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Death By CultureThe Pause That Refreshes
POSTED BY VINNIE BLESI, June 20, 2011    Share


Who hasn't been touched by the Coca-Cola brand at some point? For me it was the classic 6 and a half ounce bottles I drank as a kid, which incrementally went up to a 12 ounce and the astonishing 16 ounce bottle. By the time I was a teen something called a 2 Liter was introduced and a national convenient store chain started its "Big Gulp".

After all, Coke is the pause that refreshes. This is the company that wanted to "Teach the World to Sing" in the 1970's. This is a company that has relied heavily on its branding/marketing and recently celebrated its 125 birthday. "Coca-Cola", created May 8, 1886 by pharmacist Dr. John Pemberton, as a medicinal tonic, quickly went from a tonic to a bestselling favorite at soda fountains. The original formula according to Wikipedia, "called for five ounces of coca (cocaine) leaf per gallon of syrup, which was removed after 1903".

Early on in the marketing of Coca-Cola, the depiction of alluring women among decorative imagery was a central theme. This concept in part inspired the 1985 Australian production of the movie "The Coca-Cola Kid".

Coca-Cola went on to the effective marketing of Santa Claus in its ads, adding to the brand and creating more memorabilia and collectibles. They recently have expanded their winter ad campaigns to include the Coke polar bears.



The Coca-Cola brand is so strong that it survived the catastrophic decision to introduce "New Coke" in 1985, a Coke that tasted more like its rival Pepsi. Some internet conspiracies postulate that the whole New Coke was just a ploy to increase sales of what would later be rebranded as "Coca-Cola Classic".

From its early days as a medicinal tonic, to the constant marketing of the brand and the creation of Coca-Cola collectibles, Coke has always established itself as the "baseball card of soda". Every year we wait for the newest marketing, the newest ads, the newest gimmick. And I did not even go into the soda phenomenon known as "Tab".


Images courtesy of Coca-cola.com, http://www.thecoca-colacompany.com/dynamic/press_center/imagegallery.html

ADVERTISING SLOGANS - COCA COLA, http://www.winspiration.co.uk/cokeslog.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coca-Cola



"Death By Culture" is ©2011 by Vinnie Blesi. All contents of Nolan's Pop Culture Review are ©2011 by Nolan B. Canova.

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