Nuka-Cola Corporation
Nobody can say whether John-Caleb Bradberton intended to create a cultural phenomenon when he first introduced his iconic beverage in 2044, but that’s exactly what he did. Fueled by savvy marketing and a formula that included 120% of the USDA recommended daily sugar intake in every serving, it dominated the market within just a few years.
Not content to rest on his laurels, Bradberton continued to experiment and develop new formulas and flavors, introducing them to market and broadening his company’s already dominating share. Some of these flavors came from in-house research and development, but more often they happened when a competitor’s flavor saw sufficient popularity. Friendly buyouts, hostile takeover, and various forms of skullduggery practically ensured that flavor would be a proud part of the Nuka-Cola lineup within a scant handful of quarters.
Nuka-World, a theme park celebrating the success and cultural standing of the brand, opened its doors on May 1, 2050. At the time, it incorporated two sections: the Kiddie Kingdom, and Nuka-Town U.S.A. By 2077, another four sections had been added. Safari Adventure, Dry Rock Gulch, The World of Refreshment, and Galactic Zone; each offered a new genre in which to celebrate Nuka-Cola’s journey of refreshment.
Meanwhile, Nuka-Cola continued to sweep the globe and saturate the United States. By 2067, a single street without a Nuka-Cola vending machine was an anomaly; and its international expansion increased rather than decreased during the Sino-American War.
As global tensions mounted, Bradberton used his enormous personal wealth and deep corporate connections to turn the Galactic Zone into a personal refuge in case of nuclear war. He brokered a sponsorship deal with the military and various military contractors to allow military robotics to be installed in the Zone. Though ostensibly decommissioned examples of the future world Galactic Zone portrayed, they were in fact fully operational combat models Bradberton intended to rely on in the event of societal collapse. Beneath the Zone and its army of robotic defenders, he constructed a private sanctuary where he could live out the apocalypse in comfort.
But Bradberton was not content with just one bid for personal survival. That same year, he tasked his taste and additives chemistry team to help the U.S. Army develop chemical weapons and advanced materials for conventional weapon systems. In exchange, they included him in the LEAP-X life extension program. This move culminated in Bradberton being beheaded, and his head preserved permanently in his subterranean vault. With their leader’s severed head immobile in seclusion, the company ceased to exist less than a year later. Shortly after that, the bombs began to fall.
AFTER THE WAR
Nuka-Cola’s cultural importance continues even in the wastelands, with addicted survivors still questing for caches of the drink, which survived in the billions of units even after the Great War. Ruined vending machines sporting the iconic Nuka-Cola logo still dot
the landscape, even though most are long emptied of their inventories.
Comments