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In Malcolm Gladwell's 2005 book Blink, the pop science writer casts his contrarian gaze over the Pepsi Challenge, the 1975 marketing promotion that struck one of the most resounding blows in what has since been dubbed "The Cola Wars". Pepsi, it seemed, always came out on top in blindfold taste tests - and hence could, quite fairly, market itself as "America's choice".What Gladwell found was that Pepsi's methodology - to offer passers by only a small sip - loaded the die in their favour. Pepsi was sweeter, and thus preferable when consumed in small quantities. The fact that cola is drunk by the can - a quantity for which, arguably, a milder drink like Coca-Cola is more suitable - was, whether by design or accident, conveniently ignored.
I feel that there might be something similar going on with PES. Every year it's played briefly before launch by scores of curious FIFA devotees, and tends to be met by a chorus of approval. But it never seems to get any closer to dethroning its rival. Could it be that PES, though initially refreshing, just doesn't have the depth to last the course of a season?
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