In reality, customer preference is the only “clear objective measure of quality” that matters. You and I will have different opinions, and those opinions will m

In reality, customer preference is the only “clear objective measure of quality” that matters. You and I will have different opinions, and those opinions will motivate our purchasing decisions, and only once everyone’s opinions are priced in does the market deliver a verdict. And the most parsimonious reading of that verdict I can offer is simply: Coke and Shasta are two completely different products. Incidentally, Russians drink Pepsi because the Pepsi company bartered distribution rights to the Soviet Union in exchange for the US distribution rights to Stolnichnaya vodka. After the Cold War ended they renegotiated and the Russians threw in a bunch of old naval ships and submarines—for scrap value, but still.