Wrapping Up Coca-Cola Founders Week

Signing Off, #SouthAfrica! What a great and rich week it's been! I've learned a tremendous amount, and I have enjoyed sharing our South African story with you. Be on the lookout for the last two Coca-Cola South Africa videos that will be output in the coming days to weeks, which I can guarantee you'll enjoy because I was there when they took place!:

1. The video interview with the biggest Coca-Cola Collector in South Africa
2. The Albie Louw Story - A Uniquely South Africa Coca-Cola Story!

So, until next time, from Elliot the Coca-Cola crate man and myself, Totsiens, Uhambe kuhle, Sala kakuhle, Sala kahle, Sala kahle, Sala hantle, Sala gabotse, Tsamayo sentlê, Kha vha sale zwavhudi, Salani kahle and goodbye!

Playing Coca-Cola Tunes with Albie Louw in Cape Town

After a year and a half in the making of the story, I finally got to meet Albie Louw today. I tried whistling the Coca-Cola Open Happiness jingle to him as I interviewed him at his piano this morning, but he said my pitch was "all over the place" (a common phrase people use to describe my singing, whistling and what have you). So instead, I pulled out my laptop and played him a clip that he remixed and jazzed up on the piano - wait until you see and hear that!

So, I learned today that Albie Louw was not allowed by his record company to pick any of his album covers. The art was always selected by the label. I knew Coke and music went way back, but did you know we were working with record labels and the music industry even in the 1950s and 1960s just like we are working with Spotify and Music Dealers now? In this April 7, 1960 letter written from our Johannesburg office to the Coca-Cola Export Corporation office in New York, Vice President Al Killeen tells exactly how Albie Louw's album cover came to be. He says, "I thought you might be interested in seeing how we capitalised in conjuntion with a local recording company, on the wonderful New York produced calendar material."

The "New York produced calendar material" referenced was the image used on Coca-Cola posters and other ads globally and Albie's album cover. We've got a number of calendars from around the world in our collection featuring the same image, including South Africa! As I told Albie this morning, if the model from this ad happens to be still alive, comes forward and says she is from South Africa, that would be the point I would have to pinch myself. In addition to the South African version of the calendar, I am attaching a few others we have in our collection from places such as Iraq, Turkey and Vietnam, in the local languages, of course.

Good Morning, Cape Town!

I am in Cape Town to interview Albie Louw about his 1959 album with the Coca-Cola advert on the cover. Ironically, this issue of Coca-Cola Overseas with Cape Town on the cover was probably the current issue at the time Albie's "Wonderful One" album was released. The caption on this photo in the magazine read, "A magnificent view of Table Mountain and the city of Cape Town nestled between the heights and harbor entrance." By the way, we did a video interview with Albie's old friend, Jacob Clarence, yesterday. You will never believe how he came across our original blog post when we asked the world if they knew about his friend! Stay tuned!

My First Coca-Cola Bottling Plant Tour!

I was thrilled yesterday to visit a Coca-Cola bottling plant for the first time in my 6 1/2 years with the Company, and go on a "market visit" as well. What a treat it was to see the process from the onset of the pre-form bottles (in some cases) traveling down the filling line until the moment the final product is sealed for delivery, and ultimately returned, recycled and repeated (in other cases). My gracious host for the day was Coca-Cola Shanduka Beverages in Nigel, Gauteng, South Africa.

Once we left the plant, our Coca-Cola market representatives took us to a "Strategic Distribution Center", a mini-warehouse which was run by two women, where local shop owners were stopping by to pick up orders of Coca-Cola to take to their local "tuck" shops to sell to consumers. Most of the product they picked up was in red crates like the ones I am surrounded by in the picture at the top (Yes, I agree that the hair net is a good look). Two local shop owners drove off in a car with a man sitting in the trunk riding along because of all of the Coca-Cola in the small car. He was also holding on to a crate - I should have had my camera ready to capture that moment!

Then, we went to several typical "tuck" shops probably not unlike one that those very shop owners might have been heading to. (By the way, maybe someone from South Africa can drop me a line in comments to let me know why they are called "tuck" shops??) There we met local families, individuals, neighbors, enterprising businessmen and women alike who warmly welcomed us in to see how their business is run, and what makes Coca-Cola an essential part of it. Just as this ad from Johannesburg in 1952, which states that the local Coca-Cola bottling plants are "truly local enterprises forming an integral part of the community in which they are situated. Local capital-local labour and localy produced good are fully utilised to the benefit of the community", I can truly say I witnessed this in action yesterday around Nigel, Gauteng, South Africa, even 60 years later.

Things Go Better in 7 South African Languages!!

In 1974, Coca-Cola South Africa released the famous "Things Go Better With Coca-Cola" jingle in seven of the eleven official South African languages. I've stumped a bunch of people this week who thought they could guess which was which.

Can anyone out there guess what languages these ads are in? Leave your answers in the comments field (1-7)!

Happy Birthday, Coca-Cola!!

Live from South Africa: Happy 126th Birthday, Coca-Cola! We had a celebration today in the office here in Parktown, Johannesburg, as we shared the history, stories and heritage of Coca-Cola in South Africa with employees. The session was packed, and we had a lot of fun! To see additional photos, check our Facebook page!

1961 Animals of Africa launch in South Africa

In 1961, Coca-Cola introduced the "Animals of Africa" promotion to the South African market. Consumers would turn in six specially marked Coca-Cola caps plus one cent in order to collect each miniature ivory animal figure with "Drink Coca-Cola" on the base. The promotional posters read, "Every time you refresh with ice cold Coca-Cola, you help a wild animal survive", and proceeds were donated to the Water for Wild Animals Fund. The Company at the time was looking for "a large-scale promotion which would not only offer to the public interesting and attractive premiums for the purchases of Coca-Cola, but would be of direct assistance in a cause of national importance, namely, the protection of the wildlife of Africa." There were a total of 20 animals in the complete set, although one collector has a set featuring a 21st animal - the beloved South African Springbok!

The 3-D setting could be purchased separately, and some people even adorned the animals as jewelry as you can see in this great picture of a lady wearing a necklace, bracelet and earrings made of the animals. This continues to be a very popular item among Coca-Cola Collectors, even in the United States even though the promotion did not run in the US. The similar "Birds of Africa" campaign was launched in South Africa the following year. 

Coca-Cola 1958 Film "Africa's Big Game"

In 1958, Coca-Cola released a film entitled "Africa's Big Game". According to the orginial description of the film in our Archives, "It tells the story of South Africa's growth and then leads you practically into a lion's mouth at Kruger National Park", the famous South African game reserve. The seventeen-minute film was described as "one of the most exciting, action-packed motion pictures available. While there are many dramatic scenes featuring the animals, I also love this clip which shows Coca-Cola being enjoyed at the park entrance as well. Coca-Cola produced the film in cooperation with The National Parks Board of Trustees and The National Parks Game and Fish Preservation Board of South Africa. The film was a winner of the Monte Carlo Bronze Medal. It was also "presented by your friendly Coca-Cola Bottler", of course!

May The Fourth Be With You - Coca-Cola and Star Wars

This is my third "May the Fourth Be With You" post and I love to write them each year.  I hate to admit it, but I am a self proclaimed sci-fi geek.  I loved Star Trek growing up and remember seeing the original Star Wars (now called Star Wars Episode IV - A New Hope) in the theatre in 1977 in Atlanta as a kid.  This year we have a bit of a twist.  I have been busy on eBay trying to locate and buy all the Coca-Cola Star Wars posters and have completed the set of four from 1977 that were done as joint promotion with Burger King.  If you are a sci-fi nerd like me and still have a set of the four posters, the prices were between $ 250.00 and $ 300.00 a piece on eBay.

The toughest decision I had today was to choose between the four poster for the lead image.  I went with Han and Chewbacca.  Who would you have picked?

Live from South Africa for Coca-Cola Founders Week

Coca-Cola is on the verge of celebrating 85 years in South Africa in 2013. To celebrate this upcoming milestone, I will be blogging live from South Africa this upcoming Founders Day (May 8) week. We will be sharing local stories from the brand's heritage in the country. Did you know that Johannesburg and Coca-Cola share the same founding year, 1886? To kick off what will be an interesting local lens on the brand, I am sharing this 60 year old "Peak of Purity" print ad from March of 1952. It reads, "Manufactured and Bottled in South Africa". Stay tuned to the blog and our Twitter feed next week for more!