Coca-Cola has been under fire in the last few months over alleged labour abuses in India, Colombia and Turkey. A campaign is mounting against Coke that includes disinformation and propaganda. The actively enlightened in universities across North America are piling in to join in a boycott (here, here, and here), including Canadian campuses. It seems that every lefty in the civilised world is mobilising against the soft-drink giant.

Coke’s situation in Mexico is somewhat different. There, Coke is having old fashion competitive problems in the market. Mexico is one of the largest Coca-Cola consumers in the world. In spite of their nationalist gravitas, Mexicans have an uncanny loyalty to Coca-Cola. A friend of mine who works in the advertising industry in Mexico City, one of the largest ad markets in the world, once told me that Pepsi commercials in Mexico are always winning awards of all kinds. The ads are catchy and well-crafted, and everyone loves them, but people sign praises to the Pepsi commercials while they are enjoying a Coke. Pepsi has not been able significantly to pierce through to the consumer and make a difference in sales with their ads.

But Coke’s secure place in the Mexican market is being rocked. Coke is taking a little bit of a beating in the Mexican market by an unheard of, small newcomer. A Peruvian bottler selling Big Cola has been slowly eroding at the market share of the big bottlers in Mexico, including Pepsi, and are forcing them to lower their prices and make smaller profits. Sales of Coke and Pepsi are down; Big Cola sales are up. The big guys are now taking notice.

In an age of globalising competitiveness, where the assumption is always that the giant will have the upper hand, this story offers the opposing view. It shows that a sound pricing strategy, low budget production and distribution, and a decent product can break into a foreign market and make more than a dent. The little Peruvians are scaring the big Americans –which in the age of anti-Americanism also makes the story attractive to the Naomi Kleins of the planet. Most remarkable is the fact that Big Cola has had virtually no advertisement. Their marketing strategy is wrapped into their pricing.

This is and it is not David and Goliath story. Big Cola is not about to crush Coke, which holds more than two thirds of the Mexican pop market. But as Big Cola’s sales rise beyond eighteen percent this year, even though most of the Big Cola expansion has been at the detriment of Coke, they may put Pepsi’s share at peril in Coke’s counter-attack. Coke is unlikely to win its political battle against the world’s Borg. But the market battle in Mexico will be interesting to watch in the near future.