{"id":180,"date":"2009-07-14T06:02:03","date_gmt":"2009-07-14T06:02:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jobshuk.com\/yoni67\/2009\/07\/14\/the-coke-vs-pepsi-cola-war-of-the-1980s-how-it-affects-us-as-workers\/"},"modified":"2009-07-14T06:02:03","modified_gmt":"2009-07-14T06:02:03","slug":"the-coke-vs-pepsi-cola-war-of-the-1980s-how-it-affects-us-as-workers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jobshuk.com\/yoni67\/2009\/07\/14\/the-coke-vs-pepsi-cola-war-of-the-1980s-how-it-affects-us-as-workers\/","title":{"rendered":"“The Coke vs. Pepsi ‘cola-war’ of the 1980s: How it affects us as workers”"},"content":{"rendered":"

In 1981, during the height of the Coke vs. Pepsi cola war, taste-tests were being conducted all over <\/country-region><\/place>America: on college campuses, in malls, at Fourth of July events, etc. Everybody had their preference and everybody thought himself or herself an expert. Surely they would be able to distinguish between the two tastes and pick out their favorite. <\/font><\/p>\n

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At my high school in eastern <\/state><\/place>Pennsylvania, I volunteered to be part of the taste-test team on our campus. Along with the other four volunteers, I was tasked with setting up the test and filling a huge table with many hundreds of plastic cups. On each side of the table, we were to put either Coke or Pepsi; we were to be the only ones who knew which was which. Tastees were to drink one cup from each side, decide which they liked better, and write it on their secret ballot.<\/font><\/p>\n

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As the tastees went through the process, each made unsolicited comments and interacted with the volunteers. "This one’s Pepsi, I’m sure of it!" said one. "This one’s Coke," said another, "it’s much less sweet than the Pepsi." "I know my favorite, you can’t fool me!" Each person was a qualified expert.<\/font><\/p>\n

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Well the moral of the story is: don’t always believe what you’re told. You see, me and my fellow team members decided to embark on a little social experiment of our own. Rather than making one side of the table Coke and one side Pepsi, we made the entire table Coke! There was no difference between the two drinks! Despite this, people tasted a difference. They were so convinced they were sampling separate items that they let themselves become convinced that there were differences in flavor, texture, smell and sweetness. <\/font><\/p>\n

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At the end of the school day, we publicly revealed what we had done. Needless to say, our High School administrators were a little bit taken aback, the Coke and Pepsi representatives who came to collect the results were a bit sour, and the students who listened intently to the results on the school intercom, each fully expecting they had guessed correctly, were dumbfounded.<\/font><\/p>\n

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As employees, whether freelancers, independents, or more traditional workers, I believe there are lessons to be had. <\/font><\/font><\/p>\n

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