ECola

"The world leader in the manufacture and marketing of sugary caffeinated beverages that turn 8-year-olds into manic fatsos."

- Description at LCN.com.

eCola is a soft drink brand featured in both the 3D Universe and HD Universe. The player can buy stocks from them in the Lcn-exchange.com website in GTA V.

3D Universe
The eCola name first appears in GTA Vice City Stories in the form of red non-interactive Vending Machines scattered throughout Vice City.

Grand Theft Auto IV
The drink reappears in Grand Theft Auto IV, where eCola vending machines, like those of Sprunk, may be used by the player to replenish their health - curiously, they only dispense cans of Orang-O-Tang.

There is an eCola store on the corner of Exeter Avenue and Uranium Street, East Holland, Algonquin and on Beaumont Avenue near the intersection of Guantanamo Avenue in Industrial, Bohan. The player can also purchase an eCola background for their upgraded phone via Vipluxuryringtones.com. Yankee trucks may appear with an all-red eCola livery, complete with eCola logos on the sides.

Sprunk and eCola were competing against each other in the market but in real life, Sprite and Coca-Cola are both owned by the same company.

Grand Theft Auto V
In Grand Theft Auto V, the player can purchase and drink eCola cans that can be bought from convenience stores and vending machines. There is also a version of eCola known as eCola Light, as seen in GTA V on soda dispensers in convenience stores.

eCola is mentioned, according to a website in GTA V, to have been founded in the late 19th century, and to have used cocaine as an ingredient before substituting with sugar. This is a nod to the original history of Coca-Cola, which was created in the late 19th century (1886, more specifically), and used to have cocaine, as it was originally intended as a medicinal product).

DJ George on Radio Mirror Park mentioned that the station is sponsored by eCola, which is now available in the retro 1950s bottle.

Influence
The eCola name is a play on the E. coli bacteria and the Ebola virus; the company's slogan even states the drink is "Deliciously infectious!", which could imply that the drink is contaminated.

Its color implying it is a caricature of Coca-Cola and the logo is similar to Pepsi Cola. The eCola Light variant is a parody of Diet Coke or Coke Zero.

The eCola logo has some similarities with the Orangina logo.

Trivia

 * The eCola glass bottles on the vending machines are much like older Dr. Pepper glass bottles.
 * A Las Venturas prostitute in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas will sometimes ask "Have you ever tried ECola?" if she is talking to the pedestrian. Despite this, ECola is not actually seen in the game.