Coca-Cola
Coca-Cola (also known as Coke) is a popular carbonated soft drink sold in stores, restaurants and vending machines in over two hundred countries. It is one of the world's most recognizable and widely sold commercial brands. Coke's major rival is Pepsi.
Coca-Cola and Coke can also refer to the company that produces the soft drink, The Coca-Cola Company.
History
Early years
Coca-Cola was invented in Columbus, Georgia by John S. Pemberton, originally as a cocawine called Pemberton's French Wine Coca. It was initially sold as a patented medicine for five cents a glass at soda fountains, which were popular in America at the time thanks to a belief that carbonated water was good for the health. It was relaunched as a soft drink to counter Prohibition. The first sales were made at Jacob's Pharmacy in Atlanta, Georgia on May 8, 1886, and for the first eight months only thirteen drinks were sold each day. Pemberton then ran the first advertisement for the beverage on May 29 of the same year in the Atlanta Journal.
Asa Griggs Candler bought out Pemberton and his partners in 1887 and began aggressively marketing the product — the efficacy of this concerted advertising campaign would not be realized until much later. By the time of its 50th anniversary, the drink had reached the status of a national symbol.
Coca-Cola was sold in bottles for the first time on March 12, 1894 and cans of Coke first appeared in 1955. Asa Candler was tentative about bottling the drink, but the two entrepreneurs who proposed the idea were so persuasive that Candler signed a contract giving them control of the procedure. However, 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 — in effect, becoming parent bottlers.
When the United States entered World War II, Coke was provided free to American soldiers, as a patriotic drink. The popularity of the drink exploded in the wake of World War II as American soldiers returned home, more grateful than ever to partake of a beverage that had become synonymous with the American way of life.
New Coke to the present
In 1985, Coca-Cola, amid much publicity, attempted to change the formula of the drink. Some authorities believe that New Coke, as the reformulated drink was called, was invented specifically to respond to its commercial competitor, Pepsi. Double-blind taste tests indicated that most consumers preferred the taste of Pepsi (which has more lemon oil, less orange oil, and uses vanillin rather than vanilla) to Coke. New Coke was reformulated in a way that emulated Pepsi. Followup taste tests revealed that most consumers preferred the taste of New Coke to both Coke and Pepsi. The reformulation was led by the then-CEO of the company, Roberto Goizueta, and the President Don Keough.
It is unclear what part Woodruff played in the reformulation. Goizueta claims that Woodruff endorsed it a few months before his death in 1985; others have pointed out that, as the two men were alone when the matter was discussed, Goizueta might have misinterpreted the wishes of the dying Woodruff, who could speak only in monosyllables. It has also been alleged that Woodruff might not have been able to understand what Goizueta was telling him.
The commercial failure of New Coke therefore came as a grievous blow to the management of the Coca-Cola Corporation. It is possible that customers would not have noticed the change if it had been made secretly or gradually, and thus brand loyalty could have been maintained. Coca-Cola management was unprepared, however, for the nostalgic sentiments the drink aroused in the American public; some compared changing the Coke formula to rewriting the American Constitution.
The new Coca-Cola formula subsequently caused a public backlash. Gay Mullins, from Seattle, Washington, USA, founded the Old Coke Drinkers of America organisation, which attempted to sue the company, and lobbied for the formula of Old Coke to be released into the public domain. This and other protests caused the company to return to the old formula under the name Coca-Cola Classic on July 10, 1985. The company was later accused of performing this volte-face as an elaborate ruse to introduce a new product while reviving interest in the original. The company president responded to the accusation by declaring: "We are not that stupid, or that smart."
The Coca-Cola Company is the world's largest consumer of natural vanilla extract. When New Coke was introduced in 1985, the economy of Madagascar crashed - vanilla being a prime export - and recovered only after New Coke flopped, since New Coke used vanillin, a less-expensive synthetic substitute. Purchases of vanilla more than halved during this period.
Meanwhile, the market share for New Coke had dwindled to only 3% by 1986. The company renamed the product "Coke II" in 1990, but sales falloff caused a severe cutback in distribution. By 1998, it was sold in only a few places in the midwestern U.S.
What goes into Coca-Cola?
- Main article: Coca-Cola formula
The exact Coca-Cola formula is a legendary trade secret. The original copy of the formula is held in SunTrust Bank's main vault in Atlanta, the underwriter for the Coca-Cola Company's incorporation. An urban legend states that only two executives have access to the formula, with each executive having only half the formula. 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.
Coca-Cola's name is derived from the coca leaves and kola fruits used as flavoring. The main ingredients are water and sugar. Other suggested ingredients include caramel, caffeine, phosphoric acid, coca leaf and cola nut extract, lime juice or oil, and vanilla.
The distinctive "cola" flavor comes mostly from the mix of sugar and essential orange, lemon and vanilla oils. [1] The other ingredients change the flavor only very slightly. In the United States, however, Coca-Cola is now sweetened with corn syrup, causing the flavor to be "blunted". Coca-Cola with sugar is still available in Canada, Mexico, Europe, and in certain American markets during Passover.
In the original formula, the natural cocaine content of the coca leaves, and caffeine from kola nuts, provided the drink's stimulant effect. Shortly after the turn of the century (1929), cocaine was removed from the coca leaves by processing (leaving a physiologically insignificant trace), and the quantity of caffeine was reduced but not totally eliminated. The company's web site states that "Coca-Cola does not contain cocaine or any other harmful substance, and cocaine has never been an added ingredient for Coca-Cola". It should be noted that such a statement is entirely consistent with the presence of cocaine in the coca leaves in the original formulation, though it could be considered misleading. [2] [3]
The coca-leaf processing is done at a licensed coca-leaf processing plant in New York City (see Federal Register Doc. 04-5476). While this is probably the largest manufacturer, other chemical companies have obtained licenses for the import of coca leaves as well.
Besides cocaine, another controversial substance related to Coca-Cola is caffeine. Coke's caffeine content has been the subject of lawsuits since the 1920s. An 8-ounce (235 ml) serving of Classic Coke as of June 2004 contains 23 milligrams of caffeine. By comparison, 8 ounces of non-decaffeinated coffee contains somewhere between 65 and 175 milligrams of caffeine. [4] [5]
Today Coca-Cola is manufactured as a syrup, and is then supplied to various franchises which reconstitute, bottle, and distribute it.
Coca-Cola's advertising
Coca-Cola's advertising has had a significant impact on American culture, and is frequently credited with the "invention" of the modern image of Santa Claus as an old man in red-and-white garments; however, while the company did in fact start promoting this image in the 1930s in its winter advertising campaigns, it was already common before that [6]. In the 1970s, a song from a Coca-Cola commercial called "I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing" became a popular hit single, but there is no evidence that it did anything to increase sales of the soft drink.
The company has a policy of avoiding using children younger than the age of 12 in any of its advertising as a result of a lawsuit from the beginning of the 20th century that alleged that Coke's caffeine content was dangerous to children. However, in recent times, this has not stopped the company from targeting young consumers. In addition, it has not been disclosed in exact terms how safe Coke is for consumption by young children (or pregnant mothers).
Coke's advertising has been rather pervasive, as one of Woodruff's stated goals was to ensure that everyone on Earth drank Coca-Cola as their preferred beverage. Advertising for Coke is now almost ubiquitous, especially in southern areas of North America, such as Atlanta, where Coke was born. The 1996 Summer Olympics were hosted in Atlanta, and as a result, Coca-Cola effectively received free advertising. Coca-Cola was also the first-ever sponsor of the Olympic games, at the 1928 games in Amsterdam.
During the 1980s, Pepsi-Cola ran a series of television advertisements showing people participating in taste tests in which they expressed a preference for Pepsi over 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.
In an attempt to broaden its portfolio, Coca-Cola purchased Columbia Pictures in 1982. Columbia provided subtle publicity through Coke product placements in many of its films while under Coke's ownership. However, after a few early successes, Columbia began to underperform, and was dropped by the company 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).
Controversies surrounding the Coca-Cola drink
Urban legends about Coca-Cola
Coca-Cola has been the target of urban legends decrying the drink for its supposedly copious amounts of acid, or the "life-threatening" effects of its carbonated water. These urban legends usually take the form of "fun facts" — for example, "Coke can dissolve a tooth in 24-48 hours"; "highway troopers use Coke to clean blood from highways after accidents"; or "somebody once died in a Coke-drinking competition". All of these stories are false, and evidence has been presented in numerous cases against Coca-Cola since the 1920s that decisively proves that the drink is not more harmful than comparable soft drinks. Indeed, it contains less citric acid than an orange. [7] [8] [9]
The numerous urban legends about Coca-Cola have led the Urban Legends Reference Pages to devote a whole section of their site to "Cokelore".
Criticisms of the Coca-Cola company
The Coca-Cola Company has had its fair share of criticism for anything from monopolistic practices and low health standards, to mishandling of trade unions in several countries, and collaboration with the Nazis in World War II. For more, see Criticism of the Coca-Cola Company.
Varieties of Coca-Cola soft drink
There are many varieties of Coca-Cola produced by the company such as Diet Coke (introduced in 1982), which uses aspartame, a synthetic phenylalanine-based sweetener, to eliminate the sugar content of the drink; Caffeine-free Coke; Cherry Coke (1985); Diet Cherry Coke (1986); Coke with Lemon (2001); Diet Coke with Lemon (2001); Vanilla Coke (2002); Diet Vanilla Coke (2002); and Diet Coke with Lime (2004).
In 2004, perhaps in response to the burgeoning popularity of low-carbohydrate diets such as the Atkins Diet, Coca-Cola announced its intention to develop and sell a low-carbohydrate alternative to Coke Classic, dubbed Coca-Cola C2. C2 contains a mix of high fructose corn syrup, aspartame, sucralose, and acesulfame potassium. C2 is designed to more closely emulate the taste of Coca-Cola Classic. Even with less than half of the calories and carbohydrates of standard soft drinks, C2 is not a replacement for zero-calorie soft drinks such as Diet Coke. C2 went on sale in the US on June 11 2004, and in Canada in August 2004.
Coca-Cola is the best-selling soft drink in most countries. Nevertheless, there are some places like Scotland, where the locally produced Irn Bru is more popular, and Quebec and Prince Edward Island, Canada, where Pepsi is the market leader. Coke is less popular in other places, including some Middle Eastern and Asian countries such as Palestine and India — in the latter, due to suspicions regarding the health standards of the drink, and in the former, due to anti-American sentiment or (debunked) rumors that Coca-Cola supports Israel.
Other soft drinks by the Coca-Cola company
The Coca-Cola Company also produces a number of other soft drinks including Fanta (introduced circa 1942 or 1943) and Sprite. Fanta's origins date back to World War II when Max Keith, who managed Coca-Cola's operations in Germany during the war, ran out of the ingredients for Coke, which could be supplied only from the United States. Keith resorted to producing a different soft drink, Fanta, which proved to be a hit, and when Coke took over again after the war, it adopted the Fanta brand as well.
Tab was Coca-Cola's first attempt to develop a diet soft drink, using saccharine as a sugar substitute. Although the product is still sold, its sales have dwindled since the introduction of Diet Coke.
Other well-known Coca-Cola company's brands and trademarks are Surge, Minute Maid, Powerade, Barq's and Mello Yello (see Coca-Cola brands).
Bibliography
- Pendergrast, Mark: For God, Country, and Coca-Cola: The Definitive History of the Great American Soft Drink and the Company That Makes It. New York: Basic Books, 2000 (second edition; ISBN 0465054684).
- Zyman, Sergio: The End of Marketing as We Know It. New York: HarperBusiness (1st edition (June 1, 1999) ISBN 0887309860).
See also
- The Coca-Cola Company
- Junk food
- List of major flops ("New Coke")
- OpenCola