Cancel the Coke and Pringles

The $4 million deal between Procter & Gamble (Cincinnati) and Coca-Cola (Atlanta) that would have created a point-of-purchase colossus has been revised and significantly reduced. P&G said it will keep its Sunny Delight drink and Pringles potato chips brands rather than folding them into the previously announced marketing joint venture. Instead, Coke will simply distribute the products through its bottler system.

Speculation is that sales of both products have been increasing in recent months, convincing P&G it was better off keeping them.

In February, the two consumer products behemoths announced a multi-million-dollar venture to bring together as one company 40 of their existing food-and-beverage brands, including: Minute Maid, Hi-C, Fruitopia, Bacardi Real Fruit Mixers, Five-Alive and Bright & Early (from Coke); and Pringles, Sunny Delight, Eagle brand snacks, Punica (the leading nectar-based beverage in Germany) and some products under development by P&G.