Coca-Cola and Pepsi bury hatchet on Twitter

by Dan Leahul, revolutionmagazine.com 02-Jul-09, 13:45

LONDON - Coca-Cola and Pepsi have tentatively buried their decades old competitive rivalry, and are now sharing tweets and following each other on Twitter.

As part of a social experiment between the bitterest of fizzy drinks rivals, creative agency Amnesia Razorfish invited the two companies - both on Twitter, but not fellow followers - to go out on a limb and acknowledge one another.

Amnesia Razorfish founder Iain McDonald explained the experiment on his blog, which details the encounter, and said: "Oh we all know Coke and Pepsi are age old bitter rivals but this is a new age of 'social' and we want to see something change between these arch enemies - even if it is just courtesy."

McDonald sent a tweet which read: "RT to end an old war: Dear @pepsi and @cocacola, why not follow each other on Twitter and be friends :)"

Coca-cola was first to respond: "@eunmac Iain, I think that's a fine idea. A gracious (but competitive) hello from Coca-Cola, @pepsi."

Which evoked this response from Pepsi: "Helloooo @CocaCola and @eunmac! Can rivals and tweeps coexist? We're willing to find out. :)"

McDonald said: "And just like that, the world feels like a slightly better place.
Ahh maybe Twitter really is more than just 'what I ate for breakfast.'"