Pepsi’s First Name Was So Bad It Barely Made It Out of the Pharmacy
June 15, 2025
source: Pepsi
So, okay—Pepsi didn’t just appear in vending machines and stadiums one day. It actually started, weirdly enough, in this little pharmacy in New Bern, North Carolina. Which—side note—is not a place I’d ever associate with global cola empires, but whatever, that’s where it happened. This was… 1893. Which is just… hard to imagine. Horse-and-buggy era soda. I don’t know.
Anyway, there was this guy—Caleb Bradham. A pharmacist, but also apparently a guy who liked experimenting with drinks when he wasn’t, I don’t know, grinding pills or measuring out laudanum or whatever pharmacists were doing back then. It was a small operation. Like, very DIY vibes. No executives, no branding meetings. Just Caleb and probably a wooden counter and some glass jars.
So, one day he comes up with this fizzy thing. A soft drink, I guess, except the phrase “soft drink” might not have even existed yet. And get this—he calls it “Brad’s Drink.” Which… look, not the most thrilling name. You gotta respect the confidence, though. Naming it after yourself, like, “Yeah, I made this. Deal with it.”
But even he knew “Brad’s Drink” wasn’t really it. It doesn’t exactly pop. You don’t picture a kid running to the store screaming, “I need a Brad’s Drink!” It’s got big uncle-who-barbecues energy, not global-beverage-giant potential. So he starts thinking. Rebrands. That part came a few years later, and that’s where things get… weirdly clever.
The Clever (and Kinda Gross) Origin of the “Pepsi” Name
So here’s the twist that nobody sees coming: “Pepsi” isn’t just a snappy, made-up name. It actually comes from dyspepsia. Which, yeah, sounds like a disease. Or some 1800s insult. But no—it just means indigestion.
I mean, in context, it makes a kind of sense. Back then, people were obsessed with tonics and elixirs and “remedies” for everything. Tummy aches, nervous conditions, women being too excited. So Caleb—our man Caleb—was like, “Hey, let’s lean into that. Let’s market this fizzy drink as something that helps with digestion.”
It’s kind of hilarious now. Like, imagine cracking open a Pepsi today because your stomach feels weird. “Hang on, babe, I need my medicinal cola.” But that was the idea! A bubbly, stomach-soothing refreshment. That’s the “Pepsi” part.
The “Cola” half? That’s more straightforward. He added kola nuts—real ones back then, not just flavoring—to the recipe. For taste, sure, but also for caffeine. Because what’s a tonic if it doesn’t wake you up and spin you around a little?
So yeah. That’s how “Brad’s Drink” morphed into “Pepsi-Cola.” From a guy in a pharmacy with a soda that supposedly helped your digestion. And… now it’s in every gas station on Earth. Wild.
Beyond the First Sips: How Pepsi Evolved and Got Huge
Anyway, fast-forward like… decades. A lot of them. Pepsi went through all kinds of changes. It’s almost exhausting to think about, honestly—recipe tweaks, package redesigns, brand makeovers. Like, if you’ve ever seen those weird 80s and 90s Pepsi cans, you know what I mean. It was a little chaotic at times. Neon fonts, splashy colors, logos that look like they were designed during a sugar rush.
And don’t even get me started on the commercials. It feels like everyone who’s ever been on a Pepsi billboard ended up becoming the face of something. Britney, Beyoncé, MJ, Kendall Jenner… okay, let’s not talk about that one.
What’s wild is that Pepsi didn’t stay in its soda lane. They kind of just… exploded. Now it’s not just cola. It’s Gatorade. It’s Tropicana. Frito-Lay. Like, if you’ve ever eaten chips on a road trip, Pepsi probably made them. Or owns the people who did.
And yeah, all of that—all of it—came out of Caleb’s little drink for digestion. It’s absurd and also… kind of impressive? The scale of it. I don’t know. Capitalism’s strange.
Some Sweet Little Pepsi Nuggets
So the OG Brad’s Drink recipe? It had vanilla. And something mysteriously referred to as “rare oils,” which sounds either fancy or toxic. Depends on your mood.
At one point, Pepsi was actually billed as a “brain tonic.” Yeah. Supposed to zap your headaches and fatigue away. Probably just the caffeine, let’s be real.
And the red, white, and blue branding? That’s been there through it all. It’s changed styles, sure, but the colors stuck. Patriot soda. Stars-and-stripes energy in a can.
Honestly, the thing about Pepsi is—yeah, it’s just soda. But when you trace it all the way back, it’s kind of a bizarre little slice of American history. One guy’s gut-soothing brew turning into a multinational empire. There’s no clean moral to the story. It’s just… the way things go sometimes. Something fizzes up and never stops.