‘What did Coca-Cola do?’: Woman goes to store for a Pepsi. Then she sees the Coca-Cola
A woman goes to a store to pick up a Pepsi and notices the Coca-Cola products are completely untouched.
In a TikTok with over 1.2 million views, content creator Liz Ruiz (@lizruiz52) documents the stark contrast between an almost-empty Pepsi section and an untouched rack of Coca-Cola drinks.
“When you go to the liquor [store] to get a drink and see this…” the on-screen caption of Ruiz’s video reads.
The video shows Ruiz opening the refrigerator in the store and revealing only two bottles of Pepsi compared to a fully-stocked section of plastic and glass bottles of Coca-Cola right above it.
As the video ends, Ruiz grabs one of the last Pepsi bottles.
Viewers weigh in
In the comments section, viewers express which soda brand has their loyalty.
“Used to work at a gas station. I would never restock Pepsi, there was no need. But Coke on the other hand had to be topped up,” one viewer shared.
“As a lifelong Pepsi drinker this makes me so happy,” another viewer expressed.
“I prefer Pepsi most days, but a nice cold Coca-Cola in a glass bottle always hits the spot. Especially if it’s from Mexico. They use sugar cane which is 100x better,” came a third viewer’s response.
“Lifelong Coke drinker until I had a Pepsi last year. Instantly changed teams,” a fourth viewer chimed in.
Which is more popular: Pepsi or Coke?
Investopedia reports that The Coca-Cola Corporation has been the soft drink industry market leader since 2004. As of April 2024, The Coca-Cola Corporation has a market cap of $266.173 billion, while PepsiCo. Incorporated comes in a close second at $241.386 billion.
Pepsi recently lost its long-term number two ranking behind Coca-Cola for most popular soft drink. As of June 2024, Dr. Pepper crept up as the second most popular soda in terms of market sales.
However, PepsiCo. is the only soft drink brand for whom beverage sales are a minority of its revenue. As the owner of Frito-Lay, snack brands like Cheetos, Lay’s, Doritos, Sun Chips, and Tostitos keep PepsiCo.’s profits high.
Coca-Cola faces backlash and boycotts
While the overall numbers paint a clear story of Coca-Cola’s dominance, the company is now facing boycotts due to unfounded rumors that it laid off Latino workers and reported them to ICE.
In a viral TikTok, an employment lawyer named Trang Tran claimed Coca-Cola fired “thousands of Latin American workers” at the Cerberus Bottling Plant (later discovered to not actually exist.)
Other TikToks have claimed that Coca-Cola has attempted to apologize for reporting workers to ICE, claims that The Independent calls “baseless.”
A Coca-Cola spokesman spoke with Snopes, a fact-checking site, saying, “The accusation that The Coca-Cola Company called immigration authorities to assist in the separation of undocumented workers is unequivocally false.”
What is the 'Latino Freeze Movement'?
The rumors arise in the midst of the “Latino Freeze Movement,” a charge to Latinx consumers not to spend their money at stores and companies that have rolled back their DEI policies in response to President Trump’s recent executive orders.
The Movement’s official site names Coca-Cola, Amazon, Dairy Queen, Target, Walmart, and more as companies to not shop at due either to the scaling back of DEI efforts or “passiveness” to the president’s orders.
@lizruiz52 Lmao! Pepsi ???????????? #fypシ #fyp #foryoupage #fy #foryou #trending #hispanic #cocacola #pepsi #mexicantiktok #standtogether #cokecola ♬ Por Mi Mexico Remix (Lefty SM) - Lefty SM & Santa Fe Klan
Has the Coca-Cola Company rolled back DEI?
As of Feb. 12, the Coca-Cola Company has not announced any changes to its DEI policies.
The Daily Dot has reached out to Coca-Cola and Pepsi via email and Liz Ruiz via TikTok direct message for more information.
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