Why Does FreeWater Wants Coke, Pepsi, and Nestle to Copy Their Business Model?

Most startups hide their strategies. FreeWater does the opposite — they made all their innovative business models open source and even published it all in a new book. That’s because their mission isn’t just to build a successful company. It’s to force the biggest corporations on Earth to change. They believe that when companies like Coca-Cola and Pepsi adopt free and negatively priced business models, they’ll not only make more money — they’ll help solve some of humanity’s biggest problems.

The core of this shift is simple: a product doesn’t have to earn revenue solely from the price printed on the label. When you fund it with advertising, affiliate commerce, data, targeted offers, and digital experiences, the economics transform completely. Suddenly, a can of soda isn’t just a drink — it’s a platform. And that platform can generate far more revenue than a single sale ever could.

In theory, a company like Pepsi could earn hundreds or even thousands of dollars from a single free beverage when it becomes the gateway to new types of revenue. Each can could deliver multiple personalized ads, link to e-commerce offers, trigger affiliate commissions, or even become the entry point for a subscription, download, or financial service. That level of monetization is impossible with the traditional “sell it once and move on” model.

This approach also unlocks new ways to manufacture and distribute products which would save the beverage giants billions of dollars annually. Instead of producing identical cans in massive batches, future factories can print individualized ads in real time, tailoring each unit to the end user. Distribution can shift from retail shelves to direct-to-consumer delivery, supported by ad revenue that offsets logistics costs. And the data collected — with full user consent — will offer companies a more accurate picture of consumer demand than they’ve ever had before, allowing them to produce only what people truly want.

The result is a win-win cycle: consumers get free or negatively priced products, companies generate more revenue, and every product becomes a force for good — with donations built directly into the model. Imagine if every Coke or Pepsi not only cost nothing but also funded a few cents toward clean water, food security, or renewable energy projects. The scale of that impact would be unprecedented.

This is why FreeWater makes its ideas open source — even putting the company’s biggest “secrets” into a book for the world to study and copy. Because if the giants of industry embrace these models, the global economy changes. Companies make more money, people save money, and the planet benefits. That’s the real goal — not to beat the big players, but to push them to help change the world.

FreeWater wants companies like Coke and Pepsi to copy them!