Strange Donald Trump inauguration gift could reignite Coca-Cola vs Pepsi war

There are many things Donald Trump is known for, but a healthy lifestyle when it comes to food is not one of them.

The soon-to-be 47th president has a documented love of McDonalds and reportedly had a button in the Oval Office of the White House during his first term, a small knob which signaled he wanted Diet Coke. He apparently consumed around 12 per day. 

Now, ahead of his second inauguration on Monday, it has been revealed that the Coca-Cola Company has issued a commemorative bottle of Diet Coke to mark the event.  

Trump’s deputy director of communications, Margo Martin, shared a picture on X, captioned with: “Tonight, President Trump received the first ever Presidential Commemorative Inaugural Diet Coke bottle from the Chairman and CEO of Coca Cola Company, James Quincey.” 

The bottle of Diet Coke has a label with a drawing of the White House and the phrase “The Inauguration of the President of the United States” and Trump’s name and the date of Monday’s inauguration. 

The bottle came in a box with a letter stating: “Founded 126 years ago in Atlanta, Georgia, The Coca-Cola Company takes great pride in producing hundreds of brands that people enjoy. Along with our 60+ independent bottling partners, the Coca-Cola system generates $58+ billion in U.S. economic activity annually and supports more than 860,000 jobs in the United States.” 

A Coca-Cola representative told Newsweek that the meeting between Quincey and Trump “reinforces our commitment to strengthening America’s economic future.” 

The letter from the company also stated that Coca Cola is “proud to continue our decades-long tradition of celebrating the US presidential inauguration with a commemorative bottle”. 

Indeed, the company has made these commemorative bottles for each incoming president since 2005. Trump’s bottle, however, is the first one that is Diet.

Critics have already reacted to the gift, with many bemoaning that Coca-Cola is now hypocritically falling in line with the new Trump era, despite the company condemning Trump and his supporters following the January 6 Capitol riot in 2021.  

The company said at the time that the assault on the Capitol was “an offense to the ideals of American democracy.” 

Trump as often blasted Coca-Cola and in 2021, called for a boycott of Coca-Cola and other companies opposing reforms in Georgia’s voting laws that were signed by the state’s Republican governor.

Faced with this reversal in relations between Trump and Coca-Cola, Trump critics took the opportunity to declare they’d be switching to Pepsi going forward.  

So, has the age-old Coke vs Pepsi rivalry been reignited?  

What’s certain is that social media users have compared Coca-Cola to other companies like Amazon, Walmart and Meta, the parent company to Facebook and Instagram, who have also taken steps to align themselves with the upcoming Trump administration. In Meta’s case, it has rolled back its fact-checking initiatives, content moderation policies, and has removed DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) programmes.  

Mark Zuckerberg, like Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, has donated $1 million to Trump’s inaugural fund.  

So, Coke or Pepsi?

The latter currently seems to have the upper hand – making their current slogan “That’s what I like” even more appropriate. But at the end of the day, does it matter? The alarming decision to ditch fact-checking initiatives - that matters.