PepsiCo (PEP) China goes Coke-red

Tom Barlow — Fri, 28 Sep 2007 15:00:00 EST

Filed under: Coca-Cola (KO), PepsiCo (PEP), Marketing and Advertising, China, Scandals

A controversy in the land where intellectual property goes to die has embroiled two of America's strongest brands. Supposedly in honor of the upcoming 2008 Beijing Olympics (for which it is not a sponsor), Pepsico (NYSE:PEP) China has unveiled a new red can.

Publicly, Coca-Cola, (NYSE:KO) the official sponsor of the Olympics, has ignored the imposition. However, I suspect there is some teeth-gnashing going on in the mother ship in Atlanta. MoneyMorning's Keith Fitz-Gerald makes the point that red and Coke are virtually synonymous. I further agree with his speculation that, if the new Pepsi garb is successful, the corporation will have little reason to drop it after the Olympics.

This is another example of the free-for-all currently taking place in China as non-sponsors of the Olympics try to horn in on the action.

Recently, The Scotts Miracle Grow Co. (NYSE:SMG) successfully bullied small-time fertilizer-from-worm-droppings vendor TerraCycle to change packaging design that is less similar than this example. if Coke lets this slide, who knows what we could see next? Brown FedEx (NYSE:FDX) trucks? UPS(NYSE:UPS) is also an Olympic sponsor.

PepsiCo (PEP) China goes Coke-red originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 28 Sep 2007 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Coca-Cola expands investment in China

Tom Barlow — Wed, 18 Jul 2007 11:55:00 EST

Filed under: Good news, Launches, Coca-Cola (KO), China

Perhaps Coca-Cola's (NYSE: KO) announcement yesterday that it is building a new $80 million R&D center and headquarters in China will help lift the stock out of its torpor. China is already the company's fourth largest market, and it expects the country to pass Brazil and Mexico for second place.

Coca-Cola, which has had a presence in China on and off since the 1920's, already has 29 bottling plants, operating as joint ventures, in the country. As Beth Gaston Moon blogged here earlier, the company is pinning its hopes for expansion largely on international sales.

For the China market, the company has supplemented its traditional drinks with fruit-flavored sodas such as watermelon, green apple and coconut. I'd think, in the global economy, the flexibility and depth of this market would make it an excellent testing ground for new concoctions, perhaps one of the reasons behind the new development.

In researching for this article, I came upon the literal translation of the Chinese Coca-Cola trademark, which I thought lyrical: Permit mouth to be able to rejoice.

Gallery: Quirky beverages for oddball tastes

Coca-Cola expands investment in China originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 18 Jul 2007 11:55:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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