Editing Virgin Cola (section)

== Decline ==
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| quote = “We had a great brand. But Coke had a great brand. The taste of the Cola was maybe marginally better, but it was neither here nor there. So since then what I learned from that was only to go into businesses where we were palpably better than all the competition.”

—Branson's retrospective on Virgin Cola.<ref>Smith, Edward. [https://www.cnbc.com/2017/02/07/what-richard-branson-learned-when-coke-put-virgin-cola-out-of-business.html ''What Richard Branson learned when Coke put Virgin Cola out of business''], cnbc.com 07 February 2017. Retrieved on 13 May 2022.</ref>
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According to Branson, a campaign was run by [[The Coca-Cola Company]] against Virgin Cola.<ref name=vc>{{cite web|url=https://www.inc.com/eric-schurenberg/sir-richard-branson-they-set-out-to-squash-us-and-they-did-it-effectively.html |title="They set out to squash us and they did it effectively." |publisher=Inc.com |date= 4 March 2013|accessdate=2021-04-23}}</ref> Originally Coca-Cola did not treat Virgin as a serious competitor, but when Virgin started outselling Coke in the United Kingdom and entered the American market, Coke realised it needed to do something. At the suggestion of a British Coca-Cola executive, Coke assembled teams for an influencing campaign.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://au.sports.yahoo.com/secret-billionaire-richard-branson-apos-100100205.html |title=The Secret of Billionaire Richard Branson's Success |publisher=Yahoo Sports |date=2018-11-01 |accessdate=2021-04-23}}</ref> Its intent was to make deals with retailers that sold Coke and Virgin Cola to get Virgin Cola removed from the shelves.<ref>{{cite book |first=Richard |last=Branson |title=Losing my Virginity |page=402 |publisher=Random House |year=2007 |isbn=978-0753513002}}</ref> Branson admitted Virgin did not know this was going on and it eventually led to a drop in sales.<ref name=cn /> Branson did become aware that the drink had become discontinued in [[Tesco]], the UK's biggest supermarket.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Branson |first=Richard |date=January 2017 |title=How I Made This Podcast with Guy Raz |website=[[NPR]] |url=https://www.npr.org/2017/01/30/511817806/virgin-richard-branson }}</ref> Later the Coke executive would work for [[Lloyds Bank|Lloyds TSB]] and would become the manager of Virgin Group's bank accounts to which Branson, when he found out from her at a dinner, said "I wasn't sure whether to strangle her or not" but forgave her for it.<ref name=cn>{{cite web|author=Catherine Clifford |url=https://www.cnbc.com/2017/02/07/what-richard-branson-learned-when-coke-put-virgin-cola-out-of-business.html |title=What Richard Branson learned when Coke put Virgin Cola out of business |publisher=CNBC |date= 7 February 2017|accessdate=2021-04-23}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|first=Graham |last=Besinger |url=http://www.grahambensinger.com/index.php/episode-guide-2/episode-archive-2/sir-richard-branson/ |title=Sir Richard Branson |publisher=In Depth |date= |accessdate=2021-04-23}}</ref>

In 2007, [[Silver Spring Soft Drinks|Silver Spring]] acquired the UK licence from [[Princes Group]], who had been operating Virgin Cola in a limited capacity.<ref name="mw100708">{{cite news|url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-181186428.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130513111850/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-181186428.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=13 May 2013|title=Virgin Cola signs TV show tie-up ahead of relaunch.(Virgin Drinks Group Ltd.)(Brief article)|newspaper=[[Marketing Week]]|date=10 July 2008|access-date=27 November 2012}}</ref> However, the company stopped producing Virgin Cola by early 2009, though would hold on to the license until it fell into [[administration (law)|administration]] in 2012.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2009-03-01|title=Our Drinks Range|url=http://silverspring.co.uk/pages/products/prod_home.aspx?pg=445|access-date=2021-08-13|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090301030251/http://silverspring.co.uk/pages/products/prod_home.aspx?pg=445|archive-date=1 March 2009}}</ref>

In 2014, Global Beverage Company Limited, the final international licensee for Virgin Cola, based in [[Bangladesh]], stopped producing the beverage, leading to its total demise.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2013-01-13 |title=Global Beverage Company Limited:: |url=http://www.ahlbd.com/gbcl/ |access-date=2024-02-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130113144520/http://www.ahlbd.com/gbcl/ |archive-date=13 January 2013 }}</ref> Branson claimed he decided to pull the plug after seeing that Bangladesh was the only remaining success.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Clifford |first=Catherine |date=2017-02-07 |title=What Richard Branson learned when Coke put Virgin Cola out of business |url=https://www.cnbc.com/2017/02/07/what-richard-branson-learned-when-coke-put-virgin-cola-out-of-business.html |access-date=2024-02-10 |website=CNBC |language=en}}</ref>