Coke Card 336

Frank Robinson, Pemberton's bookkeeper, became Coca-Cola's first marketing genius in short order, convincing Pemberton of the urgency for advertising the brand, and designing the famous Coca-Cola script and trademark. He pressured Pemberton to engage in lavish advertising promotions, issuing free drink coupons and plastering Atlanta with oil-cloth banners and streetcar signs to promote the brand. The extravagant advertising budget paid rapid dividends, quickly promoting Coca-Cola to become the most popular local beverage of it's kind.

Ironically, Pemberton then sold the rights to the Coca-Cola formula--he'd developed cancer and his morphine addiction had likely become very serious--but in 1887, he sold Willis Venable and George Lowndes two-thirds of the rights to the formula. "I am sick, and I believe I will never get out of this bed. The only thing I have is Coca-Cola. Coca-Cola some day will be a national drink. I want to keep a third interest in it so that my son will always have a living". With these words to Mr. Lowndes, Dr. Pemberton relinquished his control of Coca-Cola. Tragically--and even more ironic--Dr. Pemberton's son Charley would be dead from a morphine overdose only six years after Dr. Pemberton's own passing. Atlanta druggists--Asa Candler (below) among them--closed their stores on the day of Pemberton's funeral "and attended the services 'en masse' as a tribute of respect," according to Atlanta newspaper accounts from the era. Pemberton's wife--his only remaining heir--eventually died penniless.

Coke Card 330

Asa Griggs Candler, another local druggist, eventually purchased Pemberton's secret formula--for, reputedly, between $1,750 and $2,300, and elevated Coca-Cola to a national brand. By 1895, a mere seven years after he bought the company, Coca-Cola was available in every U.S. state. Atlanta banker Ernest Woodruff, president of the Trust Company of Georgia, recognized the company's potential and persuaded his son, Robert, to invest in the Coca-Cola Company. In 1923, Woodruff became president of the now publicly traded company.Woodruff, at true innovator, proceeded to turn Coca Cola into a nationally recognized brand marketing his product like no other product had been marketed before. The company spent enormous sums (based on standards of the time) on advertising.

Coke Card 324

Coca-Cola's phenominal successes after the turn of the century and through the fall of Wall Street and the following Depression relied heavily on it's unprecendented advertising campaigns and Brand recognition.

Woodruff captured these foreign markets with brilliant and creative campaigns, in one instance sending Coca-Cola with the U.S. team to the 1928 Amsterdam Olympics and in another, emblazoning the company logo on racing dog sleds in Canada. He even plastered Coca-Cola banners over the walls of Spanish bull fighting arenas.

Coke Card 40

The history of Coca-Cola is a story of special moments -- times with family and friends and special occasions when Coke was naturally there. Every person who drinks a Coca-Cola enjoys a moment of refreshment -- and shares in an experience that millions of others have savored. And all of those individual experiences combined have created a worldwide phenomenon - a truly global brand that plays its own small part on the world stage.

Did you know that Coca-Cola advertising helped create the modern image of Santa Claus? Or that Norman Rockwell and N.C. Wyeth both painted for Coca-Cola, creating a beloved vision of mid-century American life? You might remember the 1971 television commercial in which young people gathered on a hilltop in Italy to sing "I'd Like To Buy The World A Coke," a counterpoint to turbulent times. Were you watching TV in July 1985 when Coca-Cola was the first soft drink consumed in space? Or maybe you saw the international exhibit of oversized Coke bottles, some more than 10 feet tall, featuring the folk art of more than 70 countries.

There are so many stories to tell about Coca-Cola. We hope you'll enjoy these glimpses into some of the legends and lore that surround Coca-Cola -- what we call "Coke Lore."

Coke Card 196

Coke Facts:

1886: 'Coca-Cola' created by Dr. John Pemberton; by 1895, people are drinking it in every state in America.

1899: The first bottling plant was opened; by 1919, there were more than 1000 - 95 % locally owned and operated.

1929: 'Coca-Cola' sold cold from open-top coolers: 1933 'Coca-Cola' dispenser introduced at the Chicago World Fair.

1960: 'Coca-Cola' cans appear on the shelves for the first time.

1982: 'Diet Coke' introduced and within two years becomes the world's most popular low-calorie soft drink.

1988: 'Coca-Cola' becomes best known, most admired trademark in the world according to three independent surveys.

2008: Operating in more than 200 countries and producing nearly 450 brands, the Coca-Cola system has successfully applied a simple formula on a global scale: provide a moment of refreshment for a very small amount of money -- a billion times a day.

Coke Card 121

Coke Card 190

Coke Card 147

Coke Card 157

Coke Card 167