Spotlight On The World Of Coca-Cola - Vancouver Torch Display

Now that the Vancouver Games are drawing to an end, I wanted to devote this weeks Spotlight on the World of Coca-Cola to the new exhibit that just opened featuring the Vancouver Torch.

If you are in Atlanta, relive some of the Olympic moments from the past two weeks and read the story of some of the Olympic Torchbearers.

The Coca-Cola Olympic Pavilion At LiveCity Yaletown In Vancouver

As we have during past games, the Archives has contributed display material for the Vancouver Olympics focusing on our long heritage with the Olympic games.  This year, the venue is the Coca-Cola Pavilion at LiveCity Yaletown in Vancouver.  There, in addition to our display of historical artifacts, you can sample Coca-Cola products, see the Olympic Torch and view interactive displays on recycling and sustainability. 

One of my colleagues sent me some cellphone photos of our display inside the pavilion.  I wish I was there to see it!

The Call of the Wild-The Peace River Country of Canada

As we conclude the first week of Olympic competition in Vancouver, I was reminded of a piece of advertising set in Canada several decades ago. In 1929, a magazine ad appeared in such publications as the Saturday Evening Post, Ladies Home Journal and Literary Digest that showed a dedicated deliveryman carrying a wooden crate of Coca-Cola that had arrived at its destination by dog sled. The artwork was created by the famous illustrator Haddon Sundblom before he had started to develop his classic Santa Claus paintings in the 1930s.The caption under the illustration identified the delivery location as the Peace River Country of Canada.

Several weeks ago, Professor Jonathan Swainger of the University of Northern British Columbia was able to put some context around the selection of this location as the focus of the advertising. It seems that the Peace River Country, located in Northwest Alberta and Northeast British Columbia, was the last of the free homesteads in Canada following World War I. In many respects it was the last frontier, an area described in newspaper accounts as being equal to anyplace in Canada for soil and climate.Thousands of individuals, including Americans seeking new farming opportunities, flocked to this region.

Certainly, it was the romance surrounding the Peace River Country that influenced the identification of that region in the magazine ad. However, the ad was not greeted with universal approval. In an article dated December 13, 1929 in the Grande Prairie Herald, J.B. Yule, the News Editor of that publication, thought that the picture and the accompanying text was ridiculous. He suggested that in the Far North men would be seeking a more potent beverage than Coca-Cola. He writes: "This might be all right in the effete East, but in the great north country, where men are men, travelers wouldn't even hesitate if there was nothing stronger than Coca-Cola."

Spotlight On The World Of Coca-Cola - Red Dress Display

For this Fridays Spotlight on the World of Coca-Cola, I wanted to highlight a temporary exhibit.  The Diet Coke Heart Truth dress display has returned to the World of Coca-Cola.  The dresses will not be on display to too long, so make sure to check them out.

The dresses featured this year include:

2009 Katie Couric by Carmen Marc Valvo

2008 Heidi Klum by Marc Jacobs

2008 Lisa Rinna by Michael Kors

2007 Kimberly Guilfoyle by Nicole Miller

2007 Angela Bassett by Carmen Marc Valvo

Chinese New Year

Chinese families all over the world are marking the Chinese New Year, a 15 day celebration of the Year of the Tiger. California based Bobby Liao has documented some of the holiday activities that are occurring both in the United States and in China on his blog, appropriately called Bobby's Coca-Cola Blog. At that site, you will find photos and descriptions of the various promotions that Coca-Cola is sponsoring in different markets. Bobby also has an excellent history of the development of the famous Coca-Cola script trademark in China. Check it out:

http://7xpub.blogspot.com/

Skiing in Canada to Mardi Gras in New Orleans

Today is "Fat Tuesday", and I thought this February 21, 1931 ad featuring winter sports in Canada and Mardi Gras in New Orleans was quite ironic given the Winter Olympics in Vancouver currently taking place. This print ad boasts of the "skates and skis in the joyous thrill of winter sports" (albeit in Montreal and not Vancouver), and how "New Orleans, at Mardi Gras, scatters flowers and dances in the streets." Both cities, of course, observe the pause that refreshes. We also have the original painting by Frederic Mizen in the ad in our art collection.

Collector Focus - Edward Wong Chee Mun

I recently received a facebook message from a collector who wanted to share his stories.  I have  pasted in his comments below.  I would also like to mention that The Coca-Cola Collectors Club is an organization that will allow you to share your stories and passion with friends around the world.

My name is Edward Wong Chee Mun and I am from Malaysia.  I started Collection Coke sine 1999.  At that time I worked in Singapore where one day I went to a friends house.  When I entered the house I saw a big group of Coke Bottles in his room.  Then he gave me my first bottle, an old USA bottle.  From that Day I began collecting Coke.

When I started to collect, I was asking my relatives and friends who were traveling to help me buy bottles.  Then, after I have a computer, I used the internet to find friends and make trades.
The first year, I really was crazy to trade, every month, I spend a hundred dollars for trading.  This slowly, I began to be choosier and select the Coke cans and bottles I wanted to collect.

Now, most of the items I collect are the can sets and the aluminum bottles and my room is full of my collection (also my cupboard is full.)

One thing I like about collecting Coke is to know a lot of the world collectors.  I have also met a number of Coke collectors in China, Thailand, Belgium, and Singapore.  When they come, I bring them to look and my collection and we drink and talk about Coke.

You can log in my collection site and have a look.

http://tatoro3274.cokecangallery.com/

The Next Great Olympic Sport?

It is not unusual to see new sports added to Olympic competition. Curling was added in 1998, and this year marks the debut of ski cross. In previous Games, medals were awarded for both tug of war and polo. But this year, I found a website promoting the inclusion of a sport that many of us played as children.Take a look at the following:

http://snowballthrowing.com/

What do you think? Are you ready to join the movement?

Spotlight On The World of Coca-Cola - Olympic Pin Set

I can't wait to watch the Olympics games in Vancouver the next two weeks.  I have always enjoyed the action of the sports of Winter Games and the beauty of the opening and closing ceremonies.

When we were working on the exhibits for the World of Coca-Cola, we discussed several ways to try to document and celebrate the 82 year relationship between Coca-Cola and the Olympics.  I have already blogged about the Olympic Torches we have on display.  Today, I wanted to share some of our artifacts which deal with the great spectator sport at the Olympics - Pin Trading.  We have an entire wall of pins sets in the Milestones of Refreshments gallery at the World of Coke. 

I can not show all the pins in this blog post, so I created an album of some of the pins on our Coca-Cola Archives Facebook page.  You can check them out on that site.

http://www.facebook.com/CokeArchives

Coca-Cola Harmony - Behind The Scenes With The New Ad

Readers of the blog will get a sneak peak at the new Coke ad that will premiere this weekend during the DAYTONA 500, but that is only fitting as the new spot pulled its music out of the Archives.

The new spot, entitled “Harmony,” offers a NASCAR® twist on one of the most popular commercials ever – Coca-Cola’s iconic “Hilltop,” which first aired in 1971 – as several drivers belt out the famous song, “I’d Like To Buy The World A Coke” while battling one another on the racetrack.  In the ad, Coca-Cola Racing Family members Greg Biffle, Clint Bowyer, Jeff Burton, Denny Hamlin, Kevin Harvick, Bobby Labonte, Joey Logano, Ryan Newman, David Ragan, Elliott Sadler and Tony Stewart show how even the most competitive rivals can Open Happiness with Coca-Cola.

“I’d Like To Buy The World A Coke,” the iconic song from “Hilltop” which was written in less than 24 hours, became an instant hit and inspired numerous renditions, including three top 40 versions of I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing.  Within 10 days of the U.S. release of "Hilltop," The Coca-Cola Company received 10,000 letters from people expressing support for the message in the ad.
 
“It’s been both fun and an honor to be a part of creating a new NASCAR® take on a commercial that is such a big part of Coke’s history,” said driver Kevin Harvick. “Most of us drivers should probably stick to our day jobs, though, because I’m pretty sure our version of the famous Coca-Cola song won’t make it to the top of the charts.”