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Why Coke Cost A Nickel For 70 Years

by MoneyMagnetMagnate
4 replies
  • OFF TOPIC
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Prices change; that's fundamental to how economies work.
And yet: In 1886, a bottle of Coke cost a nickel. It was also a nickel in 1900, 1915 and 1930. In fact, 70 years after the first Coke was sold, you could still buy a bottle for a nickel.
Three wars, the Great Depression, hundreds of competitors -- none of it made any difference for the price of Coke. Why not?

Why Coke Cost A Nickel For 70 Years : Planet Money : NPR
  • Profile picture of the author seasoned
    There is ANOTHER product that sold for a nickle for DECADES! It was even CHEAPER before that! I heard that Coke sold for so little in the same way. It was NOT the same price! People could PAY the same price. There is a SUBTLE difference there! Hersey sold their candy bar for the SAME price, but the amount went up and down. Likewise, cokes used to be smaller. Inflation eventually made NEITHER able to provide it for 5 cents anymore.

    Steve
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  • Profile picture of the author ace21
    I never knew that about Coke. That's unbelievable stuff! I guess the product Coke is so good, that people bought it in large amounts, regardless of the economy. With such an incredible product, and a large customer base, the company did not see a need to increase the price.
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  • Profile picture of the author yukon
    Banned
    Did you know that Pepsi tried to sell out to Coke on 3 separate occasions in the 1930's, Coke rejected the offers (fail)?

    Did you know that Pepsi was beating the odds with sales during the Great Depression by creating a 12oz. bottle & selling for the same price ($0.05) as Cokes 6.5oz. bottle. Keep in mind during the Great Depression every penny counted. Why buy a Coke when you can get twice the amount of Pepsi for the same money? Besides, Pepsi just taste better.

    Double your competitions product & sell for the same price.

    [related info.]

    I read that Pepsi wiki page about a month ago while researching old Ad campaigns.
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  • Profile picture of the author Sumit Menon
    It sure takes balls to tell the president, "See we can't double our prices, so how about you issue a new form of currency in the country so people can buy our product for a higher price." :O
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