While the Coke/Pepsi feud has simmered somewhat here in the US, it seems to be alive and well in Sao Paulo. Witness Coca-Cola’s vigorous effort to protect its image as the only soft drink its salespeople will quaff.
While the Coke/Pepsi feud has simmered somewhat here in the US, it
seems to be alive and well in Sao Paulo. Witness Coca-Cola’s vigorous
effort to protect its image as the only soft drink its salespeople will
quaff.
Webston Rivelino, a 25-year-old salesman for a local Coke bottlery, had
just spent the day on a sales trip in the jungle region of Acre. When he
entered a local store following his trek, it was out of Coke and bottled
water. To save him from passing out from dehydration, he drank some
Pepsi.
’I don’t even like Pepsi, but since I had spent the day facing the
sweltering Amazon ... I decided to take a sip,’ he said.
His boss, ever conscious of the Pepsi/Coke battle for supremacy, fired
him immediately for ’breaking contract by drinking the competition’s
products.’
Rivelino, however, wasn’t about to go down without a fight. He sued the
local bottlery and won dollars 5,300, a ruling the company is appealing.
Kudos to him for taking the whole ’Pepsi Challenge’ promotion to another
level.
