Name that pun contest!

Before Halloween, I used this Coca-Cola costume party invitation for a Friday Fun caption contest.

Well, the image is back, but this time I’m not asking for captions.

Instead, this week’s Friday Fun game is to identify the different food-related puns in the picture.

The game: Find as many food-related puns as you can in the image. (Click on the picture to make it bigger on screen.) Here’s an example: Marie Antoinette has a piece of cake with a halo over it – “Angel Food Cake.”

Use the “comments” section below to send me as many puns as you can.

Because of the game, I won’t make any comments live until next Wednesday (Dec. 10) at 5 p.m. (EST, if you’re keeping track). I can’t make the comments live until the contest ends, or everyone could submit the puns named by the first person and just add on.

The prize: I usually pick my favorite caption, but this time the winner will be the person who identifies the most puns in the picture. I’ll announce the winner – and list the puns – on Thursday. The person who figures out the most puns will win a Coca-Cola prize from our “goodie closet.”

I really can’t wait to see what you find!

See the list of puns.

Happy Santa's List Day

Today is “Santa’s List Day” (which I learned from Holidayinsights.com). I hope we’re all on the “good” list!

Santa Claus is very closely tied with Coca-Cola, and he appears in a number of Coke ads looking at his list. The artwork shown here is from 1951 and is called “Good Boys and Girls” -- very appropriate for this day!

We have a rich history with Santa. The famous Coca-Cola Santa Claus by artist Haddon Sundblom appeared in advertising from 1931 to 1964, and still appears in our advertising today.

You may have heard a rumor that our Santa Claus wears red because it’s “Coca-Cola's color.” That was the subject of one of my first posts on this blog, even though my blog launched in January! In fact, Santa was wearing red before the Coca-Cola Santa Claus was created, but the image most of us have of Santa -- warm, friendly and filled with the joy of the season -- is indeed based on our ads.

I’ll talk more about St. Nick and Coca-Cola this month, and please let me know if you have any Santa questions!

We have a winner - TV Day caption contest

For our last Friday Fun contest, I asked you to send me funny captions for this 1950 Coca-Cola painting, with a giant Coke bottle and a very old style of TV.

I received a lot of captions, and – as always – it was hard to pick a winner.

• Betty, is it just me or do you see the 10 foot tall Coca-Cola Bottle hovering next to you?
• The early stages of subliminal advertising.
  The advertising executives thought: "Let’s put a huge Coke bottle in this illustration. It'll blend in with the colors of the room and the hobbleskirt dresses the ladies are wearing. After all, the focus is on everyone watching TV. The consumer will never suspect anything but when they turn on their television sets, they'll immediately want an ice cold Coca-Cola."
• Would someone put down their Coke and hand me the remote?
• I can't wait to tell the Jones's we have 3D image capability on our TV.
• Ever since Stan and Earleen won the Phil Mooney Friday Fun Caption Contest and received a 10 foot Coca-Cola display bottle as their prize, Carl and Mildred have been over for ice cold Cokes and watching The Jack Benny Show on their brand new Philco television set!
• This IS the 'Classic' "elephant in the living room."
• This new television thing is great, but where did this giant Coca-Cola Bottle come from?
• That puppet keeps looking at the giant Coke Bottle and drooling all over the TV set.
• "Hey Herb, would ya' take a look at my brand spankin' new Motorola Deluxe 17" television set? Ain't she swell? She's got one dial for tuning both UHF and VHF, 19 tubes, 3 recifiers, a vertical and a horizontal hold knob and we get 3 channels plus public broadcasting system. Ain't she a beauty Herb!"
  "That's nice Al...but what in tarnation is this big Coke bottle doing right smack dab in the middle of your living room? I can't see a darn thing!"
• Coca-Cola... Bringing people and TV together since 1950.
• Coca-Cola bottle vs. TV set: 1-0. (If size doesn't matter, shape does).
• Comments heard while couples were posing for this illustration:
  "How long do we have to stand here, holding these Coke bottles and why can't we drink them? And why does Betty get to sit down all the time? And why do we need to wear bow ties?
  And why is Earleen in that pose? Her backside isn't her best side. And can we change the channel? And why..."
• Background noise.
• Y'all were right... this is so much better than having a 300 pound GORILLA in the room.
• Bob has always been easily influenced by advertising. We could stand him singing along with the jingles, but this elaborate Coke bottle costume is just too much!
• TV night with our good friend Coke - he always brings the drinks and never takes a seat!
• Is TV worth watching without Coke? I’m not watching TV without my Coke.
• Brad is thinking, "If I chug-a-lug this thing, I bet I can burp loud enough to shatter that picture tube."
• "Oh Really! I've heard of attack of the giant tomatoes but Hollywood really are getting ridiculous with these remakes!"
• Buzz: Do you think technology will ever come up with a TV bigger than this Coke bottle.
  Neil: I doubt it! I'd have a better chance of being the first man to walk on the moon.
  Buzz: Yeah right, and I'll be the second. Ha! Ha!

And the winner is: This IS the 'Classic' "elephant in the living room.” sent in by Loretta. Congratulations! You’ll receive a Coca-Cola prize!

Thanks to everyone who played. Please check back tomorrow for our next contest.

Our Coca-Cola Polar Bear turns 15

Happy birthday to the Coca-Cola Polar Bear!

Our beloved bear was introduced in 1993, and turns 15 this year.

In 1993, we introduced the “Always Coca-Cola” ad campaign. The ads included a variety of innovative technical approaches, such as computer animation. (Remember: 15 years ago, computers were quite different from today!)

One of these innovative commercials was “Northern Lights,” which introduced what would become one of the most popular symbols of our advertising: the Coca-Cola Polar Bear.

The creator of the “Northern Lights” ad, Ken Stewart, thought about going to a movie and having a Coke. Mr. Stewart saw his dog (which had resembled a polar bear when it was a puppy), thought about polar bears and how they would go to the movies. And the idea for "Northern Lights" was born. In the commercial, the polar bears watch the aurora borealis (the "movie") and drink from bottles of Coke.

Our Polar Bear has gone on to star in a variety of Coca-Cola commercials, including those showing winter sports (sliding down a luge and soaring off a ski jump). For the holidays, bear cubs helped the bear select its Christmas tree and later played ball with a seal cub. And for the past few years the bear cub has made friends with a group of penguins, while a Beach Boys song played in the background!

Please join me in wishing a Happy Birthday to our bear, who I think doesn’t look a day over 10!

Lessons Learned: Coca-Cola pub mirrors

In past “Lessons Learned” posts, I’ve talked about selling Coca-Cola collections and finding out the value of Coke bottles.

Today I want to tell you a bit about Coca-Cola mirrors. If you have a mirror, it’s likely one of two kinds: a large (roughly 2- or 3-feet wide) mirror that hangs on the wall, or a small (roughly 2-inch tall) pocket mirror.

This post is about the wall mirrors, often called “pub mirrors.”

Question: I have a large mirror with a really old Coke picture on it. How much is it worth?

Answer: Here’s the surprise: Though there are many pub mirrors on the Coca-Cola collectibles market, they are from the last 40 years (or newer). There were no Coke pub mirrors created in the early years of the Company.

The pub mirrors you see today largely are from the 1970s or 1980s. Some of the mirrors were created by authorized ad specialty companies or licensees to evoke a nostalgic feeling, but some of the mirrors are outright fakes, trying to capitalize on the popularity of Coca-Cola collectibles.

Many of the mirrors feature archival images, but they do not date back to our early days. Most also have wood frames, and the wood often can look quite aged. But the mirrors aren’t very old for Coke items!

One of the most popular mirrors is from 1977 and features portraits of two men (creator of Coca-Cola John Pemberton and early leader Asa Candler), along with a picture of a Coca-Cola ceramic urn in the center. This mirror generally sells for around $400.

That price is not typical for the other mirrors, though. Most Coca-Cola pub mirrors sell for $10 to $75. They have nostalgic images, often of “Coca-Cola girls” from early calendars. The mirrors are great for decorating and in Coca-Cola rooms, but they won’t fund your child’s college fund!

I hope you’ll check back for more information on Coke collectibles, and for a later “Lessons Learned” post about pocket mirrors.

Lessons Learned: How to sell a Coke piece
Lessons Learned: How much is this bottle worth?
Lessons Learned: Newer Coca-Cola collectibles