Wild business fact: can you believe Pepsi used to own a navy and once held military power in the Cold War?
Most people know Pepsi and Coca-Cola as the titans of the soft-drink world, locked in an advertising and market rivalry for over a century. But can you believe Pepsi used to own a navy from one of the world’s largest military powers. Yes, for a short moment in history, Pepsi actually owned a one. Not a promotional rental, not a sponsorship deal—an actual naval fleet of warships and submarines.
RELATED: Starbucks Brings Back Holiday Customer Favorite
The story begins with Pepsi’s rise in the 20th century. Founded in 1893 and renamed Pepsi-Cola in 1898, the brand spent decades competing fiercely against Coca-Cola. Coke entered the international market first and dominated early advertising, food-service, and restaurant sales. Pepsi had to innovate just to survive, pioneering new bottle sizes, aggressive price competition, and lifestyle-driven marketing. By the 1960s and 70s, the “Cola Wars” were underway—celebrity endorsements, Super Bowl ads, and global brand campaigns turned soda into a cultural commodity.
And this is where one of the strangest corporate-military stories ever recorded begins.
In the 1950s and 60s, Pepsi was trying to break into new international markets. The United States and the Soviet Union were locked in global economic, political, and cultural competition. Coca-Cola, heavily associated with America, was unwelcome in the USSR—but Pepsi found a clever way around it: barter.
The Soviet Union didn’t want to pay for cola in dollars, so they traded vodka instead. Tons of it.
But the deal grew even stranger in 1989. When the USSR needed to renew Pepsi’s distribution agreement and vodka wasn’t enough as payment, another asset was offered—military ships scheduled for decommission. In exchange for Pepsi syrup, Pepsi temporarily took possession of:
- Several warships
- A small fleet of submarines
- A cruiser
For a brief moment, Pepsi owned what became the sixth-largest navy in the world. Pepsi quickly sold the vessels for scrap, but not before the company’s CEO reportedly joked to U.S. officials: “We’re disarming the Soviet Union faster than you are.”
RELATED: Can Cannabis Or Alcohol Help With Colds
The naval fleet is long gone, but Pepsi’s global presence remains one of the most powerful in modern corporate history. Today Pepsi products are sold in more than 200 countries and territories. Billions of people worldwide consume their beverages and foods each year, from Pepsi and Mountain Dew to Doritos, Gatorade, and Lay’s.
For a company who once bartered soda for warships, the growth of its global business shows just how far a brand can stretch. The Cola Wars may have calmed, but the legacy remains: clever marketing, ambitious expansion, and one of the wildest business deals ever made.
Next time you crack open a can of cola, remember—there was a time when Pepsi wasn’t just battling Coke in grocery stores. It was once a player in Cold War naval strategy.
