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Comment by kalleboo | Hacker News Reader

Of course, the main ingredient is marketing.

In 1985, Coca-Cola research showed people actually preferred the flavor of Pepsi, so they made a taste-tested Pepsi clone. It was launched as New Coke, and despite people preferring New Coke in blind taste tests, they still wanted to buy and drink Coca-Cola Classic. New Coke was a massive flop.

So even if Pepsi managed to make a perfect Coca-Cola recipe clone, they're missing the main ingredient - their brand.

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If I recall correctly, people liked the taste of Pepsi in small amounts, but preferred Coca-Cola as a 'proper' beverage. Don't have a source at hand, so by all means correct me if I'm wrong.

This was my understanding as well, Pepsi had a sweeter taste with a slight citrus flavor. Comparatively, it tastes better on first sip, but for a can sized serving, the less sweet taste was preferred.

> ... even if Pepsi managed to make a perfect Coca-Cola recipe clone, they're missing the main ingredient - their brand.

Also their distribution network. There's plenty of stores that stock Coca-Cola products exclusively. Having the exclusive contract to supply McDonalds must help them a lot, for example.

That said - in Australia, Pepsi Max is actually #1 [1]. Coca Cola has had some problems in Australia with stores & supermarkets refusing to stock their products. (Dominos Australia recently dropped all Coca-Cola products & switched to Pepsi.) [2]

[1] https://asahi.com.au/brands/soft-drinks

[2] http://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/food/drink/woolworths-deliv...

There is also some argument that a sip test is different from a whole serving, but who knows!

I've frequently noted that it takes longer for me to drink a Pepsi, if I even finish it at all. The initial taste, especially while eating, is more pleasant with Pepsi than it is with Coke, but the amount of Coke I can drink comfortably is higher than with Pepsi.

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