Coca-Cola (often referred to simply as Coke) is a carbonated soft drink produced by The Coca-Cola
Company.
Coca-Cola is the most popular and biggest-selling soft drink in history, as well as one of the most recognizable brands in the world.
Originally intended as a patent medicine, it was invented in 1886 by John Pemberton.
Coca-Cola was patented in 1887, registered as a trademark in 1893 and by 1895 it was being sold in
every state and territory in the United States.
Coca-Cola was bought out by businessman Asa Griggs Candler, whose marketing tactics led Coke to its dominance of the world soft-drink market throughout the 20th century.
When launched, Coca-Cola’s two key ingredients were cocaine and caffeine. The cocaine was derived from the coca leaf and the caffeine from kola nut, leading to the name Coca-Cola (the “K” in Kola was replaced with a “C” for marketing purposes).
The secret formula of Coca-Cola is written on a piece of paper which is kept in a vault in the United
States.
The current formula of Coca-Cola remains a trade secret, although a variety of reported recipes and experimental recreations have been published.
According to some sources, coca leaf extract, with the cocaine chemically removed, remained part of the formula.
In order for Coca-Cola to continue to operate in its current form, the company has a special arrangement with the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) to allow them to import dried coca leaves from Peru (and to a lesser degree, from Bolivia) in huge quantities.
A company in New Jersey extracts Cocaine from the leaves for medical uses and then ships the remainder to Coke.
Only a few people know the secret formula for Coca-Cola. The cocentrate is made centrally, than exported to more than 900 bottling plants around the world.
The Coca-Cola Company has on occasion introduced other cola drinks under the Coke name. The most common of these is Diet Coke, along with others including Caffeine-Free Coca-Cola, Diet Coke Caffeine-Free, Coca-Cola Cherry, Coca-Cola Zero, Coca-Cola Vanilla, and special versions with lemon, lime, and coffee.
The Coca-Cola logo was created by John Pemberton’s bookkeeper, Frank Mason Robinson, in 1885. Robinson came up with the name and chose the logo’s distinctive cursive script.
In 2016, Coca-Cola spent 4 billion U.S. dollars on advertising.
One of the most famous advertising slogans in Coca‑Cola history “The Pause That Refreshes” first appeared in the Saturday Evening Post in 1929. The theme of pausing with Coca‑Cola refreshment is still echoed in today’s marketing.
Coca-Cola red isn’t just any red, its a very specific color and the company puts a lot of weight on keeping that color the exact same.
Coca-Cola’s advertising has significantly affected American culture, and it is frequently credited with inventing the modern image of Santa Claus as an old man in a red-and-white suit.
Coca-Cola is often associated with happiness. In fact, Coca-Cola means “Delicious Happiness” in Mandarin.
The first servings of Coca-Cola were sold for 5 cents per glass. During the first year, sales averaged a modest nine servings per day in Atlanta. Today, daily servings of Coca‑Cola beverages are estimated at 1.9 billion globally.
If all the Coca-Cola bottles in the world were laid end to end they would reach the moon and back more than 1,677 times.
If you stacked up Coke’s 2.8 million vending machines, they would take up 150.2 million cubic feet of space — the size of 4 Empire State Buildings.
In 1985 Coca-Cola become the first soft drink ever in space.
Coca-Cola is the second most widely understood term in the world after “OK”.
The red and white Coca-Cola logo is recognized by 94% of the world’s population.
Around the world, the average person consumes a Coke product every four days.
Americans ingest 1.7 million tons – or 10.8 pounds per person – of sugar each year from Coca-Cola alone.
The average Mexican drinks more Coke products than the average American, British, Indian, and Chinese combined.
Cans of Coke first appeared in 1955.
Coke uses 300,000 tons of aluminium for its cans every year just for its US operations. That’s equal to 17.4% of what the entire US aluminum industry produces.
A can of Coke will sink in water whereas a can Diet Coke will float.
Coca-Cola may help you remove rust.
Three people tried to sell Coca-Cola’s secrets ingredients to Pepsi for $1.5 million in 2006, but Pepsi reported them to Coke and the FBI.
Coca-Cola Freestyle (the touch screen drink machines with a bunch of options) are designed by Pininfarina. Pininfarina is the design house that designs Ferraris.
The six-pack carrier, though common today, was an innovation developed by the Coca-Cola system in 1923. It was created to encourage people to take contour bottles of Coca-Cola home and drink it more often with the expanded availability of home refrigeration.
Karl Lagerfeld is the latest designer to have created a collection of aluminum bottles for Coca-Cola. Lagerfeld is not the first fashion designer to create a special version of the famous Coca-Cola Contour bottle. A number of other limited edition bottles by fashion designers for Coca-Cola Light soda have been created in the last few years.
During World War II, the president of Coca-Cola made sure “to see that every man in uniform gets a bottle of Coca-Cola for 5 cents, wherever he is and whatever it costs the Company.”
White Coke is a nickname for a variant of Coca-Cola produced in the 1940s at the request of Marshal of the Soviet Union Georgy Zhukov. He found a chemist who could remove the coloring from Coca-Cola. The colorless version of Coca-Cola was bottled using straight, clear glass bottles sporting a white cap with a red star in the middle.
There are only 2 countries in the entire world that do not sell Coca-Cola: North Korea and Cuba.
The Coca-Cola Company is the world’s largest beverage company, refreshing consumers with more than 500 sparkling and still brands and more than 3,800 beverage choices.
The Coca-Cola Company’s net operating revenue worldwide was $41.86 billion in 2016.
Coca-Cola is No. 3 spot on Interbrand’s annual Best Global Brands ranking, with an estimated value of $73.1 billion in 2016.