Acquired

Coca-Cola


Listen Later

Coca-Cola is… sugar water. And somehow it’s also America, Christmas, summertime, friendship and happiness. Today we tell the story of how The Coca-Cola Company amazingly transmogrified a beverage into emotion in all of our collective psyches, and ALSO built one of the most incredible scale economy businesses of all-time. And oh yeah, there’s also cocaine, WW2, Mad Men, Warren Buffett, James Dean, Bill Cosby, Michael Jackson, Michael Ovitz, Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, McDonald’s and Monsanto. So cozy up to the fire with your favorite images of Santa Claus and Polar Bears and enjoy an ice-cold episode of Acquired — always delicious, always refreshing.

Sponsors:

  • Anthropic: https://bit.ly/acquiredclaude25
  • Sentry: https://bit.ly/acquiredsentry
    • The Acquired Meetup (in SF!): https://bit.ly/sentryacquiredmeetup
  • WorkOS: https://acquired.fm/unplugged
    • Playing Cards: https://bit.ly/workOSshop (Code: ACQDECK)
  • Statsig: https://bit.ly/acquiredstatsig26

Links:

  • Sign up for email updates and vote on future episodes!
  • The Hilltop ad / Mad Men finale
  • Pepsi Challenge commercials
  • Pepsi’s Michael Jackson commercials
  • Coke’s Bill Cosby commercials
  • Two liter bottles inflating
  • Worldly Partners’ Multi-Decade Coca-Cola Study
  • For God, Country, and Coca-Cola
  • Secret Formula
  • All episode sources

Carve Outs:

  • SkiErg
  • Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
  • Claude
  • Nike Vomero Plus
  • Hermanos Gutiérrez

More Acquired!

  • Get email updates with hints on next episode and follow-ups from recent episodes
  • Join the Slack
  • Subscribe to ACQ2
  • Merch Store!


© Copyright 2015-2026 ACQ, LLC


  • (00:00) - Start
  • (00:41) - Intro
  • (05:52) - Patent Medicines & the Birth of an Industry
  • (12:13) - Dr. John Pemberton & the "Miracle Drug" Cocaine
  • (16:40) - Creating the Secret Formula (1886)
  • (22:14) - Frank Robinson's Genius & the First Coupon
  • (32:18) - Asa Candler & Building a National Brand (1890s)
  • (41:28) - The $1 Bottling Deal: A Fortuitous Mistake
  • (54:00) - Protecting the "Real Thing": Lawsuits & the Contour Bottle
  • (01:07:16) - Robert Woodruff: The Boss Takes Over (1923)
  • (01:15:58) - Creating Lifestyle Advertising & Santa Claus
  • (01:27:50) - Standardization, Gas Stations & Early Global Growth
  • (01:36:31) - Pepsi: The First Real Competitor Emerges
  • (01:44:33) - World War II: The Greatest Sampling Program in History
  • (01:55:10) - The Cola Wars Begin & the McDonald's Partnership (1950s)
  • (02:21:55) - The Pepsi Challenge (1975)
  • (02:39:55) - New Coke: The Worst Marketing Blunder Ever (1985)
  • (03:06:58) - Buffett's Investment & the "Total Beverage Company"
  • (03:35:48) - Analysis: Why Did Coca-Cola Work?
  • (03:41:16) - 7 Powers
  • (03:48:07) - Quintessence
  • (03:56:13) - Carve-Outs + Outro

  • ‍Note: Acquired hosts and guests may hold assets discussed in this episode. This podcast is not investment advice, and is intended for informational and entertainment purposes only. You should do your own research and make your own independent decisions when considering any financial transactions.

    ...more
    View all episodesView all episodes
    Download on the App Store

    AcquiredBy Ben Gilbert and David Rosenthal

    • 4.7
    • 4.7
    • 4.7
    • 4.7
    • 4.7

    4.7

    4,324 ratings


    More shows like Acquired

    View all
    This Week in Startups by Jason Calacanis

    This Week in Startups

    1,289 Listeners

    The Twenty Minute VC (20VC): Venture Capital | Startup Funding | The Pitch by Harry Stebbings

    The Twenty Minute VC (20VC): Venture Capital | Startup Funding | The Pitch

    546 Listeners

    Odd Lots by Bloomberg

    Odd Lots

    2,005 Listeners

    The Knowledge Project by Shane Parrish

    The Knowledge Project

    2,672 Listeners

    The a16z Show by Andreessen Horowitz

    The a16z Show

    1,103 Listeners

    How I Built This with Guy Raz by Guy Raz | Wondery

    How I Built This with Guy Raz

    30,236 Listeners

    Founders by David Senra

    Founders

    2,172 Listeners

    Capital Allocators – Inside the Institutional Investment Industry by Ted Seides – Allocator and Asset Management Expert

    Capital Allocators – Inside the Institutional Investment Industry

    798 Listeners

    Masters of Scale by WaitWhat

    Masters of Scale

    3,982 Listeners

    The Journal. by The Wall Street Journal & Spotify Studios

    The Journal.

    6,078 Listeners

    All-In with Chamath, Jason, Sacks & Friedberg by All-In Podcast, LLC

    All-In with Chamath, Jason, Sacks & Friedberg

    10,205 Listeners

    The Memo by Howard Marks by Oaktree Capital Management

    The Memo by Howard Marks

    418 Listeners

    Business Breakdowns by Colossus | Investing & Business Podcasts

    Business Breakdowns

    353 Listeners

    ACQ2 by Acquired by Ben Gilbert and David Rosenthal

    ACQ2 by Acquired

    290 Listeners

    BG2Pod with Brad Gerstner and Bill Gurley by BG2Pod

    BG2Pod with Brad Gerstner and Bill Gurley

    460 Listeners