Growing up in the Atlanta suburbs, there were three kinds of families in our neighborhood. There were the IBM people. IBM, as we liked to say, stood for “I’ve Been Moved.” There were the lifers, whose families had been there for generations. And then there were the Coca-Cola people.
We were Coca-Cola people.
My dad was an executive in the fountain division, the part of the company that handles draft soda at restaurants. So I knew things most kids didn’t. I knew which counters poured Coke and which poured Pepsi. And I knew the battle lines ran straight through KFC and Taco Bell, right where my friends loved to hang out.
Last Thursday, KFC announced it will start replacing Pepsi with Coca-Cola at its roughly 3,700 U.S. restaurants in January, with every location expected to pour Coke by spring. It ends a partnership that began when PepsiCo bought KFC in 1986. Before that, KFC was Coca-Cola’s second-biggest fountain customer, trailing only McDonald’s.
I was in high school when that 1986 deal went down. And I remember the ranting and raving at the Hill household. Then came the decree from my parents: “We’re not eating at KFC anymore.”
My answer? “What if I just drink water?”
What If I Just Drink Water?
It was a teenager’s answer. Half loyalty, half loophole. KFC was my go-to, and I wasn’t giving up that chicken over a soda. So I did what any high schooler would do. I found the workaround. Skip the part you object to, and keep the part you love.
Listeners do the exact same thing. They punch out during a song they can’t stand. They bail on a long stopset. Then they come right back for the morning show, or the song they’ve been waiting for. A strong core product survives a weak side dish.
But don’t mistake a workaround for loyalty. It’s a warning sign. Once a competitor serves the same chicken plus your flavor, the negotiation is over. That’s exactly the problem KFC is trying to fix. Its U.S. president calls the switch part of the “Kentucky Fried Comeback,” an effort to win back diners who drifted to Chick-fil-A and Popeyes.
Why Taco Bell Kept Its Pepsi
Here’s the twist. When I first heard the news, I assumed Coke had won back both of my old haunts. It didn’t. PepsiCo says it recently renewed its Taco Bell deal for another 10 years.
The reason fits in a cup: Mountain Dew Baja Blast. Taco Bell and Mountain Dew launched it as an exclusive back in 2004. Today it comes dirty, frozen and every way in between, and Taco Bell is chasing $5 billion in beverage sales by 2030. At Taco Bell, the drink stopped being a side dish. It became a reason to go.
That’s the radio lesson. A generic jukebox can be swapped out by any vendor with a better offer. What only you have can’t. Your local morning show. Your signature feature. The personality listeners quote to their friends. That’s your Baja Blast, and nobody replaces it with a fountain contract.
What’s in Radio’s Cup
KFC’s president said this partnership “is about more than what’s in the cup.” Radio should borrow that line. Here’s what I’d take from it:
- The core product earns patience, not permanent loyalty. Listeners will forgive a lot for a great show. Just not forever.
- Remove the friction. If you know what your audience wants in the cup, give it to them before somebody else does.
- Build your own Baja Blast. Find the thing only your station has, and make it a reason to tune in, not a feature buried in the clock.
So here’s how the story ends. Nearly 40 years later, Coke is finally back at KFC. And the high schooler who offered to drink water? These days, he mostly does.
Tastes change while brands sort out their deals. The fix that would’ve won me over in 1986 doesn’t matter as much now. Radio can’t program for who its audience used to be. The good news is the habit is still there. People still show up every day. Our job is to keep asking what they want in the cup today.
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