Coca-Cola is one of the most popular beverage brands in the world.
In addition to carbonated drinks, Coca-Cola is also a beverage manufacturer that sells various other drinks including citrus drinks such as Fanta, Dasani and Minute Mid.
Coca-Cola was invented in a pharmacy
The origins of Coca-Cola began in 1886 when a pharmacist from Atlanta, Georgia, Dr. John Stith Pemberton has created a flavored syrup to treat a variety of ailments.
He then mixed the flavored syrup with carbonated water so that the drink became a soft drink.
The drink was sold through a soda fountain at a pharmacy called Jacob's Pharmacy.
Frank Robinson who is an accountant for Pemberton is the individual responsible for creating the Coca-Cola name and logo so that it becomes an iconic logo that is remembered around the world.
Robinson took inspiration from the name of the ingredient used by Pemberton in producing Coca-Cola which is a combination of coca leaf extract and caffeine from kola beans.
Robinson suggested using the letter 'c' instead of the letter 'k' for the word 'cola' because the combination of the two 'c's in the Coca-Cola name is more suitable and attractive for advertising and marketing purposes.
Coca-Cola Changed Ownership & Marketed
In 1887, Pemberton sold part of his company to several parties, the majority of which was held by Asa Candler, a pharmacist and businessman, for $2,300.
Candler finally owned all the rights to Coca-Cola in 1890 and since then he began to carry out aggressive marketing and advertising activities to market Coca-Cola throughout the United States (US).
Among the efforts carried out by Candler include distributing coupons to the public to try Coca-Cola for free and advertising it in newspapers in the US.
Candler successfully marketed Coca-Cola outside the Atlanta area until the drink became one of the most famous drinks in the US.
Coca-Cola Begins to Be Bottled
After seeing the high demand for Coca-Cola, Joseph Biedenharn as a soda fountain machine operator created a bottling machine and bottled the drink to make Coca-Cola water easier to drink and take anywhere.
This also made Biedenharn the first individual to bottle Coca-Cola in 1894.
In 1899, three enterprises in Chattanooga, Tennessee held the exclusive rights to produce, bottle and mass-distribute Coca-Cola.
Asa Candler sold the rights for just $1 to the three companies.
Benjamin Thomas, Joseph Whitehead and John Lupton pioneered the bottling system until the system is used around the world to this day.
The use of the bottle got a lot of competition when many other beverage companies started imitating the Coca-Cola bottle.
Therefore, Coca-Cola got the idea to produce its own bottle with the Coca-Cola logo engraved and a unique shape in 1916.
Involved in the Issue of Prohibited Materials in the Content
Around the early 1900s, Coca-Cola was once associated with the use of cocaine extract and an excessive amount of caffeine in the manufacture of its drinks, but this issue has been denied by Coca-Cola.
Cocaine at that time was not considered dangerous and was allowed to American citizens until 1914.
In 1919, Coca-Cola was sold for $25 million to a group of investors led by Ernest Woodruff.
His son, Robert Winship Woodruff became president and chairman of Coca-Cola for three decades.
I'd Like to Buy the World a Coke
In 1971, a song titled "I'd Like to Buy the World a coke" was created by Billy Davis and Roger Cook for the purpose of marketing Coca-Cola around the world.
The idea was inspired by Bill Backer who is the creative director of Coca-Cola. He commissioned two lyricists to create a song for Coca-Cola.
On February 12, 1971, the song was launched on radio stations across the US, but it was not well received by the public.
Therefore, Becker suggested that the song should be visualized so that it might be able to attract people's attention.
The budget to produce the video was $250,000 and was the largest budget ever used for commercial television advertising in that era.
Finally in July of the same year, the video was shown and it managed to get a positive reaction from the public.
In November 1971, Coca-Cola had received 100,000 letters praising the song and advertisement that Coca-Cola had launched.
Company Challenges & Downfalls
Coca-Cola faced challenges from other beverage companies and suffered a drop in sales in 1985.
Therefore, they have created a new drink known as New Coke and also changed a new logo.
But New Coke was not well received when their customers preferred the old Coca-Cola flavor.
Production of New Coke was completely discontinued in 2002.
But that is not an obstacle for Coca-Cola to continue to progress in business in the following years.
Until now, Coca-Cola has been sold all over the world except in two countries, namely Cuba and North Korea.
This makes Cola-Cola the largest and most famous beverage company in the world.
For you, is Coca-Cola the best carbonated water in the world?
