin.

In Europe, though, the difference in popularity between Coke and Pepsi is frighteningly clear. And forget Dr Pepper. So far, in all the places I’ve visited, only one little store in Nice even had Dr Pepper and they were charging 2 Euros for just a single can! Add to that, it was horrible! When I opened it, it had almost no fizz—was almost completely flat. From that experience I came to the assumption that Dr Pepper is probably only made and bottled in America, while Coke and Pepsi are made and bottled all over the places they’re sold. Which is also probably why Coke tastes slightly different depending on which European country you’re in. That Dr Pepper I drank in Nice was probably shipped all the way from the US, which is probably why it lost all its fizz.

But when it comes to the European’s preference between Coke and Pepsi it is clear—they like Coke. Well, they like beer, wine, and spirits, but those weren’t on the option list. The way I know they prefer Coke to Pepsi is I went in to three different supermarkets today. All of them sold the 1.5L Coke, but only one of them sold the 1.5L Pepsi. To top it off, the 1.5L Cokes all cost 1.70 Euros, while the 1.5L Pepsi only cost 1 Euro. And it’s been this way all over Europe. While in America, Coke and Pepsi cost roughly the same amount and are both easily found in any supermarket, here in Europe Pepsi is significantly cheaper and harder to find to boot. Also, if you recall from one of my previous blog posts, Pepsi makes me high. So if you take into consideration the fact that Pepsi is both so much cheaper and makes me feel like I’ve taken a mild narcotic after imbibing, I’d have to say that European Pepsi, like American Pepsi, once again wins my heart.

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Location:Μάγερ,Athens,Greece