Amsterdam Olympics Began 82 Years Ago Today

On this day in 1928, the Amsterdam Olympics started beginning The Coca-Cola Company's 82 year involvement with the Games.  We have blogged before about our efforts at those games to provide Coca-Cola to spectators and athletes at kiosk near the venues. 

But you may not know that Johnny Weismuller, who appeared on the 1934 tray to the left, won two gold medals for swimming at the Amsterdam games.  During his Olympic career, Weismuller won a total of five gold and one bronze medals.  Weismuller was actually the second person in his family to model for Coca-Cola, his wife, Lupe Velez appeared in advertising beginning in 1932.

 

They Call Me Mello Yello

Just in case you had not seen the news, Mello Yello has received a brand and graphic overhaul.  We worked with the brand team during the last six months as they reviewed the packaging and positioning of the brand. Mello Yello was introduced in 1979 in the US and apparently made an impact on a brand blogger.  Garland Pollard writes the BrandlandUSA blog and recently had an interesting post remembering Mello Yello.  Check out his post and let me know what you remember of our "Smooth" brand.

25th Anniversary Of Space Can

Today, July 12th, marks the 25th anniversary of the first serving of Coca-Cola in space.  The original Space Can was used aboard the Space Shuttle, Challenger.  I have blogged about Coke in space before, but I ran across this print ad the other day.  It has always been one of my favorites.  If you are in Atlanta, we do have one of the original space cans and space dispensers on display at The World of Coca-Cola, look for them in the vending section of the Milestones Exhibit.

On This Date in 1982...

On July 8, 1982, Diet Coke was introduced to the marketplace. Coca-Cola USA President Brian Dyson declared that it was "The most significant new product introduction in the entire 96 year history of The Coca-Cola Company." It was also the most carefully developed and researched product in our history at the time. 150 different graphic designs were considered before we landed on the final desired look, and you can scan through the milestones of Diet Coke's history by clicking here.  Also, I always laugh when I see the photos of these very 1980s promotional items that we produced along with the launch.

 

1977 FIFA World Youth Tournament for the Coca-Cola Cup

I'm really enjoying the elimination rounds of the FIFA World Cup. As you prepare to watch the games this weekend, I thought I'd share another Coke and FIFA historical poster from our files. This is a Dutch poster from 1977, when Coke along with FIFA launched The FIFA World Youth Tournament for "The Coca-Cola Cup." This first ever sponsored youth tournament for 16-19 year olds was held in Tunis, Tunisia. 16 countries (five European, two Central American, three South American, three African and three Asian) competed in the tournament, which was held in Tunisia. In the same year, we launched the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Football Development Program -- an educational effort designed to share soccer technology, teaching, training, administration and officiating in up to 100 countries where soccer was a relatively young and growing sport.  Also, don't forget that this weekend is the final weekend to see the 2010 FIFA World Cup exhibit at the World of Coke.

IGA And Coca-Cola

I had a great time making a presentation to IGA (Independent Grocers Alliance) on the Coca-Cola Conversations blog.  Founded in 1926, IGA has a rich heritage and our brands have been linked througout the years.  During the course of our conversation today, they shared several interesting photographs of stores with great Coca-Cola signage.  The photo to the right has a great 1941 tin sign that would is valued between $ 600 and $ 800 today depending on the condition.  I always love to see how our marketing material was used in the stores and can not wait to explore the IGA photo collection.

Columbia Pictures

On this date, June 22, in 1982 The Coca-Cola Company entered the entertainment industry by completing its acquisition of Columbia Pictures.  The press release issued said "the entertainment industry is poised for significant growth in the years ahead, and Columbia Pictures is one of the creative and financial stars of the entertainment industry."  This purchase means that I have some pretty interesting artifacts in our collection including the Oscar for the movie Gandhi which is on display at the World of Coca-Cola. Our appetite for the entertainment industry and its growth was tempered when the movie Ishtar bombed and we sold Columbia Pictures to Sony in 1989.

Boy Scouts of America

While the Boy Scouts of America were founded in 1910 and are celebrating a century of "Being Prepared" this year, they were not officially incorporated until President Woodrow Wilson signed their incorporation papers on this date in 1916. 

The Coca-Cola Company and the Boy Scouts have been partners for decades and we have quite a bit of Scout material in our Archives including artwork, Jamboree material and numerous ads from Boys Life magazine.  Many of our local bottlers were also partners for their local Boy Scout Troops.  We recently acquired several calendars featuring Boy Scout artwork by artist Norman Rockwell which advertised for bottlers across the country.  The image to the right is from the 1946 calendar produced for the Coca-Cola Bottling Company of Enid, Oklahoma.  If you look closely, one can note the first Scout Law printed at the bottom of the page.  Each month had additional Scouting information printed.  A calendar like this in good condition with all the pages are generally worth $ 400 to $ 500.

We have too many images to post to the blog, so I have created a facebook photo album with more photos of the Scout calendars. 

Coke footage at the 1962 FIFA World Cup in Chile

I mentioned in a post yesterday that Coca-Cola began stadium advertising at the FIFA World Cup in Brazil in 1950. We have a film in our collection that captures some of the ways Coke was a part of the 1962 FIFA World Cup in Santiago, Chile. In the video clip, you can see a Spanish language Coke billboard advertisement on a busy street that says "Welcome to the World of Futbol 1962" and features a soccer player. In addition to this, you also get a glimpse of how busy the Coke bar was as people crowd around for refreshment during halftime of one of the games. The concession stand workers' hands move very quickly in fulfilling orders. Just as our US office sponsored highlight films of the World Series, The Masters and NASCAR each year, this film was sponsored by our German division for their bottlers. While I could not understand the speaker, the images of Coke neon signs and the celebration that occurs after Brazil's 3-1 championship victory over Czechoslovakia speak for themselves.

 

 

 

75 Years Ago Today...The California Pacific International Exposition

On this date in 1935, the America's Exposition opened in San Diego and Coca-Cola was there.  This photo shows "The Pause That Refreshes" kiosk where visitors to the Exposition could purchase a Coke. Besides this kiosk, dispensing stands were available throughout the Exposition grounds. 

There were many ways to spend your day at the Exposition - with multiple attractions available.  One of the most risque was the Zoro Gardens where visitors could pay to view the activities of "nudist" performers.   

The Exposition ran from May 29th until November 11th and over 5 million visitors made the trip to San Diego.  In the April issue of the Coca-Cola Bottler publication, it was estimated that the food and lodging for one person in the San Diego area would amount to $2.00 per day exclusive of incidentals, such as, candy, cigarettes, and refreshments.