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View information about Coca-Cola. You can view the history of Coca-Cola and their impact on branding.
Coca-Cola
- Coca-Cola
- Beverages
- 1886
The story of Coca-Cola:
It's the logo that's known around the world, belonging to an iconic soft drink brand. And it started out as an elixir, invented in Columbus, Georgia by a chemist name John Pemberton.
It was first sold at Jacob's Pharmacy in Atlanta…
…for a nickel a glass.
The drink's name is derived from its two main ingredients, kola nuts and coca leaves. In the early days, it had a pinch of cocaine, since extracted. But the Coca Cola recipe remains one of the most closely guarded trade secrets in the world.
The Coca Cola logo was created by Frank Robinson…
…who was Pemberton's book-keeper. Although it's been altered a bit over the year's it's maintained its basic look.
The business was bought out by Asa Candler…
…whose marketing skills helped make it a global brand.
Coca Cola produces the concentrate that's then sold to bottlers who package it in cans and bottles. Concentrate is also distributed for sale in soda fountains.
Candler, for all his genius, missed out on a great opportunity, however, when two Tennessee businessmen, Benjamin Thomas and Joseph Whitehead, proposed bottling the stuff and Asa sold the rights for one dollar!
Chattanooga, Tennessee became the same of the first Coke bottling plant.
And there's a monument at the site…
…where the Coke bottle was born.
Its bottles are as well-known as the logo itself.
Coke even helped to popularize the notion that Santa wears a red suit.
And its TV commercials inspired a hit pop tune in the 1970's.
Coke also successfully built off the brand with Diet Coke, Cherry Coke, Zero, Vanilla and caffeine-free versions.
But for all the things Coca-Cola did right, it did have one very serious blunder in 1985, when it discarded it's long successful, secret recipe in favor of a new formula that it called New Coke.
It pushed the plan in a big ad campaign.
But the public wasn't buying it.
And Coca Cola quickly returned to its roots, rebottling the tried and true formula as
Today, Coca Cola is sold around the world and sponsors many sports events. It has been criticized by some health and consumer groups as contributing to obesity because of its high sugar content, but to this day the caramel colored soft drink is the world's leading seller.