Tesco
The Real Pepsi Challenge
Book

The Real Pepsi Challenge

The Inspirational Story of Breaking the Color Barrier in American Business

Stephanie Capparell
Free Press, 2007

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Editorial Rating

8

Qualities

  • Innovative
  • Eye Opening
  • Engaging

Recommendation

Today, ad posters featuring African-American models are standard corporate practice. But during the 1940s, the Pepsi-Cola Company broke new ground when it ran ads featuring black middle-class families and community achievers. Stephanie Capparell creates an engaging account of Pepsi’s push to integrate its sales staff and customer base. Using insightful interviews and exhaustive research, Capparell provides a detailed portrait of segregation, economic challenges and corporate intrigue. Given the book’s vast amount of information, a timeline and a list of key players would have helped readers navigate the crowded cast of executives and events. But that’s a minor oversight in an otherwise excellent book. getAbstract highly recommends this intriguing saga to all students of corporate history, sales, advertising and racial politics.

Take-Aways

  • The early cola market wars were fought on many different fronts, including race.
  • During the 1940s and 1950s, the United States was not a land of equal opportunity.
  • In the 1940s, most African-Americans had to choose among menial service jobs, segregated teaching posts or self-employment.

About the Author

Stephanie Capparell edits the “Marketplace” page for The Wall Street Journal, and is the author of Shackleton’s Way: Leadership Lessons from the Great Antarctic Explorer.

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