The Day Pepsi Had a Navy
Discover the bizarre historical moment in 1989 when the Soviet Union traded an entire fleet of submarines and warships to Pepsi just for soda syrup.
About this video
Discover the bizarre historical moment in 1989 when the Soviet Union traded an entire fleet of submarines and warships to Pepsi just for soda syrup.
Full transcript of The Day Pepsi Had a Navy
In 1989, a sugary soft drink company commanded the sixth-largest navy on Earth. Desperate for Pepsi, the Soviet Union traded seventeen military submarines... ...and three massive warships, just to secure their syrup. Their ruble was worthless, and they had run out of vodka to trade. This trade briefly gave Pepsi more firepower than Canada or Australia. They disarmed the Soviets faster than the US military ever could. The next time you pop a cold can, remember: it once disarmed an empire.