The Real Pepsi Challenge: The Inspirational Story of Breaking the Color Barrier in American Business

Today, ad posters featuring African-American models are standard corporate practice. But during the 1940s, the Pepsi-Cola Company broke new ground when it ran ads featuring black middle-class families and community achievers. Stephanie Capparell creates an engaging account of Pepsi's push to integrate its sales staff and customer base. Using insightful interviews and exhaustive research, Capparell provides a detailed portrait of segregation, economic challenges and corporate intrigue. Given the book's vast amount of information, a timeline and a list of key players would have helped readers navigate the crowded cast of executives and events. But that's a minor oversight in an otherwise excellent book. We highly recommend this intriguing saga to all students of corporate history, sales, advertising and racial politics.

What a fascinating book! I grew up in the 1960s when Pepsi and Coke were almost synonymous. Little did I know that the decade or so behind me had produced such a romp over the cola fields. Stephanie Capparell's book, "The Real Pepsi Challenge" is terrific in many ways. She highlights the years circa 1947-1951 when Pepsi president Walter Mack, liberal and determined, set about to put together a team of black Americans to appeal to the burgeoning buying power of a group of people who represented a percentage of Americans equal to the entire Canadian population. Capparell then goes on not only to highlight the chief operating force for a team of twelve under the direction of the talented Edward F. Boyd but how they managed to be successful at a time when Jim Crow laws were still in effect and Jackie Robinson was just emerging. These men, talented, educated and from a variety of backgrounds, perfectly captured by the author, moved Pepsi-Cola within striking distance of rival Coca-Cola. It's an American success story at its best. The thrust of "The Real Pepsi Challenge" concerns those post-war years and Capparell is at her best when she mirrors the times and the difficulties the team had in going out in the field. Given the times, her references to advertising and societal concerns are eye-popping. Subsequently, she gives a follow-up as to the new owner's decision to disband the group, and what happened to them after some of them left Pepsi, but others stayed. "The Real Pepsi Challenge" is a highly recommended book. The author has done a great job in putting together the recollections of those who worked for Pepsi and how they connected with the era in which they lived. Congratulations, Ms. Capparell!