20 Mind-Blowing Facts About Pepsi

3. Pepsi Faced Abuse and Threats From The Ku Klux Klan When They Tried To Tap Into The African-American Market During The 1940s

Realising that the African-American fizzy-drinks market was largely untapped during the 1940s, then-president of Pepsi Walter Mack attempted to attract this huge audience. An advertising campaign which portrayed black Americans in a positive light was launched, including one commercial in which Ron Brown - who would later become the US Secretary of Commerce - reached up to get a Pepsi from a smiling mother.

Yet Jim Crow laws and racial segregation were still rife in the US, particularly in the Southern states, and this led to some Pepsi workers questioning the company's approach, as well as many of the directors receiving death threats from the Ku Klux Klan.

Luckily though Pepsi's product share rose dramatically as a result of the campaign, but the advertising ploy was eventually dropped due to fears that the company were losing the white-American market. One leading Pepsi worker even said to a group of 500 bottlers in New York City: "We don't want it (Pepsi) to become known as a n****r drink"...