Coca-Cola

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to: navigation, search
This article is about the beverage. For its manufacturer, see The Coca-Cola Company.
"Coca-Cola Classic" redirects here. For the NCAA football game, see Coca-Cola Classic
(college football).

Coca-Cola

2 Liter Bottle Label

Type Soft drink

Manufacturer The Coca-Cola Company

Country of origin United States

Introduced 1886

Color Caramel E-150d

Cola, Cola Cherry, Cola Vanilla, Cola

Green Tea, Cola Lemon, Cola Lemon
Flavor
Lime, Cola Lime, Cola Orange and
Cola Raspberry.

Variants See Brand portfolio section below

 Pepsi
Irn Bru
RC Cola
Cola Turka
Zam Zam Cola
Mecca-Cola
Related products Virgin Cola
Parsi Cola
Qibla Cola
Evoca Cola
Corsica Cola
Breizh Cola
Afri Cola

The Las Vegas Strip World of Coca-Cola museum in 2003

Coca-Cola is a carbonated soft drink sold in the stores, restaurants, and vending machines of
more than 200 countries.[1] It is produced by The Coca-Cola Company of Atlanta, Georgia,
and is often referred to simply as Coke (a registered trademark of The Coca-Cola Company
in the United States since March 27, 1944). Originally intended as a patent medicine when it
was invented in the late 19th century by John Pemberton, Coca-Cola was bought out by
businessman Asa Griggs Candler, whose marketing tactics led Coke to its dominance of the
world soft-drink market throughout the 20th century.

The company produces concentrate, which is then sold to licensed Coca-Cola bottlers
throughout the world. The bottlers, who hold territorially exclusive contracts with the
company, produce finished product in cans and bottles from the concentrate in combination
with filtered water and sweeteners. The bottlers then sell, distribute and merchandise Coca-
Cola to retail stores and vending machines. Such bottlers include Coca-Cola Enterprises,
which is the largest single Coca-Cola bottler in North America and western Europe. The
Coca-Cola Company also sells concentrate for soda fountains to major restaurants and food
service distributors.

The Coca-Cola Company has, on occasion, introduced other cola drinks under the Coke
brand name. The most common of these is Diet Coke, with others including Caffeine-Free
Coca-Cola, Diet Coke Caffeine-Free, Coca-Cola Cherry, Coca-Cola Zero, Coca-Cola Vanilla,
and special editions with lemon, lime or coffee.

In response to consumer insistence on a more natural product, the company is in the process
of phasing out E211, or sodium benzoate, the controversial additive used in Diet Coke and
linked to DNA damage in yeast cells and hyperactivity in children. The company has stated
that it plans to remove E211 from its other products, including Sprite and Oasis, as soon as a
satisfactory alternative is found.[2]

Contents
[hide]

 1 History
o 1.1 New Coke
o 1.2 21st century
 2 Use of stimulants in formula
o 2.1 Coca — cocaine
o 2.2 Kola nuts — caffeine
 3 Production
o 3.1 Ingredients
o 3.2 Formula of natural flavorings
o 3.3 Franchised production model
 4 Brand portfolio
o 4.1 Logo design
o 4.2 Contour bottle design
o 4.3 Coke Mini
 5 Local competitors
 6 Advertising
o 6.1 Holiday campaigns
o 6.2 Sports sponsorship
o 6.3 In mass media
 7 Health effects
 8 Criticism
 9 Use as political and corporate symbol
 10 See also
 11 Notes
 12 External links

History
Believed to be the first coupon ever, this ticket for a free glass of Coca-Cola was first
distributed in 1888 to help promote the drink. By 1913, the company had redeemed 8.5
million tickets.[3]

This Coca-Cola advertisement from 1943 is still displayed in the small city of Minden,
Louisiana.

The prototype Coca-Cola recipe was formulated at the Eagle Drug and Chemical Company, a
drugstore in Columbus, Georgia by John Pemberton, originally as a coca wine called
Pemberton's French Wine Coca.[4][5] He may have been inspired by the formidable success of
Vin Mariani, a European coca wine.[6]

In 1886, when Atlanta and Fulton County passed prohibition legislation, Pemberton
responded by developing Coca-Cola, essentially a non-alcoholic version of French Wine
Coca.[7] The first sales were at Jacob's Pharmacy in Atlanta, Georgia, on May 8, 1886.[8] It
was initially sold as a patent medicine for five cents[9] a glass at soda fountains, which were
popular in the United States at the time due to the belief that carbonated water was good for
the health.[10] Pemberton claimed Coca-Cola cured many diseases, including morphine
addiction, dyspepsia, neurasthenia, headache, and impotence. Pemberton ran the first
advertisement for the beverage on May 29 of the same year in the Atlanta Journal.[11]

By 1888, three versions of Coca-Cola — sold by three separate businesses — were on the
market. Asa Griggs Candler acquired a stake in Pemberton's company in 1887 and
incorporated it as the Coca Cola Company in 1888.[12] The same year, while suffering from an
ongoing addiction to morphine,[13] Pemberton sold the rights a second time to four more
businessmen: J.C. Mayfield, A.O. Murphey, C.O. Mullahy and E.H. Bloodworth. Meanwhile,
Pemberton's alcoholic[14] son Charley Pemberton began selling his own version of the
product.[15]

John Pemberton declared that the name "Coca-Cola" belonged to Charley, but the other two
manufacturers could continue to use the formula. So, in the summer of 1888, Candler sold his
beverage under the names Yum Yum and Koke. After both failed to catch on, Candler set out
to establish a legal claim to Coca-Cola in late 1888, in order to force his two competitors out
of the business. Candler purchased exclusive rights to the formula from John Pemberton,
Margaret Dozier and Woolfolk Walker. However, in 1914, Dozier came forward to claim her
signature on the bill of sale had been forged, and subsequent analysis has indicated John
Pemberton's signature was most likely a forgery as well.[16]

Old German Coca-Cola bottle opener

In 1892 Candler incorporated a second company, The Coca-Cola Company (the current
corporation), and in 1910 Candler had the earliest records of the company burned, further
obscuring its legal origins. By the time of its 50th anniversary, the drink had reached the
status of a national icon in the USA. In 1935, it was certified kosher by Rabbi Tobias Geffen,
after the company made minor changes in the sourcing of some ingredients.[17]

Coca-Cola was sold in bottles for the first time on March 12, 1894. The first outdoor wall
advertisement was painted in the same year as well in Cartersville, Georgia.[18] Cans of Coke
first appeared in 1955.[19] The first bottling of Coca-Cola occurred in Vicksburg, Mississippi,
at the Biedenharn Candy Company in 1891. Its proprietor was Joseph A. Biedenharn. The
original bottles were Biedenharn bottles, very different from the much later hobble-skirt
design that is now so familiar. Asa Candler was tentative about bottling the drink, but two
entrepreneurs from Chattanooga, Tennessee, Benjamin F. Thomas and Joseph B. Whitehead,
proposed the idea and were so persuasive that Candler signed a contract giving them control
of the procedure for only one dollar. Candler never collected his dollar, but in 1899
Chattanooga became the site of the first Coca-Cola bottling company.[20] The loosely termed
contract proved to be problematic for the company for decades to come. Legal matters were
not helped by the decision of the bottlers to subcontract to other companies, effectively
becoming parent bottlers.[21]

Coke concentrate, or Coke syrup, was and is sold separately at pharmacies in small
quantities, as an over-the-counter remedy for nausea or mildly upset stomach.

New Coke

Main article: New Coke

One of Coke's ads to promote the flavor change.

On April 23, 1985, Coca-Cola, amid much publicity, attempted to change the formula of the
drink with "New Coke". Follow-up taste tests revealed that most consumers preferred the
taste of New Coke to both Coke and Pepsi, but Coca-Cola management was unprepared for
the public's nostalgia for the old drink, leading to a backlash. The company gave in to
protests and returned to a variation of the old formula, under the name Coca-Cola Classic on
July 10, 1985.

21st century

On February 7, 2005, the Coca-Cola Company announced that in the second quarter of 2005
they planned to launch a Diet Coke product sweetened with the artificial sweetener sucralose,
the same sweetener currently used in Pepsi One.[22][23] On March 21, 2005, it announced
another diet product, Coca-Cola Zero, sweetened partly with a blend of aspartame and
acesulfame potassium.[24] In 2007, Coca-Cola began to sell a new "healthy soda": Diet Coke
with vitamins B6, B12, magnesium, niacin, and zinc, marketed as "Diet Coke Plus."

On July 5, 2005, it was revealed that Coca-Cola would resume operations in Iraq for the first
time since the Arab League boycotted the company in 1968.[25]

In April 2007, in Canada, the name "Coca-Cola Classic" was changed back to "Coca-Cola."
The word "Classic" was truncated because "New Coke" was no longer in production,
eliminating the need to differentiate between the two.[26] The formula remained unchanged.

In January 2009, Coca-Cola stopped printing the word "Classic" on the labels of 16-ounce
bottles sold in parts of the southeastern United States.[27] The change is part of a larger
strategy to rejuvenate the product's image.[27]

In November 2009, due to a dispute over wholesale prices of Coca-Cola products, Costco
stopped restocking its shelves with Coke and Diet Coke.[28]

Use of stimulants in formula

When launched Coca-Cola's two key ingredients were cocaine (benzoylmethyl ecgonine) and
caffeine. The cocaine was derived from the coca leaf and the caffeine from kola nut, leading
to the name Coca-Cola (the "K" in Kola was replaced with a "C" for marketing purposes).[29]
[30]

Coca — cocaine

Pemberton called for five ounces of coca leaf per gallon of syrup, a significant dose; in 1891,
Candler claimed his formula (altered extensively from Pemberton's original) contained only a
tenth of this amount. Coca-Cola did once contain an estimated nine milligrams of cocaine per
glass, but in 1903 it was removed.[31] Coca-Cola still contains coca flavoring.

After 1904, instead of using fresh leaves, Coca-Cola started using "spent" leaves — the
leftovers of the cocaine-extraction process with cocaine trace levels left over at a molecular
level.[32] To this day, Coca-Cola uses as an ingredient a cocaine-free coca leaf extract
prepared at a Stepan Company plant in Maywood, New Jersey.

In the United States, Stepan Company is the only manufacturing plant authorized by the
Federal Government to import and process the coca plant,[33] which it obtains mainly from
Peru and, to a lesser extent, Bolivia. Besides producing the coca flavoring agent for Coca-
Cola, Stepan Company extracts cocaine from the coca leaves, which it sells to Mallinckrodt,
a St. Louis, Missouri pharmaceutical manufacturer that is the only company in the United
States licensed to purify cocaine for medicinal use.[34]

Kola nuts — caffeine

Kola nuts act as a flavoring and the source of caffeine in Coca-Cola. In Britain, for example,
the ingredient label states "Flavourings (Including Caffeine)."[35] Kola nuts contain about 2
percent to 3.5 percent caffeine, are of bitter flavor and are commonly used in cola soft drinks.
In 1911, the U.S. government initiated United States v. Forty Barrels and Twenty Kegs of
Coca-Cola, hoping to force Coca-Cola to remove caffeine from its formula. The case was
decided in favor of Coca-Cola. Subsequently, in 1912 the U.S. Pure Food and Drug Act was
amended, adding caffeine to the list of "habit-forming" and "deleterious" substances which
must be listed on a product's label.

Coca-Cola contains 46 mg of caffeine per 12 fluid ounces, while Caffeine-Free Coca-Cola
and Diet Coke Caffeine-Free contain 0 mg.[36]

Production
Coca-Cola 375 mL 24 can pack (AU)

Ingredients

 Carbonated water
 Sugar (sucrose or high-fructose corn syrup depending on country of origin)
 Caffeine
 Phosphoric acid v. Caramel (E150d)
 Natural flavorings[37]

A can of Coke (12 fl ounces/355 ml) has 39 grams of carbohydrates (all from sugar,
approximately 10 teaspoons),[38] 50 mg of sodium, 0 grams fat, 0 grams potassium, and 140
calories.[39]

Formula of natural flavorings

Main article: Coca-Cola formula

The exact formula of Coca-Cola's natural flavorings (but not its other ingredients which are
listed on the side of the bottle or can) is a trade secret. The original copy of the formula is
held in SunTrust Bank's main vault in Atlanta. Its predecessor, the Trust Company, was the
underwriter for the Coca-Cola Company's initial public offering in 1919. A popular myth
states that only two executives have access to the formula, with each executive having only
half the formula.[40] The truth is that while Coca-Cola does have a rule restricting access to
only two executives, each knows the entire formula and others, in addition to the prescribed
duo, have known the formulation process.[41]

On February 11, 2011 Ira Glass revealed on his PRI radio show, This American Life, that the
secret formula to Coca-Cola had been uncovered in a 1979 newspaper. The formula found
basically matched the formula found in Pemberton's diary.[42][43][44][45]

Franchised production model

The actual production and distribution of Coca-Cola follows a franchising model. The Coca-
Cola Company only produces a syrup concentrate, which it sells to bottlers throughout the
world, who hold Coca-Cola franchises for one or more geographical areas. The bottlers
produce the final drink by mixing the syrup with filtered water and sweeteners, and then
carbonate it before putting it in cans and bottles, which the bottlers then sell and distribute to
retail stores, vending machines, restaurants and food service distributors.[46]

The Coca-Cola Company owns minority shares in some of its largest franchises, like Coca-
Cola Enterprises, Coca-Cola Amatil, Coca-Cola Hellenic Bottling Company (CCHBC) and
Coca-Cola FEMSA, but fully independent bottlers produce almost half of the volume sold in
the world. Independent bottlers are allowed to sweeten the drink according to local tastes.[47]

The bottling plant in Skopje, Macedonia, received the 2009 award for "Best Bottling
Company".[48]

Brand portfolio
Name Launched Discontinued Notes Picture

Coca-Cola 1886 The original version of Coca-Cola.

Caffeine-Free The caffeine free version of Coca-

1983
Coca-Cola Cola.

Was available in Canada starting in

1996. Called "Cherry Coca-Cola
Coca-Cola
1985 (Cherry Coke)" in North America until
Cherry
2006. Zero-calorie variant (Coca-Cola
Cherry Zero) also currently available.
New
Still available in Yap and American
Coke/"Coca- 1985 2002
Samoa
Cola II"

Still available in:

American Samoa, Austria, Belgium,

Brazil, China, Denmark, Federation of
Bosnia and Herzegovina, Finland,
Coca-Cola France, Germany, Hong Kong,
2001 2005
with Lemon Iceland, Korea, Luxembourg, Macau,
Malaysia, Mongolia, Netherlands,
Norway, Réunion, Singapore, Spain,
Switzerland, Taiwan, Tunisia, United
Kingdom, United States, and West
Bank-Gaza
Still available in:

Austria, Australia, China, Germany,

Hong Kong, New Zealand (600 mL
2002 2005
Coca-Cola only) Malaysia, Sweden (Imported)
Vanilla and Russia. Was called "Vanilla Coca-
Cola (Vanilla Coke)" during initial
U.S. availability.
It was reintroduced in June 2007 by
2007
popular demand

Was only available in Japan, Canada,

Coca-Cola C2 2003 2007
and the United States.

Available in Belgium, Netherlands,

Coca-Cola
2005 Singapore, Canada, the United
with Lime
Kingdom, and the United States.
Coca-Cola
June 2005 End of 2005 Was only available in New Zealand.
Raspberry

Coca-Cola
2005
Zero

Only available in Federation of Bosnia

Coca-Cola M5 2005 and Herzegovina, Germany, Italy,
Spain, Mexico and Brazil
Coca-Cola
Middle of Was replaced by Vanilla Coke in June
Black Cherry 2006
2007 2007
Vanilla
Only available in the United States,
France, Canada, Czech Republic,
Coca-Cola Beginning of
2006 Slovak Republic, Federation of Bosnia
Blāk 2008
and Herzegovina, Bulgaria and
Lithuania
Only available in Federation of Bosnia
Coca-Cola
2006 and Herzegovina, New Zealand and
Citra
Japan.
Coca-Cola
2006 Only available in France and Belgium.
Light Sango
Only available in the United Kingdom
Coca-Cola and Gibraltar. In Germany, Austria
2007
Orange and Switzerland it's sold unter the
label Mezzo Mix.

Logo design

Detail on Elmira Coca-Cola Bottling Plant, Elmira, NY.

The famous Coca-Cola logo was created by John Pemberton's bookkeeper, Frank Mason
Robinson, in 1885.[49] Robinson came up with the name and chose the logo's distinctive
cursive script. The typeface used, known as Spencerian script, was developed in the mid 19th
century and was the dominant form of formal handwriting in the United States during that
period.

Robinson also played a significant role in early Coca-Cola advertising. His promotional
suggestions to Pemberton included giving away thousands of free drink coupons and
plastering the city of Atlanta with publicity banners and streetcar signs.[50]

Contour bottle design

Earl R. Dean's original 1915 concept drawing of the contour Coca-Cola bottle.

The prototype never made it to production since its middle diameter was larger than its base,
making it unstable on conveyor belts.

The equally famous Coca-Cola bottle, called the "contour bottle" within the company, but
known to some as the "hobble skirt" bottle, was created by bottle designer Earl R. Dean. In
1915, the Coca-Cola Company launched a competition among its bottle suppliers to create a
new bottle for the beverage that would distinguish it from other beverage bottles, "a bottle
which a person could recognize even if they felt it in the dark, and so shaped that, even if
broken, a person could tell at a glance what it was."[51]
Chapman J. Root, president of the Root Glass Company of Terre Haute, Indiana, turned the
project over to members of his supervisory staff, including company auditor T. Clyde
Edwards, plant superintendent Alexander Samuelsson, and Earl R. Dean, bottle designer and
supervisor of the bottle molding room. Root and his subordinates decided to base the bottle's
design on one of the soda's two ingredients, the coca leaf or the kola nut, but were unaware of
what either ingredient looked like. Dean and Edwards went to the Emeline Fairbanks
Memorial Library and were unable to find any information about coca or kola. Instead, Dean
was inspired by a picture of the gourd-shaped cocoa pod in the Encyclopedia Britannica.
Dean made a rough sketch of the pod and returned back to the plant to show Mr. Root. He
explained to Root how he could transform the shape of the pod into a bottle. Chapman Root
gave Dean his approval.[51]

Faced with the upcoming scheduled maintenance of the mold-making machinery, over the
next 24 hours Dean sketched out a concept drawing which was approved by Root the next
morning. Dean then proceeded to create a bottle mold and produced a small number of bottles
before the glass-molding machinery was turned off.[52]

Chapman Root approved the prototype bottle and a design patent was issued on the bottle in
November, 1915. The prototype never made it to production since its middle diameter was
larger than its base, making it unstable on conveyor belts. Dean resolved this issue by
decreasing the bottle's middle diameter. During the 1916 bottler's convention, Dean's contour
bottle was chosen over other entries and was on the market the same year. By 1920, the
contour bottle became the standard for the Coca-Cola Company. Today, the contour Coca-
Cola bottle is one of the most recognized packages on the planet..."even in the dark!".[53]

As a reward for his efforts, Dean was offered a choice between a $500 bonus or a lifetime job
at the Root Glass Company. He chose the lifetime job and kept it until the Owens-Illinois
Glass Company bought out the Root Glass Company in the mid-1930s. Dean went on to work
in other Midwestern glass factories.

Although endorsed by some[who?], this version of events is not considered authoritative by

many[who?] who consider it implausible. One alternative depiction has Raymond Loewy as the
inventor of the unique design, but, while Loewy did serve as a designer of Coke cans and
bottles in later years, he was in the French Army the year the bottle was invented and did not
emigrate to the United States until 1919. Others have attributed inspiration for the design not
to the cocoa pod, but to a Victorian hooped dress.[54]

In 1944, Associate Justice Roger J. Traynor of the Supreme Court of California took
advantage of a case involving a waitress injured by an exploding Coca-Cola bottle to
articulate the doctrine of strict liability for defective products. Traynor's concurring opinion
in Escola v. Coca-Cola Bottling Co. is widely recognized as a landmark case in U.S. law
today.[55]

In 1997, Coca-Cola also introduced a "contour can," similar in shape to its famous bottle, on
a few test markets, including Terre Haute, Indiana.[56] The new can has never been widely
released.

A new slim and tall can began to appear in Australia as of December 20, 2006; it cost
AU$1.95. The cans have a distinct resemblance to energy drink cans. The cans were
commissioned by Domino's Pizza and are available exclusively at their restaurants.
In January 2007, Coca-Cola Canada changed "Coca-Cola Classic" labeling, removing the
"Classic" designation, leaving only "Coca-Cola." Coca-Cola stated this is merely a name
change and the product remains the same. The cans still bear the "Classic" logo in the United
States.

In 2007, Coca-Cola introduced an aluminum can designed to look like the original glass
Coca-Cola bottles.

In 2007, the company's logo on cans and bottles changed. The cans and bottles retained the
red color and familiar typeface, but the design was simplified, leaving only the logo and a
plain white swirl (the "dynamic ribbon").

In 2008, in some parts of the world, the plastic bottles for all Coke varieties (including the
larger 1.5- and 2-liter bottles) was changed to include a new plastic screw cap and a slightly
taller contoured bottle shape, designed to evoke the old glass bottles.[57]

Coke Mini

200 mL "stubby" bottle widely available throughout China. These are sold in small shops for
1 yuan, and must be consumed on site in order to return the bottle.

Coke mini is a 7.5 ounce can packaging of Coca-Cola that debuted in December 2009.[58][59][60]
There are plans to also sell smaller cans of Sprite, Fanta Orange, Cherry Coca-Cola and
Barq's Root Beer.[61]

Local competitors
Pepsi is usually second to Coke in sales, but outsells Coca-Cola in some markets. Around the
world, some local brands compete with Coke. In South and Central America Kola Real,
known as Big Cola in Mexico, is a fast-growing competitor to Coca-Cola.[62] On the French
island of Corsica, Corsica Cola, made by brewers of the local Pietra beer, is a growing
competitor to Coca-Cola. In the French region of Brittany, Breizh Cola is available. In Peru,
Inca Kola outsells Coca-Cola, which led The Coca-Cola Company to purchase the brand in
1999. In Sweden, Julmust outsells Coca-Cola during the Christmas season.[63] In Scotland, the
locally produced Irn-Bru was more popular than Coca-Cola until 2005, when Coca-Cola and
Diet Coke began to outpace its sales.[64] In India, Coca-Cola ranked third behind the leader,
Pepsi-Cola, and local drink Thums Up. The Coca-Cola Company purchased Thums Up in
1993.[65] As of 2004, Coca-Cola held a 60.9% market-share in India.[66] Tropicola, a domestic
drink, is served in Cuba instead of Coca-Cola, due to a United States embargo. French brand
Mecca Cola and British brand Qibla Cola, popular in the Middle East, are competitors to
Coca-Cola. In Turkey, Cola Turka is a major competitor to Coca-Cola. In Iran and many
countries of Middle East, Zam Zam Cola and Parsi Cola are major competitors to Coca-Cola.
In some parts of China Future cola is a competitor. In Slovenia, the locally produced Cockta
is a major competitor to Coca-Cola, as is the inexpensive Mercator Cola, which is sold only
in the country's biggest supermarket chain, Mercator. In Israel, RC Cola is an inexpensive
competitor. Classiko Cola, made by Tiko Group, the largest manufacturing company in
Madagascar, is a serious competitor to Coca-Cola in many regions. Laranjada is the top-
selling soft drink on the Portuguese island of Madeira. Coca-Cola has stated that Pepsi was
not its main rival in the UK, but rather Robinsons drinks.[citation needed]

Advertising

An 1890s advertisement showing model Hilda Clark in formal 19th century attire. The ad is
titled Drink Coca-Cola 5¢. (US)
Coca-Cola ghost sign in Fort Dodge, Iowa. Note older Coca-Cola ghosts behind Borax and
telephone ads.

Coca-Cola signboard in Lahore, Pakistan.

Coca-Cola sales booth on the Cape Verde island of Fogo in 2004.

Coca-Cola's advertising has significantly affected American culture, and it is frequently

credited with inventing the modern image of Santa Claus as an old man in a red-and-white
suit. Although the company did start using the red-and-white Santa image in the 1930s, with
its winter advertising campaigns illustrated by Haddon Sundblom, the motif was already
common.[67][68] Coca-Cola was not even the first soft drink company to use the modern image
of Santa Claus in its advertising: White Rock Beverages used Santa in advertisements for its
ginger ale in 1923, after first using him to sell mineral water in 1915.[69][70] Before Santa
Claus, Coca-Cola relied on images of smartly dressed young women to sell its beverages.
Coca-Cola's first such advertisement appeared in 1895, featuring the young Bostonian actress
Hilda Clark as its spokeswoman.

1941 saw the first use of the nickname "Coke" as an official trademark for the product, with a
series of advertisements informing consumers that "Coke means Coca-Cola".[71] In 1971 a
song from a Coca-Cola commercial called "I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing", produced
by Billy Davis, became a hit single.

Coke's advertising is pervasive, as one of Woodruff's stated goals was to ensure that everyone
on Earth drank Coca-Cola as their preferred beverage. This is especially true in southern
areas of the United States, such as Atlanta, where Coke was born.

Some of the memorable Coca-Cola television commercials between 1960 through 1986 were
written and produced by former Atlanta radio veteran Don Naylor (WGST 1936–1950,
WAGA 1951–1959) during his career as a producer for the McCann Erickson advertising
agency. Many of these early television commercials for Coca-Cola featured movie stars,
sports heroes and popular singers.
During the 1980s, Pepsi-Cola ran a series of television advertisements showing people
participating in taste tests demonstrating that, according to the commercials, "fifty percent of
the participants who said they preferred Coke actually chose the Pepsi." Statisticians were
quick to point out the problematic nature of a 50/50 result: most likely, all the taste tests
really showed was that in blind tests, most people simply cannot tell the difference between
Pepsi and Coke. Coca-Cola ran ads to combat Pepsi's ads in an incident sometimes referred to
as the cola wars; one of Coke's ads compared the so-called Pepsi challenge to two
chimpanzees deciding which tennis ball was furrier. Thereafter, Coca-Cola regained its
leadership in the market.

Selena was a spokesperson for Coca-Cola from 1989 till the time of her death. She filmed
three commercials for the company. In 1994, to commemorate her five years with the
company, Coca-Cola issued special Selena coke bottles.[72]

The Coca-Cola Company purchased Columbia Pictures in 1982, and began inserting Coke-
product images in many of its films. After a few early successes during Coca-Cola's
ownership, Columbia began to under-perform, and the studio was sold to Sony in 1989.

Coca-Cola has gone through a number of different advertising slogans in its long history,
including "The pause that refreshes," "I'd like to buy the world a Coke," and "Coke is it" (see
Coca-Cola slogans).

In 2006, Coca-Cola introduced My Coke Rewards, a customer loyalty campaign where

consumers earn points by entering codes from specially marked packages of Coca-Cola
products into a website. These points can be redeemed for various prizes or sweepstakes
entries.[73]

Holiday campaigns

Coca-Cola Christmas truck in Dresden, Germany.

The "Holidays are coming!" advertisement features a train of red delivery trucks, emblazoned
with the Coca-Cola name and decorated with electric lights, driving through a snowy
landscape and causing everything that they pass to light up and people to watch as they pass
through.[74]

The advertisement fell into disuse in 2001, as the Coca-Cola company restructured its
advertising campaigns so that advertising around the world was produced locally in each
country, rather than centrally in the company's headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia.[75] However,
in 2007, the company brought back the campaign after, according to the company, many
consumers telephoned its information center saying that they considered it to mark the
beginning of Christmas.[74] The advertisement was created by U.S. advertising agency Doner,
and has been part of the company's global advertising campaign for many years.[76]

Keith Law, a producer and writer of commercials for Belfast CityBeat, was not convinced by
Coca-Cola's reintroduction of the advertisement in 2007, saying that "I don't think there's
anything Christmassy about HGVs and the commercial is too generic."[77]

In 2001, singer Melanie Thornton recorded the campaign's advertising jingle as a single,
Wonderful Dream (Holidays are Coming), which entered the pop-music charts in Germany at
no. 9.[78][79] In 2005, Coca-Cola expanded the advertising campaign to radio, employing
several variations of the jingle.[80]

Sports sponsorship

Special aluminum bottle designs, designed exclusively for the Vancouver 2010 Olympic
Winter Games Torch Relay. Available in Canada.

Coca-Cola was the first commercial sponsor of the Olympic games, at the 1928 games in
Amsterdam, and has been an Olympics sponsor ever since.[81] This corporate sponsorship
included the 1996 Summer Olympics hosted in Atlanta, which allowed Coca-Cola to
spotlight its hometown. Most recently, Coca-Cola has released localized commercials for the
2010 Olympics in Vancouver; one Canadian commercial referred to Canada's hockey
heritage and was modified after Canada won the gold medal game on February 28, 2010 by
changing the ending line of the commercial to say "Now they know whose game they're
playing".[82]

Since 1978, Coca-Cola has sponsored each FIFA World Cup, and other competitions
organised by FIFA. In fact, one FIFA tournament trophy, the FIFA World Youth
Championship from Tunisia in 1977 to Malaysia in 1997, was called "FIFA  — Coca Cola
Cup".[83] In addition, Coca-Cola sponsors the annual Coca-Cola 600 and Coke Zero 400 for
the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina
and Daytona International Speedway in Daytona, Florida. Coca-Cola has a long history of
sports marketing relationships, which over the years have included Major League Baseball,
the National Football League, National Basketball Association and the National Hockey
League, as well as with many teams within those leagues. Coca-Cola is the official soft drink
of many collegiate football teams throughout the nation.

Coca-Cola was one of the official sponsors of the 1996 Cricket World Cup held on the Indian
subcontinent. Coca Cola is also one of the associate sponsor of Delhi Daredevils in Indian
Premier League.

In England, Coca-Cola is the main sponsor of The Football League, a name given to the three
professional divisions below the Premier League in football (soccer). It is also responsible for
the renaming of these divisions  — until the advent of Coca-Cola sponsorship, they were
referred to as Divisions One, Two and Three. Since 2004, the divisions have been known as
The Championship (equiv. of Division 1), League One (equiv. of Div. 2) and League 2
(equiv. of Division 3). This renaming has caused unrest amongst some fans, who see it as
farcical that the third tier of English Football is now called "League One." In 2005, Coca-
Cola launched a competition for the 72 clubs of the football league  — it was called "Win a
Player". This allowed fans to place 1 vote per day for their beloved club, with 1 entry being
chosen at random earning £250,000 for the club; this was repeated in 2006. The "Win A
Player" competition was very controversial, as at the end of the 2 competitions, Leeds United
AFC had the most votes by more than double, yet they did not win any money to spend on a
new player for the club. In 2007, the competition changed to "Buy a Player". This
competition allowed fans to buy a bottle of Coca-Cola Zero or Coca-Cola and submit the
code on the wrapper on the Coca-Cola website {www.coca-colafootball.co.uk}. This code
could then earn anything from 50p to £100,000 for a club of their choice. This competition
was favored over the old "Win A Player" competition, as it allowed all clubs to win some
money.

Introduced March 1, 2010, in Canada, to celebrate the 2010 Olympics, Coca Cola will sell
gold coloured cans in packs of 12 355 mL each, in select stores.[84]

In mass media

Coca-Cola has been prominently featured in countless films and television programs. It was a
major plot element in films such as One, Two, Three, The Coca-Cola Kid, and The Gods
Must Be Crazy. It provides a setting for comical corporate shenanigans in the novel Syrup by
Maxx Barry. And in music, in the Beatles' song, "Come Together", the lyrics said, "He shoot
Coca-Cola, he say...".

Health effects
Since studies indicate "soda and sweetened drinks are the main source of calories in [the]
American diet",[85] most nutritionists advise that Coca-Cola and other soft drinks can be
harmful if consumed excessively, particularly to young children whose soft drink
consumption competes with, rather than complements, a balanced diet. Studies have shown
that regular soft drink users have a lower intake of calcium, magnesium, ascorbic acid,
riboflavin, and vitamin A.[86] The drink has also aroused criticism for its use of caffeine,
which can cause physical dependence.[87] A link has been shown between long-term regular
cola intake and osteoporosis in older women (but not men).[88] This was thought to be due to
the presence of phosphoric acid, and the risk was found to be same for caffeinated and
noncaffeinated colas, as well as the same for diet and sugared colas.

A common criticism of Coke based on its allegedly toxic acidity levels has been found to be
baseless by researchers; lawsuits based on these notions have been dismissed by several
American courts for this reason. Although numerous court cases have been filed against The
Coca-Cola Company since the 1920s, alleging that the acidity of the drink is dangerous, no
evidence corroborating this claim has been found. Under normal conditions, scientific
evidence indicates Coca-Cola's acidity causes no immediate harm.[89]

Since 1980 in the U.S., Coke has been made with high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) as an
ingredient. Originally it was used in combination with more expensive cane-sugar, but by late
1984 the formulation was sweetened entirely with HFCS. Some nutritionists caution against
consumption of HFCS because it may aggravate obesity and type-2 diabetes more than cane
sugar.[90] Also, a 2009 study found that almost half of tested samples of commercial HFCS
contained mercury, a toxic substance.[91]

In India, there is a major controversy whether there are pesticides and other harmful
chemicals in bottled products, including Coca-Cola. In 2003 the Centre for Science and
Environment (CSE), a non-governmental organization in New Delhi, said aerated waters
produced by soft drinks manufacturers in India, including multinational giants PepsiCo and
Coca-Cola, contained toxins including lindane, DDT, malathion and chlorpyrifos  —
pesticides that can contribute to cancer and a breakdown of the immune system. CSE found
that the Indian produced Pepsi's soft drink products had 36 times the level of pesticide
residues permitted under European Union regulations; Coca-Cola's soft drink was found to
have 30 times the permitted amount. CSE said it had tested the same products sold in the U.S.
and found no such residues.[92] After the pesticide allegations were made in 2003, Coca-Cola
sales in India declined by 15 percent. In 2004 an Indian parliamentary committee backed up
CSE's findings and a government-appointed committee was tasked with developing the
world's first pesticide standards for soft drinks. The Coca-Cola Company has responded that
its plants filter water to remove potential contaminants and that its products are tested for
pesticides and must meet minimum health standards before they are distributed.[93] In the
Indian state of Kerala sale and production of Coca-Cola, along with other soft drinks, was
initially banned after the allegations, until the High Court in Kerala overturned ruled that only
the federal government can ban food products. Coca-Cola has also been accused of excessive
water usage in India.[94]

The 2008 Ig Nobel Prize (a parody of the Nobel Prizes) in Chemistry was awarded to Sheree
Umpierre, Joseph Hill, and Deborah Anderson, for discovering that Coca-Cola is an effective
spermicide,[95] and to C.Y. Hong, C.C. Shieh, P. Wu, and B.N. Chiang for proving it is not.[96]
[97]

Criticism
Main article: Criticism of Coca-Cola
Coca-Cola has been criticized for alleged adverse health effects, its aggressive marketing to
children, exploitative labor practices, high levels of pesticides in its products, building plants
in Nazi Germany which employed slave labor, environmental destruction, monopolistic
business practices, and hiring paramilitary units to murder trade union leaders. In October
2009, in an effort to improve their image, Coca-Cola partnered with the American Academy
of Family Physicians, providing a $500,000 grant to help promote healthy-lifestyle education;
the partnership spawned sharp criticism of both Coca-Cola and the AAFP by physicians and
nutritionists.[98]

Use as political and corporate symbol

Coca-Cola advertising in the High Atlas mountains in Morocco.

Coke dispenser flown aboard the Space Shuttle in 1996. (US)

The Coca-Cola drink has a high degree of identification with the United States, being
considered by some an "American Brand" or as an item representing America. The
identification with the spread of American culture has led to the pun "Coca-Colanization".[68]
[99]

The drink is also often a metonym for the Coca-Cola Company.

There are some consumer boycotts of Coca-Cola in Arab countries due to Coke's early
investment in Israel during the Arab League boycott of Israel (its competitor Pepsi stayed out
of Israel).[100] Mecca Cola and Pepsi have been successful alternatives in the Middle East.
A Coca-Cola fountain dispenser (officially a Fluids Generic Bioprocessing Apparatus-2 or
FGBA-2) was developed for use on the Space Shuttle as "a test bed to determine if
carbonated beverages can be produced from separately stored carbon dioxide, water and
flavored syrups and determine if the resulting fluids can be made available for consumption
without bubble nucleation and resulting foam formation". The unit flew in 1996 aboard STS-
77 and held 1.65 liters each of Coca-Cola and Diet Coke.[101]

See also

Coca-Cola is an all-American product and its Classic Coca-Cola beverage recipe has withstood the
tests of time, even shaking off efforts to make an improved “New Coke” formula. The American public
wasn’t having any of it. “Classic is better” and “Keep the original” were cries that could be heard from
across the country, as well as around the world.

In the vortex of the 20th century's constant change it has been a source of reassurance to find a new
points of stability, a few commodities not subject to the whims of fashion and planned obsolescence.
The red and white Coca-Cola logo is instantly recognizable, a guarantee of standardization and an
emblem of the American Way of Life, as potent as the Stars and Stripes itself.

Coca-Cola was Coca-Cola was definitely an American original and the most widely distributed mass-
produced item in America when World War II began and the war provided an opportunity to spread
the product into Europe and Asia. Its standardization of experience is both what we admire about its
production, and what we occasionally dread about its effects.

When European conservatives inveighed against the incursions of crass American values into their
ancient cultures, the Coca-Cola logo epitomized all that they resented, and for the young the very act
of drinking Coke became a minor form of rebellion against stifling tradition.

Coke's advertising tells us this carbonated syrup "Is It," although we have not been told what "It" is.
The formula is a long-held, well-guarded secret, and so it should be, because the foaming dark brown
liquid is an elixir: Coke "Adds Life". These famous artists from every era have created timeless Coke
images of refreshment we know and love. Old Coca Cola prints from the National Geographic
magazine featured timeless Coca Cola ads on their back covers 7 months of the year since the
1930's. Things, whatever things are, "Go Better" with it.

They always did: a 1905 ad declared it to be "a delightful palatable healthful beverage. It relieves
fatigue and is indispensable for business and professional men, students, wheelmen and athletes."

Such claims might be disputed, but not for the drink's supreme claim, the perfect ad-line for the
perfect product, that Coca-Cola is "the Real Thing". This is a triumph of the American corporation and
advertising industry. If Coke is the Real Thing, what can we possibly call artificial or fake?