Between July 29 and August 6, 1985, a fierce battle raged aboard the Challenger space shuttle between the two largest cola manufacturers.
„The great cola war” - this is how the fierce struggle between Coca Cola and Pepsi in the 1980s was referred to, where the parties tried to outdo each other with the most diverse marketing tools. At almost the same time as Reagan's Star Wars plan, the Coca Cola Company also wanted to move the battlefield into space. In 1984, the cola manufacturer signed an agreement with NASA to test the ’Coca Cola Space Can„ as part of the space shuttle program. The agreement could not remain a secret: Coca Cola Company's biggest rival, Pepsico Inc., also registered with the American space agency and indicated that it wanted to participate in the experiment.
NASA provided both parties with the opportunity for testing during the Challenger space shuttle's 1985 (STS 51-F) mission.
The two cola manufacturers saw a huge marketing opportunity in conquering space and did not count the dollars spent on the project. The competitors primarily focused on technological development. In addition to storage, they also had to solve the problem of how astronauts could extract the soft drink from the containers under special conditions. The cola war consumed large sums: Coca Cola created its special valve-equipped drink dispenser with a budget of $250,000, while Pepsi reportedly spent millions of dollars on its own development. The special drink dispensers were completed on time, but the finished soft drink containers resembled shaving cream bottles the most.
In the end, four bottles of sugary carbonated beverage were sent aboard the Challenger. The Challenger's scientific astronauts, who conducted a total of 13 experiments in 7 scientific fields during the mission, surely happily incorporated the testing of bottled soft drinks into their strict protocol. The astronauts had to evaluate the method of dispensing liquids in a microgravity environment and, of course, the taste of the liquid as well. During the day shift, Coke was tested, while the night shift drank Pepsi.
Neither party emerged victorious from the experiment. The lack of cooling was only a minor reason for this. The biggest problem lay in the carbonation. On Earth, gases and liquids naturally separate in the digestive system. However, in space, it works differently: in a state of weightlessness, the light gas bubbles cannot escape from the liquid in the stomach, as it is also floating. Since the liquid does not separate from the gaseous, both exit together through the esophagus, practically causing acid reflux, which is an extremely unpleasant experience, especially inside a space shuttle.
Apart from the astronauts, neither rival viewed the results of the cola war as a fiasco: Coca Cola Company's special, further developed drink dispensers were used on the MIR space station, as well as aboard the Challenger and Endeavour space shuttles.
Pepsi continued the space war with marketing tools. The ambiguous slogan was born:
„A huge sip for humanity.”.
In its TV spots (for example, in the 1985 TV commercial directed by Ridley Scott), the conquest of outer space became a recurring theme, but the small container reminiscent of a shaving bottle was banished from the ads.
Then, 20 years later, Coca Cola decided to recycle the legendary drink dispenser in one of its commercials. But that's another story...
