"The Cola War"

“The Cola War”

During the 1980’s Coke and Pepsi became embroiled in what was dubbed “The Cola War”. Each was striving to grab a bigger share of the lucrative soft drink business. Commercials filled the airwaves, promotions flooded supermarkets, tests were held in malls to compare the brands—tens of millions of dollars were spent trying to sell more (in Steve Jobs’ words) “sugar water”. The results became a check list of do’s and don’ts in marketing techniques.

The two industry giants approached “The Cola War” with totally different philosophies. Coke, you might remember, introduced a new formula while Pepsi changed its packaging. The outcome? “New Coke” bombed and the new look Pepsi soared to the top for the first time in its history. Coke soon returned to its original recipe (renamed “Coke Classic”) but it took many years to recover from its unwise decision.

About two years ago I read John Spong’s Why Christianity Must Change or Die at a friend’s request. The title can be taken as changing the fabric of our faith (a la “New Coke”) or its method of presentation (as did Pepsi). Spong advocated the Coke strategy which had already been done in the early 20^th century and some churches and denominations have never recovered their “market share” of adherents. (Maybe a return to “Christianity Classic” is needed.)  But like Pepsi we must package our product (God’s truth) in ways that will cause people to stop, listen and respond.

We as God’s people can learn an important principle from “The Cola War”. We have a which doesn’t change: the Gospel of Christ. (Galatians 1:8-9 gives a strong warning to those who would alter it.) But it can and must be presented in ways that will reach today’s world. (This method is as old as Christianity itself—see 1 Corinthians 9:19-23, especially “I have become all things to all {people} so that by all possible means I might save some.”—Verse 22.) If we change the message we’ll meet the same fate as “New Coke” but if we fail to adapt our methods to minister to the current generation we run the risk of losing the best God has for us.

So the next time you enjoy one of the participants in “The Cola War” don’t forget how each tried to get your attention. And remember what God intends to teach us about communicating His truth.

Grace and Blessings!

Jim McMillan