2 days Ago By [email protected] (Liam Gilliver)
Brits are only just realising Pepsi's original name, which only lasted for a few years. While the ongoing rivalry between Coke and Pepsi may never be settled, we can all agree a pint of the sugary stuff is essential in the summer. But it turns out the drink, made from sugar, water, caramel, and spices, was initially named something completely different when it first launched.
Back in 1893 Caleb D. Bradham, from North Carolina, sold the fizzy drink at the local pharmacy he was working at after dropping out of university. In a rather uninspired act of marketing, he named the beverage Brad's Drink.
On social media, it's clear people are still only finding this out today. "I just learned that Pepsi was originally called Brad's drink'," one stunned user said on X (formerly Twitter ). "So anyway, I'm going to be reeling from that for a week or so.
" Replying to the gob-smacking revelation, another user commented: "Brad's Drink sounds like the name of a 90s alt-rock album." A third equally baffled user added: "What??? Oh my god." While a fourth simply wrote: "Great name!" Want to avoid the doom and gloom? Get the latest positive news sent straight to your inbox with our Bright Stuff newsletter Around five years after the brand's inception, Bradham bought the rights for the name 'Pep Kola' from a local competitor before later changing it to Pepsi-Cola.
It didn't become just 'Pepsi' - like we know it as today - until 1961. Many linguists argue the word Pepsi stems from the Greek πέ.
