The Real Pepsi Challenge - How One Pioneering Company Broke Color Barriers In 1940S American Business

In America's long march toward racial equality, small acts of courage by
men and women whose names we don't recall have contributed mightily to our
nation's struggle to achieve its own ideals. This moving book details the
story of one such little-noted chapter. In the late 1940s and early 1950s,
as Jackie Robinson changed the face of baseball, a group of African-
American businessmen -- twelve at its peak -- changed the face of American
business by being among the first black Americans to work at professional
jobs in Corporate America and to target black consumers as a distinct
market. The corporation was Pepsi-Cola, led by the charismatic and socially
progressive Walter Mack, a visionary business leader. Though Mack was a
guarded idealist, his consent for a campaign aimed at black consumers was
primarily motivated by the pursuit of profits -- and the campaign
succeeded, boosting Pepsi's earnings and market share. But America
succeeded as well, as longstanding stereotypes were chipped away and
African- Americans were recognized as both talented employees and valued
customers. It was a significant step in our becoming a more inclusive
society. On one level, The Real Pepsi Challenge, whose author is an editor
and writer for The Wall Street Journal, is a straightforward business book
about the birth of niche marketing. But, as we quickly learn, it is a truly
inspirational story, recalling a time when we as a nation first learned to
see the strength of our diversity. It is far more than a history of
marketing in America; it is a key chapter in the social history of our
nation. Until these men came along, typical advertisements depicted
African-Americans as one-dimensional characters: Aunt Jemimas and Uncle
Bens. But thereafter, Pepsi-Cola took a different approach, portraying
American blacks for what they were increasingly becoming -- accomplished
middle-class citizens. While such portrayals seem commonplace to us today,
they were revolutionary in their time, and the men who brought them into
existence risked day-to-day professional indignities parallel to those that
Jackie Robinson suffered for breaking baseball's color line. As they
crossed the country in the course of their jobs, they faced the cruelty of
American racial attitudes. Jim Crow laws often limited where they could eat
and sleep while on the road, and they faced resistance even within their
own company. Yet these men succeeded as businessmen, and all went on to
success in other professions as well, including medicine, journalism,
education, and international diplomacy. Happily, six of these pioneers
lived to tell their stories to the author. Their voices, full of pride,
good humor, and sharp recollection, enrich these pages and give voice to
the continuing American saga.