Ex-Western KY St FB Player dead at 99 & had served a Pepsi to Khrushchev in 1959..

Sep 21, 2020, 3:13 PM

Mr Donald Kendall, CEO of PepsiCo, died Saturday.

He was born poor in Washington State, milked cows b/4 getting a partial student/athletic schollie to play ball at a small Kentucky school and made extra $ as a shoe salesman..

In 1941 he quit after 3 semesters and enlisted in the Navy as a pilot and flew combat missions in the Pacific.

Joined Pepsi in 1947 and worked manual labor in a NY plant, then drove a delivery truck b/4 becoming a fountain-syrup salesman.

5 years later at age 31 he was promoted to VP of national sales and later headed up the international division.

When selected as CEO of Pepsi in 1963 at age 42, he began the “Pepsi Challenge” marketing campaign against COKE which exists today.

He also merged Pepsi & Frito-Lay Co into PepsiCo in 1965.

In 1959 he organized a booth at the American National Exhibit in Moscow and asked VP Richard Nixon to introduce him to Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev..

and when Mr Kendall handed the Soviet leader a cup of Pepsi, the rest is history when Nikita asked for several more refills of Pepsi-Cola and declared it “Refreshing”!

An interesting sidebar is that Nixon asked Mr Kendall to get some advice from outgoing President Lyndon Johnson..

and Lyndon said: “Tell Nixon he’s gonna like the new audio-taping system that he’d had installed in the Oval office as a helpful organizing tool.”

Ever heard of Watergate?

Lastly, Mr Kendall gave the green light for Pepsi to sponsor a Jacksons reunion concert tour with Michael Jackson for a $5 million price tag..regarded as an astronomical figure at the time.

Bottom line is a poor guy can get ahead in America through hard work, a football schollie and a soft drink!

G0 TiGERS..drink uP and enjoy the ride to the Natty!

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Ex-Western KY St FB Player dead at 99 & had served a Pepsi to Khrushchev in 1959..

Re: Ex-Western KY St FB Player dead at 99 & had served a Pepsi to Khrushchev in 1959..

Re: Ex-Western KY St FB Player dead at 99 & had served a Pepsi to Khrushchev in 1959..

Re: Ex-Western KY St FB Player dead at 99 & had served a Pepsi to Khrushchev in 1959..

Re: Ex-Western KY St FB Player dead at 99 & had served a Pepsi to Khrushchev in 1959..

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