1886-1892
Atlanta
Beginnings
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| The Place were Coca-Cola was sell |
It was 1886, and in New York Harbour,
workers were constructing the Statue of Liberty. Eight hundred miles away,
another great American symbol was about to be unveiled.
Like many people who change history, John
Pemberton, an Atlanta pharmacist, was inspired by simple
curiosity. One
afternoon, he stirred up a fragrant, caramel-colored liquid and, when it was
done, he carried it a few doors down to Jacobs' Pharmacy. Here, the mixture was
combined with carbonated water and sampled by customers who all agreed that
this new drink was something special So Jacobs' Pharmacy put it on sale for
five cents a glass.
Pemberton's bookkeeper, Frank Robinson,
named the mixture Coca-Cola®, and wrote it out in his distinct script. To this
day, Coca-Cola is written the same way. In the first year, Pemberton sold just
9 glasses of Coca-Cola a day.
A century later, The Coca-Cola Company has
produced more than 10 billion gallons of syrup. Unfortunately for Pemberton, he
died in 1888 without realizing the success of the beverage he had created.
Over the course of three years, 1888-1891,
Atlanta businessman Asa Griggs Candler secured rights to the business for a
total of about $2,300. Candler would become the Company's first president, and
the first to bring real vision to the business and the brand.
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| Coca-Cola Add |
1893-1904
Beyond
Atlanta
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| Coca-Cola Add |
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| Coca-Cola Add |
Asa G. Candler, a natural born salesman,
transformed Coca-Cola from an invention into a business. He knew there were
thirsty people out there, and Candler found brilliant and innovative ways to
introduce them to this exciting new refreshment. He gave away coupons for
complimentary first tastes of Coca-Cola, and outfitted distributing pharmacists
with clocks, urns, calendars and apothecary scales bearing the Coca-Cola brand.
People saw Coca-Cola everywhere, and the aggressive promotion worked. By 1895,
Candler had built syrup plants in Chicago, Dallas and Los Angeles.
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| Coca-Cola team |
Inevitably, the soda's popularity led to a
demand for it to be enjoyed in new ways. In 1894, a Mississippi businessman
named Joseph Biedenharn became the first to put Coca-Cola in bottles. He sent
12 of them to Candler, who responded without enthusiasm.
Despite being a brilliant and innovative
businessman, he didn't realize then that the future of Coca-Cola would be with
portable, bottled beverages customers could take anywhere. He still didn't
realize it five years later, when, in 1899, two Chattanooga lawyers, Benjamin
F. Thomas and Joseph B. Whitehead, secured exclusive rights from Candler to
bottle and sell the beverage -- for the sum of only one dollar.
1905-1918
Safeguarding
the Brand
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| Coca-Cola transport |
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| 1st Bottle of Coca-Cola |
The Coca-Cola Company was none too pleased
about the proliferation of copycat beverages taking advantage of its success.
This was a great product, and a great brand. Both needed to be protected.
Advertising focused on the authenticity of Coca-Cola, urging consumers to
"Demand the genuine" and "Accept no substitute."
The Company also decided to create a
distinctive bottle shape to assure people they were actually getting a real Coca-Cola.
The Root Glass Company of Terre Haute, Indiana, won a contest to design a
bottle that could be recognized in the dark. In 1916, they began manufacturing
the famous contour bottle. The contour bottle, which remains the signature
shape of Coca-Cola today, was chosen for its attractive appearance, original
design and the fact that, even in the dark, you could identify the genuine
article.
As the country roared into the new century,
The Coca-Cola Company grew rapidly, moving into Canada, Panama, Cuba, Puerto
Rico, France, and other countries and U.S. territories. In 1900, there
were two bottlers of Coca-Cola; by 1920, there would be about 1,000.
1919-1940
The
Woodruff Legacy
Perhaps no person had more impact on The
Coca-Cola Company than Robert Woodruff. In 1923, four years after his father
Ernest purchased the Company from Asa Candler, Woodruff became the Company
president. While Candler had introduced the U.S. to Coca-Cola, Woodruff would
spend more than 60 years as Company leader introducing the beverage to the
world beyond.
Woodruff was a marketing genius who saw
opportunities for expansion everywhere. He led the expansion of Coca-Cola
overseas and in 1928 introduced Coca-Cola to the Olympic Games for the first
time when Coca-Cola traveled with the U.S. team to the 1928 Amsterdam Olympics.
Woodruff pushed development and distribution of the six-pack, the open top
cooler, and many other innovations that made it easier for people to drink
Coca-Cola at home or away. This new thinking made Coca-Cola not just a huge
success, but a big part of people's lives.
1941-1959
The
War and its Legacy
In 1941, America entered World War II.
Thousands of men and women were sent overseas. The country, and Coca-Cola,
rallied behind them. Woodruff ordered that "every man in uniform gets a
bottle of Coca-Cola for 5 cents, wherever he is, and whatever it costs the
Company." In 1943, General Dwight D. Eisenhower sent an urgent cablegram
to Coca-Cola, requesting shipment of materials for 10 bottling plants. During
the war, many people enjoyed their first taste of the beverage, and when peace
finally came, the foundations were laid for Coca-Cola to do business overseas.
Woodruff’s vision that Coca-Cola be placed
within "arm's reach of desire," was coming true -- from the mid-1940s
until 1960, the number of countries with bottling operations nearly doubled.
Post-war America was alive with optimism and prosperity. Coca-Cola was part of
a fun, carefree American lifestyle, and the imagery of its advertising -- happy
couples at the drive-in, carefree moms driving big yellow convertibles --
reflected the spirit of the times.
1960-1981
A
World of Customers
After 70 years of success with one brand,
Coca-Cola®, the Company decided to expand with new flavors: Fanta®, originally developed
in the 1940s and introduced in the 1950s; Sprite® followed in 1961, with TAB®
in 1963 and Fresca® in 1966. In 1960, The Coca-Cola Company acquired The Minute
Maid Company, adding an entirely new line of business -- juices -- to the
Company.
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| 1st Can bottel of Coca-Cola |
The Company's presence worldwide was
growing rapidly, and year after year, Coca-Cola found a home in more and more
places: Cambodia, Montserrat, Paraguay, Macau, Turkey and more.
Advertising for Coca-Cola, always an
important and exciting part of its business, really came into its own in the
1970s, and reflected a brand connected with fun, friends and good times. The
international appeal of Coca-Cola was embodied by a 1971 commercial, where a
group of young people from all over the world gathered on a hilltop in Italy to
sing "I'd Like to Buy the World a Coke."
In 1978, The Coca-Cola Company was selected
as the only Company allowed selling packaged cold drinks in the People's
Republic of China.
1982-1989
Diet
Coke and New Coke
The 1980s -- the era of legwarmers,
headbands and the fitness craze, and a time of much change and innovation at
The Coca-Cola Company. In 1981, Roberto C. Goizueta became chairman of The
Board of Directors and CEO of The Coca-Cola Company. Goizueta, who fled
Castro's Cuba in 1961, completely overhauled the Company with a strategy he called
"intelligent risk taking."
Among his bold moves was organizing the
numerous U.S. bottling operations into a new public company, Coca-Cola
Enterprises Inc. He also led the introduction of diet Coke®, the very first
extension of the Coca-Cola trademark; within two years, it had become the top
low-calorie drink in the world, second in success only to Coca-Cola.
One of Goizueta's other initiatives, in
1985, was the release of a new taste for Coca-Cola, the first change in
formulation in 99 years. In taste tests, people loved the new formula, commonly
called “new Coke.” In the real world, they had a deep emotional attachment to
the original, and they begged and pleaded to get it back. Critics called it the
biggest marketing blunder ever. But the Company listened, and the original
formula was returned to the market as Coca-Cola classic®, and the product began
to increase its lead over the competition -- a lead that continues to this day.
1990-1999
New
Markets and Brands
The 1990s were a time of continued growth
for The Coca-Cola Company. The Company's long association with sports was
strengthened during this decade, with ongoing support of the Olympic Games,
FIFA World Cup™ football (soccer), Rugby World Cup and the National Basketball
Association. Coca-Cola classic became the Official Soft Drink of NASCAR racing,
connecting the brand with one of the world's fastest growing and most popular
spectator sports.
And 1993 saw the introduction of the
popular "Always Coca-Cola" advertising campaign, and the world met
the lovable Coca-Cola Polar Bear for the first time. New markets opened up as
Coca-Cola products were sold in East Germany in 1990 and returned to India in
1993.
New beverages joined the Company's line-up,
including Powerade® sports drink, Qoo® children's fruit drink and Dasani®
bottled water. The Company's family of brands further expanded through
acquisitions, including Limca®, Maaza® and Thums Up® in India, Barq's® root
beer in the U.S., Inca Kola® in Peru, and Cadbury Schweppes'® beverage brands
in more than 120 countries around the world. By 1997, the Company already sold
1 billion servings of its products every day, yet knew that opportunity for
growth was still around every corner.
2000-Now
Coca-Cola
Now
In 1886, Coca-Cola® brought refreshment to
patrons of a small Atlanta pharmacy. Now well into its second century, the
Company's goal is to provide magic every time someone drinks one of its more
than 500 brands. Coca-Cola has fans from Boston to Budapest to Bahrain,
drinking brands such as Ambasa, Vegitabeta and Frescolita. In the remotest
comers of the globe, you can still find Coca-Cola.
Coca-Cola is committed to local markets,
paying attention to what people from different cultures and backgrounds like to
drink, and where and how they want to drink it. With its bottling partners, the
Company reaches out to the local communities it serves, believing that
Coca-Cola exists to benefit and refresh everyone it touches.
From the early beginnings when just nine
drinks a day were served, Coca-Cola has grown to the world’s most ubiquitous
brand, with more than 1.7 billion beverage servings sold each day. When people
choose to reach for one of The Coca-Cola Company brands, the Company wants that
choice to be exciting and satisfying, every single time.
