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Oct 26, 2024 16 tweets 5 min read Read on X
In 1975, Pepsi and Coca-Cola went head-to-head in the greatest marketing battle in history.

Pepsi ran shocking blind taste tests, showing people preferred the taste of Pepsi to Coke.

But what Coca-Cola did in response nearly destroyed Coke forever.

Here's the full story: Image
Image
It started with Pepsi getting crushed.

Coca-Cola's empire seemed untouchable. Their distribution was unbeatable. Their brand was everywhere.

But Pepsi's marketing team noticed something interesting...
When people couldn't see the labels, they actually preferred Pepsi's taste.

Show them the Coca-Cola logo? They chose Coke every time.

This small insight sparked an idea that would change everything...
The Pepsi Challenge was born.

Pepsi's team went to shopping malls across America. Two unmarked cups. Cameras rolling.

Everyone could see what happened when the labels disappeared.

And the results shocked the nation:
Pepsi was winning. And the numbers proved it:

Their market share jumped from 6% to 14% wherever the challenge ran.

By 1979, they'd closed the gap: Pepsi held 17.9% of the market to Coke's 23.9%.

The giant was bleeding. For the first time ever, Coca-Cola looked vulnerable...
Their response?

A devastating miscalculation.

They ran their own taste tests - over 200,000 of them.

The results confirmed their worst fear: people really did prefer Pepsi's sweeter taste.

But what happened next was even more shocking:
April 23, 1985: Coca-Cola announced they were changing their 99-year-old recipe.

"New Coke" was born — and the public reaction was beyond anything they could have imagined. Image
The phones at Coca-Cola exploded: 10,000 angry calls per day, up from their usual 400.

One man, Gay Mullins, spent $100,000 of his own money to form "Old Soda Drinkers of America" and organize protests.

America wasn't just angry. They felt betrayed. Why? Image
Because Coke had built more than just a drink.

They'd bottled memories of first dates and family gatherings. Long summer afternoons and American tradition.

People weren't just losing a taste.

They were losing a part of themselves. Eventually:
After 79 days of chaos, Coca-Cola admitted defeat.

On July 11, 1985, Peter Jennings interrupted General Hospital to break the news:

The old Coke was coming back as "Coca-Cola Classic."

Then something unexpected happened:
The public forgave them instantly.

Sales of Coca-Cola Classic exploded. The outcry had revealed something powerful:

People didn't just like Coca-Cola. They loved it. They'd fight for it.

The brand was stronger than the product itself.
This changed marketing forever.

Strong brands create emotional defenders. When people trust you, they forgive your mistakes. They choose you over competitors.

They become lifelong advocates.

But here's what fascinates me most:
Today's brand battles look completely different.

They're not won with TV ads or taste tests. They're won through authentic content and personal connection.

KSI's energy drinks. Emma Chamberlain's coffee. The Kardashians' empire.

The game has fundamentally changed. So:
If you're a founder today, your personal brand is your Coca-Cola recipe.

It's what makes you unique. What builds trust at scale.

Your audience becomes your defenders - just like Coke's customers in 1985.

But you don't need millions in ad spend to get there. Here's how:
Founders: We’ll build your entire personal brand on 𝕏 without you lifting a finger.

To date, we've already helped 50+ founders get 2 Billion combined views.

Interested in how we can do this for you? Book a call here:

shorturl.at/UI3XH
Thanks for reading!

A bit about me:

1.5 years ago, I dropped everything to build personal brands for founders on 𝕏.

Since then, we’ve scaled to a team of 20+ across the world.

If you enjoyed this thread and want more like this, consider dropping a follow.

Have a wonderful day!Image

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More from @timthoughtleadr

Sep 5
A new study just confirmed it:

Elon Musk will be the world’s first TRILLIONAIRE by 2027.

Not from Tesla. Not from SpaceX.

But from one brilliant move that proves he's the world's smartest CEO.

Here’s his genius plan: Image
First, let's talk about that wild prediction.

Informa Connect Academy's latest report shows Musk's wealth growing 110% annually since 2020.

That's not normal growth. That's wealth creation on a different level.

At this pace, he'll hit $1 trillion in just 2 years... Image
Musk's current net worth sits between $330-424 billion in 2025.

That's more than most countries' GDP.

Tesla and SpaceX have been the main wealth drivers.

But there's a wild card accelerating everything: Image
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Sep 4
Elon Musk just stole 40 elite AI engineers from Google.

Then he grabbed another 14 from Meta.

Meanwhile, Meta threw $100M offers at workers to convince them to stay.

But $100M was nothing compared to what Elon promised them.

Here's the offer no one could resist: Image
The AI talent war is brutal right now.

Meta's throwing $100 MILLION pay packages at their best engineers.

Google, Meta, OpenAI, and Elon Musk's xAI are all fighting for the same elite minds.

4 of Elon's engineers joined OpenAI. Musk's defeated, right?
While everyone watched those 4 leave, something else was happening quietly.

Musk recruited 14 AI researchers from Meta since January 2025 alone.

Plus 40 former Google employees.

Despite the $100M pay packets... Image
Read 16 tweets
Sep 3
Trump hammered India with 50% tariffs for using Russian Oil.

When Modi found out...

He cut Trump off and declined 4 back-to-back phone calls.

But this wasn't about the tariffs––Modi saw something much, much darker.

Here's what really caused India to abandon America: Image
First, some context.

For 25 years, the U.S.-India relationship grew stronger. They called it "the most consequential partnership of the 21st century."

Defense deals. Tech cooperation. Trade agreements.

Now? Modi won't even answer the phone:
World leaders rarely ignore U.S. presidents like this.

Putin did it to Obama in 2014 during the Ukraine crisis. De Gaulle famously snubbed American leaders in the 1960s over NATO disputes.

Each time signaled something serious.

Modi's silence feels different: Image
Read 17 tweets
Aug 27
China now controls 1 in 3 of the world's most powerful AI models.

When America realized how China outplayed them, all hell broke loose...

Now OpenAI, Nvidia, and Silicon Valley elites have just joined forces to orchestrate a $100M counter-attack.

Here's their brilliant plan: Image
Let me explain what China is doing.

Open-source AI is like releasing a recipe instead of just selling the cake.

Anyone can use it. Modify it. Build on it.

No fees. No restrictions.

China is all-in on open source. Here's why:
Healthcare algorithms. Banking systems. Military tech.

In China, they're all built on these foundational, open-source models.

America's ChatGPT?

You've got to pay up if you want the latest model.

But the real shock came when China's "DeepSeek" did the impossible:
Read 17 tweets
Aug 25
JD Vance just stopped the UK government from spying on your iPhone.

The UK gave Apple 2 brutal options:

"Give us worldwide access to every user's data, or pay us $10M a day."

Legal experts said Apple couldn't win.

So Vance went head-to-head with the UK himself: Image
First, some context.

In early 2025, the UK government invoked its "Snooper's Charter."

This gave them power to force tech companies to break their own encryption.

Apple was their first target:
The demand was simple but devastating.

Create a backdoor into iCloud that would let the UK government access any user's data.

Not just UK citizens. All 1.5 billion Apple users worldwide.

The penalties for refusing were brutal:
Read 19 tweets
Aug 22
Trump just sent a shocking warning to Cartels:

"We will use every tool—legal, financial, and military, to completely destroy you."

Trump deployed 3 warships to Venezuela to hunt them down.

But Venezuela struck back.

Now the Cartel war just became something much, much bigger: Image
First, the crisis that sparked everything.

Over 70,000 Americans fall victim to fentanyl overdoses every single year.

That's more casualties than the entire Vietnam War.

Traditional law enforcement? It doesn't work.

Here's why:
Only 10-15% of fentanyl entering the US gets intercepted.

The rest flows through undetected, and just 2 milligrams is fatal.

It's easy to hide, cheap to make, and impossible to stop.

And cartels operated like businesses.

Until Trump stepped in...
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