Coca-Cola to Vermont: 'If Pepsi Gets a Whole Interstate, We Want a Lane' — Insisting on Rival Taste Test on I-89 this Summer
An exclusive Compass Vermont investigation into highway beverage equity.
When a Pepsi delivery truck jackknifed on Interstate 89 last week, sending cases of product tumbling across both lanes of travel and generating national media coverage, executives in Atlanta were watching — and they were not happy.
“We’ve tracked the impressions,” said a Coca-Cola northeast regional spokesperson in a phone interview. “That one truck generated more earned media for Pepsi in 72 hours than our entire New England summer budget. We are not going to let that stand.”
Coca-Cola has formally requested a permit from the Vermont Agency of Transportation to conduct what the company is calling a “Highway Taste Equity Event” — a head-to-head Coke vs. Pepsi blind taste test staged on the I-89 shoulder near Exit 10 in Waterbury this July.
“We’re requesting one lane,” the spokesperson said. “Pepsi got a whole interstate. We think one lane is more than reasonable.”
A VTrans spokesperson confirmed the agency received the application but appeared uncertain how to process it.
“We don’t have a form for this,” the spokesperson said. “The closest category we could find was ‘Temporary Beverage-Related Lane Closure,’ which technically exists because of a maple syrup incident in 2019. We’re reviewing it.”
Under the proposal, northbound traffic between Exits 9 and 10 would be reduced to a single lane for six hours on a Saturday in mid-July. Motorists would be “invited but not required” to pull over and participate. Coca-Cola says it would provide branded tents, sampling cups, and “trained taste ambassadors” at the site.
Vermont State Police weighed in cautiously.
“We would need to see a traffic management plan,” said a department spokesperson. “But I’ll be honest — we’ve never had a beverage company request highway access for competitive purposes before. There’s nothing in statute that specifically prohibits it.”
Pepsi issued a brief statement: “We wish Coca-Cola the best in their permitting process. We didn’t plan our brand activation on I-89, but we appreciate that it resonated with Vermonters.”
Governor Scott’s office declined to comment on the proposal directly but noted that the administration “supports the safe and responsible use of Vermont’s transportation infrastructure.”
The AOT estimates that a single-lane closure near Exit 10 on a July Saturday would add approximately 14 minutes to the northbound commute to Stowe — a figure Coca-Cola called “a small price to pay for taste justice.”
Editor’s Note: Happy April Fool’s Day.