OK, I was able to find a little more info. Jo-Jo sodas were bottled by the Milwaukee Beverage Company.
Curious as to why the OP excluded Dr. Pepper. In certain locations is beats out Coke and Pepsi. I get that it’s legally not considered a “cola” under a federal court ruling, which permits it to be distributed alongside Coke or Pepsi without running afoul of certain exclusivity distribution deals for Coke and Pepsi. Which is primarily due to shrewd legal negotiations by Dr. Pepper’s attorneys. But it’s a dark caffeinated carbonated soft drink.
Fiesta Mart here in Texas sells it pretty prominently. I haven’t been in a Fiesta in months, but I suspect it takes the place of what would be a house brand soda, as they have Coke, Dr. Pepper and Pepsi stuff (including every flavor of Fanta, it seems), as well as several brands of Mexican sodas like Jarritos, Topo Sabores, Sidral Mundet (red and green apple), and mineral waters like Topo Chico and Penafiel.
It’s certainly cheap enough to be a house brand there.
I remember RC and (at least in stores) Shasta and Faygo from my youth (1970’s-80’s, central Illinois). I don’t remember the last time I saw any of them.
I think nowadays in restaurant-type settings there’s always either Coke or Pepsi, while in grocery stores the “third cola” would be the store brand.
That doesn’t make it a cola. I don’t like cola, but I do like Dr. Pepper.
If you want cola, you drink cola (Coke, Pepsi, etc.). If you want Dr. Pepper, you drink Dr. Pepper (or Mr. Pibb, or a store-brand equivalent).
Not at all. I absolutely freaking LOVE this retro stuff. I got off work at 0700 and didn’t need to check in on a store I own until 0900. It was a great morning to ride, too!
The first evidence that I didn’t dream the whole thing… Thank you.
Same in Ontario. I used to see RC Cola and Jolt and I haven’t seen either in ages. I guess the third cola would be a generic grocery store brand, unless yolu count Dr. Pepper as a cola. When I was really young the third cola would have been Pop Shoppe but that’s a rare find now. Boutique restaurants sometimes serve Jones brand soft drinks, which include a decent cola.
I always assumed Dr. Pepper was basically a cherry cola. C-O-L-A cola.
Simple. Dr. Pepper is not a cola. No further explanation is needed.
Mr. Pibb is not a store brand. It’s owned by Coca-Cola. It has been renamed Pibb Xtra.
Yes, I know. That’s why I said “Mr. Pibb or a store-brand equivalent” (i.e. equivalent of Pepper/Pibb).
I was never really clear whether “Pibb Xtra” was just renamed, or reformulated, or what, vis a vis Mr. Pibb, nor whether Xtra replaced Mr or coexisted with it.
I remember Pop Shoppe! You would take your bottles back to the depot so they could be reused. In many ways we were much smarter then.
My parents lost a couple thousand dollars investing in Pop Shoppe, back in the day when you had to work with a stockbroker to buy and sell stock. And perhaps because of that ownership, we visited the local store a few times.
My theory is that Mr. Pibb was embarrassed that he wasn’t a Doctor, like Pepper.
But I’m glad those “other brown drinks” aren’t included. They just aren’t colas (and do NOT play well with spiced rum or good whisky like a good Mexican Coke does).
Your question seems to me to make as much sense as asking “What’s the 3rd biggest Marvel property?” and wondering why someone can’t say “Batman”. I excluded Dr Pepper in my OP because although it is brown, fizzy and caffeinated it has a completely different taste structure to cola, (but I knew if I didn’t people would say stuff life “Sprite” and “Dr Pepper”.) Even with that caveat Monty goes on about an orange drink being the “3rd cola” in China 
I’d wager that throughout the US RC Cola is the #3 brand. In terms of raw liters sold, it’s probably whatever the local store brand is but that’s not a “brand” per se. RC is a staple in most bars and restaurants that use otherwise unbranded soda, though in really-low rent places you’ll get Swanel on the soda gun. I’m not aware of a single regional macro or craft brand that does any volume in Colas, they are all fruit or specialty flavors like creme soda or root beers.
Oooh, do a root beer thread next!
Not for lack of trying. It was briefly called Dr. Pibb, but Dr. Pepper sued them and won.
Michigan.
Faygo, of course. I’m not a huge fan of Faygo cola, but their other flavors are some of the best. Candy Apple Faygo is probably the best soda/pop I’ve ever had.