Pepsi Chipping Away at Coke’s McDonald’s Monopoly

According to Advertising Age, a McDonald’s beverage test could be the beginning of the end of Coke’s dominance as the exclusive soda under the arches.

The McDonald’s test includes offering Pepsi products in bottles and cans only at the participating restaurants, and doesn’t put Pepsi brands on its fountains. But the potential is still there to chip away at Coke’s fountain sales at the chain if consumers — as they traditionally have — opt for the bottled or canned Pepsi products instead.

One executive speculated that should McDonald’s take the program national, it would take only 90 days to see Coke volume freefall.

The stakes for Coca Cola are HUGE
It’s estimated that he McDonald’s business contributes as much as 10% of Coke’s North American profit. According to one executive: “If “10% of your cash flow in North America [flips] from Coke to Pepsi,’… Coke’s share leadership ‘will unravel. That’s what c-stores have already found out.’”

READ: Pepsi Gains Tohold in Coke Stronghold