In the #SpaceColaWars, the major soft drink competitors Coca-Cola and Pepsi engaged in costly marketing campaigns and product tests to get their beverages into space, in continuation of the so-called "#ColaWars". The competition began in 1985 during the STS-51-F Space Shuttle

Mistodon: I'm sorry, I posted the Pepsi logo yesterday and ... well, the #ColaWars are back on, it seems. Prepare yourselves for caffeine overdose and tooth decay. This #teletext portrait of a classic #CocaCola can was drawn by @pixelblip and included with the recent food-themed IMBIBE01 electronic magazine.

Negativland – Dispepsi (1997, US)

Our next spotlight is on number 1004 on The List, submitted by dwenius. By the time this experimental sound-collage/plunderphonics band and multimedia collective had released Dispepsi, they had already got a bunch of media attention linked to a mass murderer case, and had experienced a multi-year legal battle with U2’s label and their own (along with some FBI nonsense) for an innocently(-ish) named and now withdrawn EP. Dispepsi continues the group's aural mischief (and thankfully without any legal repercussions), taking a swipe at the so-called “Cola Wars” and advertising in general by parodying and sampling Pepsi and Coca-Cola commercials, among other things.

Want to read more? See the full spotlight on the Fediverse at @1001otheralbums.com or on the blog: https://1001otheralbums.com/2025/05/02/negativland-dispepsi-1997-us/

Want to skip straight to the music? Here's a Songlink: https://album.link/i/386725068

Happy listening!

#Negativland #experimental #plunderphonics #SoundCollage #1990s #ColaWars #music #1001OtherAlbums

Negativland – Dispepsi (1997, US)

Our next spotlight is on number 1004 on The List, submitted by dwenius.

Named after the NEU! track of the same name, Negativland is an experimental sound-collage/plunderphonics band and “multimedia collective”, the original version of which was formed in 1979 by Mark Hosler and Richard Lyons while they were still in high school. By the time they released Dispepsi, their 8th album, they had already gone through a couple interesting episodes involving a hoax press release that got a bunch of media attention linked to a mass murderer case,[1] as well as a multi-year legal battle with U2’s label and their own (along with some FBI nonsense) for an innocently(-ish) named and now withdrawn EP.[2]

Geez.

Dispepsi is a concept album that takes a swipe at the so-called “Cola Wars” and advertising in general by parodying and sampling Pepsi and Coca-Cola commercials, among other things. As per the liner notes:

All of the cola commercials that were appropriated, transformed and re-used in this recording attempted to assault us in our homes without our permission.

Hoping to avoid another legal battle, the original release didn’t actually have the album name on it, and the liner notes instead provided a phone number for fans to call “for the correct spelling and pronunciation of the title of this CD”, lol. Thankfully, unlike U2 and Island Records (and the band’s former label, SST Records, wtf – see footnote 2), Pepsi wasn’t threatened by whatever an obscure art collective that was part of a parody religion[3] and enjoyed nerding out on FM radio[4] was doing. And so, this album, unlike their U2-inspired EP, was allowed to live, and the band continued (and, I think, continues?) to do cool shit[5] and fight for fair use.

Whether this band is new to you (like it is for me) or is an old favourite, give this one a spin today!

• Songlink: Negativland – Dispepsi
• Discogs: Negativland – Dispepsi
• Website: Negativland
• Bandcamp: Negativland (does not include Dispepsi)

1. Unable to afford touring their Escape from Noise (1987) album, Negativland put out a hoax press release stating they legally couldn’t tour because the track “Christianity Is Stupid” had inspired mass murderer David Brom…which in turn led to them releasing a concept album, Helter Stupid (1989), making fun of the media coverage on said hoax press release. ↩︎
2. Negativland released an EP titled U2 (1991) that sampled and parodied U2’s song “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For” alongside a recording of radio DJ Casey Kasem having a meltdown while rehearsing a bit about U2, which led to the band being sued by U2’s label (Island Records) and publisher, and in turn led to: the EP being withdrawn; the band releasing a magazine and accompanying CD called The Letter U and the Numeral 2 (1992) about the matter, which directly led to the band being dropped and sued by their own label (SST Records, wtf); Kasem threatening (but never actually enacting) legal action if the EP ever popped up again; the FBI getting involved after a Negativland fan threatened Kasem; the band releasing a book with an accompanying CD called Fair Use: The Story of the Letter U and the Numeral 2 (1995) chronicling the whole thing; and a documentary being made about it (Sonic Outlaws [1995]). Whew. ↩︎
3. At least some members Negativland are part of the Church of the SubGenius, which uses “culture jamming“, an anti-consumerist tactic whose name band member Don Joyce coined. See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_the_SubGenius ↩︎
4. “Over The Edge” was a weekly, free-form audio collage radio show on KPFA FM (Berkeley, California), hosted by Negativland’s Don Joyce from 1981 until his death in 2015. Archived episodes at: https://archive.org/details/ote ↩︎
5. I mean, Laurie Anderson herself named their 2020 album The World Will Decide one of her five favourite albums, so they’re clearly doing something right still. ↩︎

#1990s #ColaWars #experimental #music #musicDiscovery #Negativland #plunderphonics #soundCollage

'Cola Wars': Judd Apatow to Direct Coke vs. Pepsi Movie; Steven Spielberg to Produce!! #ColaWars, #StevenSpielberg, #JuddApatow

https://movizark.com/2024/09/16/cola-wars-judd-apatow-to-direct-coke-vs-pepsi-movie-steven-spielberg-to-produce/

Judd Apatow & Steven Spielberg Join Coke Vs. Pepsi Film ‘Cola Wars’ At Sony
#News #ColaWars #Directing #JuddApatow #SonyPictures #StevenSpielberg

https://deadline.com/2024/09/cola-wars-judd-apatow-steven-spielberg-movie-coke-vs-pepsi-1236085093/

Oddly I'm thinking about the Pepsi challenge. I don't think I've drunk Pepsi since like 1992. At the latest. But I can still taste it and compare it.

I'm going to have to do it again.

After 17 years in Australia I only realised Pepsi was sold here a coup of years ago.

#ColaWars #icanttakeitanymore

Sony Uncaps $1.5M Deal For ‘Cola Wars’ In Heated Auction For Coke Vs. Pepsi Saga
#Acquisitions #News #BenQueen #ColaWars #JasonShuman #SonyPictures

https://deadline.com/2024/02/cola-wars-movie-coke-vs-pepsi-1235835546/

@ewdocparris
Kendra wrenched the sword from the guard's hand, and spun it around in the one motion, preventing it from getting a bead with the energy cannon in its mouth.
She ground it into the wall.
"You are not going to stop me!" she growled.
"I am going to get to that wretched quartermaster, and make it clear."
She left the automata bubbling in the murk.
"He's going to learn. Pepsi is not a substitute for Coke!"

#SecretSciFiNetwork #Midjourney #WritingPrompt #SciFi #colawars

The caffeine apocalypse is upon us #china #expat #expatlife #dailyvlog #expatvloggers #cocacola #pepsi #cola #soda #colawars #walmart

A burger chain switches to Coca-Cola. Pepsi fans are furious

https://www.cnn.com/2023/01/21/business/culvers-coke-pepsi/index.html

There are Pepsi fans? I thought Pepsi was the drink you got when Coke was otherwise unavailable.

#ColaWars #ForSomeTheColaWarsNeverEnded

Ich habe mich gerade gerade 25 Jahre zurück in meine Marketing-Vorlesung versetzt gefühlt, als ich „PEPSI, WO IST MEIN JET? auf Netflix angesehen habe.-
Ich habe mich in der Vorlesung damals dafür ausgesprochen, dass der Typ seinen Harrier Jet für die 7.000.000 Pepsi-Marken bekommt. Den Prof. hat Legal damals nicht interessiert, ihm ging es auch eher um den Commercial. Vor seinem Job an der Uni war er auch bei Coca Cola in der Marketing-Abteilung, haha.
#colawars
https://youtu.be/ZdackF2H7Qc

Campa cola that found takers after the exit of coca cola, was forgotten with the re-entry of coca cola would be relaunched by RIL. Will it gain space alongside coca cola now? #colawars #campacola #cocacola