Branding, Bourbon & Coke, Ramblings

I was thinking about branding this morning, remembering this video hat I saw recently describing Coca-Cola's marketing strategy. It occurred to me that, when I order a bourbon and Coke, I really want Coke mixed with my bourbon. I don't want Pepsi. Nobody orders bourbon and Pepsi or rum and Pepsi. And bartenders, universally, make bourbon and Coke. Sometimes they use the fountain dispenser, and maybe there is actually Pepsi on tap, but they never ask you, "is Pepsi okay?" It's kind of funny when restaurants do that because the real answer is, "do I have a choice if I want a cola, because if your answer is yes, then my answer would be no." And why is that, even though they may have limited options, most places will offer more than one type of beer. Nobody ever assumes that a beer is a beer is a beer. Why do they only offer one brand of cola? Do they think that by limiting my options, I'll suddenly develop a taste for the other brand? Is there anything "marketing" that would make me switch? You know, thinking back, I can remember slogans and taglines for booth brands from twenty years ago or more -- they pop back into my head and I relive them like they were playing on the radio today. And yet, twenty years later, I'm still going to order a bourbon and Coke.