A veteran Pepsi executive issued a cryptic message as he prepares to leave the company, just days after the soft drink lost its position as America’s second-favorite soft drink.
Todd Kaplan, who oversaw last year’s mega-million-dollar rebrand, is leaving after 17 years.
In a LinkedIn post, he left to “pursue an opportunity outside the company.” He accompanied the message with a rocket emoji.
On Monday it emerged that Pepsi had fallen to No. 3, behind Dr Pepper, in U.S. soft drink sales.
Coca-Cola, the bitter rival it almost surpassed in the cola wars of the 1980s, is clearly in first place.
Todd Kaplan and influencer Zach King at YouTube Brandcast 2024 at David Geffen Hall on May 15, 2024 in New York City
Kaplan became chief marketing officer in 2022, after holding other senior marketing positions.
In 2023, he oversaw the first logo and product redesign in 14 years and moved the brand away from the Super Bowl halftime show.
His departure, which came after reports of falling sales at Pepsi, is a coincidence, a Pepsi source said.
In the post, Kaplan wrote, “Since joining PepsiCo as an MBA intern, I’ve been fortunate to be able to pack the equivalent of 10 careers into one.”
The news comes days after the standard version of Dr Pepper surpassed Pepsi in market share in the United States.
Just 20 years ago, Dr Pepper’s sales were less than half those of Pepsi.
At the time, one in nine soft drinks purchased in the United States was Pepsi, and Dr Pepper was only the sixth most popular behind Sprite.
The chart belowbased on a Beverage Digest reportshows how the market share of both has converged, with Dr Pepper now very slightly ahead.
Coca-Cola remains the undisputed king of the $97 billion U.S. soft drink industry, with more than twice the market share of any of its rivals at 19.18 percent.
Pepsi’s market share is 8.31 percent and Dr Pepper is now 8.34 percent.
The Pepsi brand remains the No. 2 soft drink overall, when taking into account diet and sugar-free versions.
Soda price increases have affected consumers over the past two years.
Coca-Cola recently revealed the full extent of its price increases. In its results for the first three months of the year, bosses said the company had increased its profits in the country, boosted by customers buying more drinks at higher prices.
Globally, its drinks, which also include Minute Maid, Topo Chico, Smart Water and Costa, cost on average a staggering 13 percent more than at the beginning of 2023.
Despite the price increases, the number of cans, bottles and fountain drinks it sold grew 1 percent between January and March compared with a year ago.
That double whammy of more drinks sold at higher prices helped lift revenue 3 percent to $11.3 billion, Coca-Cola said today in reporting its quarterly earnings. Profits also rose slightly to $3.18 billion in the three months.
