Buffalo’s off-brand pop of the ’80s

By Steve Cichon
steve@buffalostories.com
@stevebuffalo

Pepsi was “the choice of the new generation,” and Coke was busy reformulating “New Coke” and then bringing back “Coke Classic.”

The cola wars were fierce, and all children of the ’80s certainly had picked a side — even if they didn’t always get to drink Coke or Pepsi.

Thrifty Buffalonians have always enjoyed off-brands of almost anything. Supermarkets and department stores like Tops, Bells, Super Duper, Twin Fair and Two Guys, among others, offered store-brand soda pop, but brands like Faygo and the RC Cola family of beverages were considered a slight step above — even if they weren’t in the trenches of the cola wars.

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Steve Cichon

Steve Cichon writes about Buffalo’s pop culture history. His stories of Buffalo's past have appeared more than 1600 times in The Buffalo News. He's a proud Buffalonian helping the world experience the city he loves. Since the earliest days of the internet, Cichon's been creating content celebrating the people, places, and ideas that make Buffalo unique and special. The 25-year veteran of Buffalo radio and television has written five books and curates The Buffalo Stories Archives-- hundreds of thousands of books, images, and audio/visual media which tell the stories of who we are in Western New York.