History of Coca-Cola

Coca-Cola was born on May 8, 1886, at Jacobs Pharmacy in Atlanta, thanks to pharmacist John Stith Pemberton. Pemberton began marketing a syrup designed to combat digestion problems and provide energy, and that is how he created the secret formula for Coca-Cola, the famous 7X. At first, this formula contained Cocaine (9 milligrams per glass), because Pemberton was addicted to morphine and believed that he could get rid of it with Cocaine; he thought it was not addictive and that was how he decided tu put it in his formula. In its early days, Coca-Cola sold around nine cups per day, priced at 5 cents each one.

Since its discovery, Pemberton knew that the soft drink he had invented would be a hit, however, it was his advisor, Frank Robinson, who named this product Coca-Cola. Robinson thought the drink's initials would look good in advertising being written in Spencer script; This is how the company logo was born.

At that time, the first advertisement promoting Coca Cola «Delicious and Refreshing Beverage» circulated in the newspapers. A year later, in 1887, and due to the success of the drink, John Pemberton registered his copyright on the brand under the name "Coca-Cola Syrup and Extract". This registration was made in the U.S Patent Office. Two years after the creation of this drink, on August 16, 1888, John Pemberton passed away, and after his death, Asa G. Cadler acquired power in the company. By 1891, The Coca-Cola Company was founded, formed by fellow pharmacist Asa G. Candler, his brother John S. Candler, and Frank Robinson.

By 1892, having acquired power over the personnel and patents, Candler finalized the purchase of the company, incorporating The Coca-Cola Company as a Georgia corporation, and in 1893, the trademark "The Coca-Cola Company" was registered with the United States Patent Office.

In the same year, Pepsi Cola appeared, created by the pharmaceutical chemist Caleb Bradham, which gradually gained popularity until it became the #2 drink, just after Coca-Cola.

By 1899 the company decided to sell the rights to bottling the drink, which were acquired in most of the United States by Benjamin F. Thomas, who specified that Chattanooga should be the first city to bottle Coca-Cola.

With the arrival of the 20th century, Coca-Cola wanted to become an American icon, which is why, for the first time since its foundation, the advertising budget exceeded 100,000 dollars, a bet that seemed to continue to give results, because in 1904 Coca -Cola announced that its annual sales had exceeded one million gallons of the soft drink.

By 1903, the 7X formula was modified by removing the cocaine from its ingredients due to the Pure Food and Drug Act, which basically prohibited the inclusion of narcotics in food and drink.

By 1906 Coca-Cola grew internationally, having Canadian, Cuban, and Panamanian bottling operations; these three countries being the first to bottling Coca-Cola outside the United States. Another important event for Coca-Cola occurred that same year, when the alliance with D'Arcy Advertising Company began, signing a 50-year promotion contract.

The advertising alliance established by Coca-Cola quickly became noticeable, as in the years that followed, every soda fountain was adorned with festoons and company advertisements. In addition, the company was linked as a sponsor of baseball teams and athletes.

By 1911, the advertising budget was over a million dollars. Examples of advertising expenses incurred by Coca-Cola include: $259,499 for painted wall signs, $11,011 for pencils, and $5,411 for napkins.

In 1915, Coca-Cola decided to invest 500 dollars in the creation of a unique bottle because other brands used similar logos and even Coca-Cola bottles to distribute their products; Thus, on November 16, 1915, the Root Glass Company patented the “contour” bottle designed by Alexander Samuelson in Terre Haute, Indiana. This bottle was inspired by the shapes of a cocoa pod, oval and with very characteristic grooves, it met all the requirements: it had a unique shape, it was easy to grip and the Coca-Cola logo was integrated into the container itself with a glass relief. Thus becoming a world icon that would endure without modification for more than 40 years.

In 1919, The Coca-Cola Company was acquired by a new group of investors led by Ernest Woodcruf, the purchase was made for around 25 million dollars.

On three occasions between 1922 and 1933, Coca-Cola had the opportunity to buy Pepsi-Cola, but Coca-Cola always rejected the offer.

In 1923, Coca-Cola introduces the first cardboard packaging for six bottles, revolutionizing the beverage industry with this innovation, a packaging that would be patented a year later.

In 1941, in Germany, after the attack on Pearl Harbor, Coca-Cola concentrate was no longer available because the United States prohibited trade with Germany, then Max Keith, who ran the operations of Coca-Cola (GmbH) in Germany during the war, invented a new drink he called “the leftovers of the leftovers”, which consisted of fiber from apples and whey, with these ingredients he created a new drink, Fanta, which got its name from the German word “fantasie ” which translates into english as “fantasy”. But this is not the Fanta we know today.

By 1959 Coca-Cola was experiencing global expansion, being distributed by a network of more than 1,700 bottling plants operating in more than 100 countries. By the 1960s, Coca-Cola was announcing the introduction of a new range of beverages such as Sprite.

At the beginning of the 70's, 18% of soft drink consumers consumed only Coca-Cola, but after 1975 with "The Pepsi Challenge", the numbers dropped to 6%, this is where the true cola war begins.

You can see all the commercials in which Pepsi attacks Coca-Cola below.

Coca-Cola didn´t respond to Pepsi's attacks. Pepsi always attacked them with commercials since 1975, but Coca-Cola got tired and 8 years later, in 1982, it responded to Pepsi's constant attacks through commercials and promotions with the participation of Bill Cosby, in which they questioned the legality of the challenge Pepsi; counting on slogans like "coke is it!", "There's only one Real Thing" and "have a Coke and smile".

For the same year (1982), Coca-Cola introduced "Diet Coke" to its family of products (you can see all the Coca-Cola flavors here).

This drink was growing rapidly among the population, and in this way, Coca-Cola realized that although they were already #1 with the classic Coca-Cola, Pepsi #2 and Diet Coke #3, they could fight for the position #2 between Diet Coke and Pepsi, this is how a great rivalry arose in commercials between Diet Coke and Pepsi with slogans like "just for the taste of it" or "the move is on". You can see all the commercials in which Coca-Cola attacks Pepsi in our video, we leave it below

In 1985 Coca-Cola made the biggest mistake in its history; While Pepsi was gaining popularity thanks to its sweet taste, Coca-Cola wanted to attract its public again altering the original formula, which had not been modified in 99 years, creating the New Coke on April 23, 1985. This decision generated demonstrations by consumers, who wanted the classic Coca-Cola back. Thanks to constant protests, the company returned to the market 79 days later the drink obtained from the original formula, renamed Coca-Cola Classic.

You can see the news of the launch of New Coke in 1985 on CBS transmission on our channel, we leave it to you below.

Later, between 1985 and 1988, Coca-Cola launched one of the most important campaigns of the time, consisting of a series of commercials with the participation of Max Headroom. Even in 1987 Michael Jordan had a part in one of these commercials. This campaign was mainly aimed at the battle against Pepsi, but thanks to public acceptance it was continued as a normal campaign with slogans such as “catch the wave”, “Don't say the “P” word”, and “Think about it”.

You can see all the Coca-Cola and Max Headroom commercials on our channel, we leave it below.

On the other hand, the aforementioned 7X formula is one of the best secrets in history because only 5 people know the formula for this drink. This formula has been safely stored for years, and in 1919 it was placed in a safe deposit box at the Guaranty Bank in New York while Woodruff was under administration. Six years later, in 1925, the formula was transferred to the Sun Trust Bank in Atlanta, Georgia, in this place it remained for 86 years, until in 2011 it was decided to take it to the security vault in the "World of Coca-Cola" museum, in Atlanta.