There are actually a lot of smaller companies making craft sodas that are of a superior quality to the mainstream brands. They typically use cane sugar instead of high fructose corn syrup, and come in a wider variety of flavors. Plain cola gets boring fast. I much prefer cream sodas and birch or root beers. Here are some examples:

http://maineroot.com/ (uses fair trade organic sugar) https://www.boylanbottling.com/ http://reedsinc.com/

Personally, I never drink Coke, Pepsi or Dr Pepper products any more. A large part of the cost of those products is relentless marketing, shareholder dividends, and large corporate salaries. They no longer seem to care about delivering a quality product. How can they sell something called ginger ale if it doesn't actually have any ginger? For variety and depth of flavor any money I spend on soda is spent on craft soda.