Bizarre Post Claims Rich People Only Drink Coke
By: Anthony Adragna
Published: June 6, 2011

A truly bizarre post from Vanity Fair claims that rich people prefer Coke to Pepsi without really any evidence and tons of broad generalizations. Jamie Johnson writes that a friend convinced him that "wealthy people prefer Coke over Pepsi" by asking him the last time someone ordered a Pepsi at a country club. Now, Johnson couldn't think of an example so was convinced and decided that all rich people prefer Coke to Pepsi. 
He goes on to write, "rich people genuinely believe the cane-sugar Coke in bottles... is more delectable and satisfying than the U.S.’s corn-syrup version in the cans." I think most people in the United States feel that way; it's not limited to the uber rich. If Pepsi had a similar product, people might drink that too. 
Basically, Johnson has observed a bunch of things from his own experiences and feels that the uber rich prefer to Coke to Pepsi. I cannot really refute those charges; I haven't spent enough time in country clubs. I do like data, though. There is none in this post, and I hesitate to just blindly agree. Pepsi earned nearly $6 billion in profits in 2009. Seems hard to believe that every rich person shunned the company. 
What do you think?

Comments:
Deb Zingg
June 6, 2011

Holy moley..I'm rich?? :p
gthil

"All I wanted was a Pepsi ..."
Tyler Tork

Of course drinks sweetened with sugar are nicer than those with corn syrup. I also notice a lot of places make exclusive deals with Coke or with Pepsi. It might be that Coke makes more of an effort to tie up the high-end markets.
Mind you, with a low-priced product, I would much rather appeal to the hoi polloi than to the rich. After all, there are more of them.
justin

rick james must of had coca cola