In December 2021, a piece of text supposedly written by the "Dr Pepper Corporation" saying it opposed mandates for the COVID-19 vaccine was recirculated on social media:
This is not a genuine statement from the makers of Dr Pepper.
The statement reads:
"Dr Pepper is Texas. The Dr Pepper Corporation was established and based in the State of Texas in 1885 and this email serves as notice to all employed by Dr Pepper Corporation that no matter the trials of the political winds, Dr Pepper Corporation will not abide by any regulation or mandate that stipulates that our employees be vaccinated or face termination of employment. Each individual person that is employed by Dr Pepper Corporation is responsible solely for decisions pertaining to their individual health and it is not the position of Dr Pepper Corporation to mandate otherwise to it's employees. Dr Pepper Corporation is prepared with full legal council, to protect Dr Pepper Corporation and all it's employees, if need be, from any type of such vaccination mandate. Be advised, your position with Dr Pepper is and shall remain safe from such mandate.
For starters, there is no such thing as the "Dr Pepper Corporation." The popular soft drink was first made in the 1800s and is currently owned by a company called Keurig Dr Pepper. This statement was not released by Keurig Dr Pepper.
When this false statement was first circulated on social media in September 2021 (around the same time the Biden administration announced a vaccine mandate for federal employees), Keurig Dr Pepper Corporate Communications Vice President Vicki Draughn confirmed that this statement did not originate with the company.
In an email to Check Your Fact, Draughn said:
“I can confirm that is not a communications from the Company, or an employee or the brand ... Keurig Dr Pepper expects it will be subject to the vaccination and testing mandate recently announced by The White House, and we are awaiting additional details.”