# Question for vendors - Putting Pepsi in a Coke machine? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 10, 2003, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-vendors-putting-pepsi-in-a-coke-machine/212319 "2003-11-10T01:08:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2003, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-vendors-putting-pepsi-in-a-coke-machine/212319/1 "2003-11-10T01:08:31Z")
In the lobby at work we have a Coke machine. Prefering Diet Pepsi I asked the guy filling it if there was any chance of sneaking it in and he said, “Sure, no problem” and he did! So right there along side the giant lit-up **Coke** logo there’s a little **Diet Pepsi** button! Is this really allowed? I always assumed vending companies **never** bought the soda machines themselves because a) they’re too expensive and b) the soda companies use them as advertising. Somehow I feel this has to be a violation of some kind of contract and/or license agreement. ---
**Author:** ![Doomtrain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/0ea827/32.png) [@Doomtrain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doomtrain)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2003, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-vendors-putting-pepsi-in-a-coke-machine/212319/2 "2003-11-10T01:40:38Z")
I’ve seen vendors mix and match, but usually in “private” places (like the employee lounge). Just anecdotal and I don’t know if it’s allowed. And they aren’t that expensive. A regular can-dispensing Coke machine costs around $800-1500, at least on the sites I checked. ---
**Author:** ![cstamets](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/958977/32.png) [@cstamets](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cstamets)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2003, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-vendors-putting-pepsi-in-a-coke-machine/212319/3 "2003-11-10T02:54:59Z")
It depends on who owns the machine and who is filling it up. If it’s a Coke-owned machine, being maintained by Coke, forget about it. If it’s a Coke-owned machine, being maitained by someone else, if Coke finds out there are non-Coke products in it, they’ll probably threaten to pull the machine if the products aren’t removed. If it’s not owned by Coke, you can have anything you want put in it, as long as the guy loading it has what you want. Since the guy had Diet Pepsi, it’s probably pretty safe to say he’s not a Coke guy. The machine is probably owned by the vending company. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Carnage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/max_carnage/32/12775_2.png) [@Max\_Carnage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Carnage)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2003, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-vendors-putting-pepsi-in-a-coke-machine/212319/4 "2003-11-10T03:40:14Z")
The guy that fills the Coke machine at my work says that Pepsi would never allow it, but Coke allows up to two Pepsi products in their machines. ---
**Author:** ![critter42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7ba0ec/32.png) [@critter42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/critter42)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2003, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-vendors-putting-pepsi-in-a-coke-machine/212319/5 "2003-11-10T05:34:02Z")
You can actually buy vending machines at places like Sam’s or Costcos. Since you would then own them, you can put anything you want in them (Beer, anyone? ) :). Many of the private vending machine operators do this, and, depending how hard they work, can make a lot of money doing this. critter42 ---
**Author:** ![Badtz\_Maru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e36b37/32.png) [@Badtz\_Maru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Badtz_Maru)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2003, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-vendors-putting-pepsi-in-a-coke-machine/212319/6 "2003-11-10T05:43:33Z")
I ran a Coke machine for a while (it was owned by the apartment complex my mother was the assistant manager at, but the guy who was supposed to run it thought it was too much trouble). I put basically anything that was on sale in it - I even had one slot that I put a big question mark on which I put assorted sodas in. It was a lot of fun, and I made a lot of money - over $200 a week profit during the summer. ---
**Author:** ![Doomtrain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/0ea827/32.png) [@Doomtrain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doomtrain)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2003, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-vendors-putting-pepsi-in-a-coke-machine/212319/7 "2003-11-10T06:08:52Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by critter42 \* > \*\*You can actually buy vending machines at places like Sam’s or Costcos. Since you would then own them, you can put anything you want in them (Beer, anyone? ) :). \*\* Yea, I worked at a company that had beer in their Coke machine. It was very, very cool. ---
**Author:** ![Roches](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bc8723/32.png) [@Roches](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roches)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2003, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-vendors-putting-pepsi-in-a-coke-machine/212319/8 "2003-11-10T12:46:55Z")
GMRyujin: Did this company have punctuation in its name? =]