Welcome to brain Stuff production of I Heart Radio, Hey brain Stuff, Lauren volk Bomb. Here in the United States, our milk is packaged in gallon jugs. All are liquid dairy, and liquid dairy substitutes tend to come in pints, courts, and gallons. All US customary measurements based on the Imperial system. But our soda comes into leader bottles, a metric measurement, and extra confusingly, twelve ounds cans US customary Again, Why in the same country would two liquids be packaged and
distributed using different systems of measurements. The short but sticky answer is that this is just one of many examples of America's fractured approach to measurement. The US customary system is a holdover from colonial times and based on old British standards. The United States is one of only three countries in the world that hasn't adopted the metric system, a Liberia and me and mar being the other two.
But American SODA's embrace of the leader coincided with a brief window in history when it seemed that the metric system might take over. Let's explain in the early nineteen seventies, Coca Cola was selling roughly ten times as much product as Pepsi was selling. Desperate to steal more of Coke's market share, Pepsi began trying to brainstorm a new and eye catching bottle that could compete with Coke's classic curved bottle.
They got nowhere. Coke's bottle wasn't just visually distinctive, it also resisted breakage throughout the product's life cycle from bottling conveyor belts to vending machines. Enter John Scully, then a new marketing executive at Pepsi. As he tells it in his book Moonshot, his research showed he couldn't come up with a better bottle design, but he did make an interesting discovery. Pepsi drinkers were frustrated because they were always
running out of their favorite soda. Scully realized that he didn't need a new bottle design, he needed a bigger bottle. Pepsi asked chemical giant DuPont to come up with a suitable material, and a year later, the plastic two litter bottle was born. Customers would get more of the product they wanted. Pepsi could stop competing head to head with coke for a time anyway, and Pepsi would sell greater
volumes of its soda, which meant increased revenue. Not to mention, stores wouldn't have to worry about broken glass from mishaps with stockers or consumers. In a make or break marketing moment, Scully met with Walmart founder Sam Walton to convince him of the two Leaders merits. As he handed the product Walton, Scully purposefully dropped the bottle, which bounced unbroken on the floor. Walton was sold, and so was the rest of America.
Scully made bottling history and also rode his two Leaders success all the way to becoming the CEO of Pepsi and later the CEO of Apple. But okay, two leaders is equivalent to about half a gallon point five to eight gallons to be more precise, So why didn't scullion companies sell half gallon bottles of Pepsi? Well? Since eighty six, Congress had been trying to get the US to convert to metric, including the Metric Conversion Act passed in nineteen five.
Right as Pepsi was developing their new bottle, many companies thought it was just a matter of time before all products became metric, but the legislation, as all metric related legislation before and after, stipulated that action was voluntary. That was enough to keep the rules from taking widespread effect.
No one can point to a single reason why. The theories include that people thought the switch because they thought it was somehow anti American, or that they felt more comfortable with the familiar Imperial measurements, or that it would have been too costly to convert existing systems and product lines over and since they didn't have to switch, many didn't. So milk never went metric in the United States. Due
to scale, location and tradition. Sodas like coke and pepsi have a long shelf life and can be shipped all over the world. Milk is far more perishable and typically sourced from a local or regional producer. Milk has traditionally been sold in the United States in pints, courts, and gallons, a custom that seems destined to stay. Still, there's hope yet for the metric system in America. There are many products measured in metric only or primarily besides soda in
the US. These include wine, liquor, medications, and beauty products. Among other items. However, there's still no regulatory requirement in place that manufacturers must use metric, but since lots of American products are sold overseas, you'll usually see both types of measurements on the packaging. Today's episode was written by Nathan Chandler and produced by Tyler Clang. For more on this and lots of other systematic topics, visit how stuff
works dot com. Brain Stuff is production of iHeart Radio. For more podcasts for my heart Radio, visit the i heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows,