Students can get a refreshing lesson in free enterprise at, of all places, the Dr Pepper Museum in Waco, Texas. The man who built the Dr Pepper brand after starting his career driving trucks had a dream of educating the public on the many creative nuances and social benefits of creating a successful business. He proposed to do this by using soft drinks—the embodiment of an industry built on fun and fancy rather than necessity—as a model. In 1997, the museum created the W. W. Clements Free Enterprise Institute to bring his dream to life.
“Advertising and Marketing Kid Style” is one of three day-long programs put on for Texas school children by the Clements Institute. Students first tour the museum’s exhibits—which include a replica of an old corner drugstore and a section of bottling equipment—to get acquainted with the principal product and the soft-drink industry in general. Then they get a crash course in entrepreneurship, with hands-on training that leads them to create their own product, logo, and marketing campaign, including a video commercial. Staff members judge the finished products and marketing materials. This gives students a taste of market competition and of the hard work it takes to succeed as an entrepreneur.
- Free Enterprise Institute, drpeppermuseum.com/FEI/Free-Enterprise-Institute.aspx