Pepsi Expansion Mapped: Every Country From 1898 to 2026

In 1898 a small-town pharmacist mixed pepsin and kola nut in New Bern, North Carolina. 128 years later, Pepsi pours in more than 180 countries — and somehow got paid in a Soviet submarine fleet along the way. Watch the entire global expansion unfold on a single map. This animated data visualization tracks every country Pepsi entered from 1898 to 2026, plus the moments that almost killed the brand: two bankruptcies, an embargoed USSR, a Cold-War barter that gave PepsiCo the world's 6th-largest navy, the Michael Jackson commercial that went up in flames, and the $13.4 billion Quaker Oats deal that Coca-Cola walked away from. Key moments: 1898 — Pharmacist Caleb Bradham invents "Brad's Drink" in New Bern, NC 1903 — Renamed Pepsi-Cola, after pepsin enzyme and kola nut 1923 — WWI sugar crash bankrupts the company 1931 — Loft Candy buys the dying brand for $10,500 1934 — 12 oz for 5¢ — twice the size of Coke at the same price 1959 — Khrushchev tastes Pepsi at the American Exhibition in Moscow 1972 — First Western product behind the Iron Curtain — 13 years before Coke 1985 — Passes Coca-Cola in US supermarket cola sales 1989 — USSR pays PepsiCo in 17 submarines + 3 warships for cola syrup 1994 — Vietnam launch hours after Clinton lifts the trade embargo 1996 — $33 million Harrier Jet lawsuit 2001 — $13.4B Quaker Oats deal hands Pepsi the Gatorade brand 2022 — Pepsi-Cola production suspended in Russia over Ukraine invasion 2025 — Indonesia relaunch after 6-year absence Data: PepsiCo annual reports, SEC filings, archival press, country-by-country bottling history. #Pepsi #CocaCola #ColaWars #BrandHistory #DataViz #MapAnimation #StatsAtlas #BusinessHistory #PepsiCo #GlobalExpansion