Everything Must Go!

The Coca-Cola page on Facebook is one of the most popular brand pages on the site with over 10,000,000 fans.  The page was created by two fans (Dusty and Michael,) not by the Company as relayed in this story.  Dusty and Michael visited Coke headquarters where we gave them a tour of the World of Coke and the Archives. Shortly after that they created a pretty funny video about their visit that was posted to the Facebook page. 

A few months ago, Dusty and Michael returned to shoot a series of videos.  The video below is the first of the ones they shot in the Archives.  We had a great time shooting it and I can safely say that no artifacts were harmed during the filming - a few egos, but no artifacts.

Fender Stratocaster Guitar

While I have blogged before about the Coca-Cola guitar created out of recycled material, I wanted to tell you about one of our more popular items in our collection.  The Coca-Cola branded Fender Stratocaster guitar to the left is always a highlight on the tours of the Archives we give to our marketing colleagues. 

This guitar came to the Archives via one of our German bottlers where it was reportedly played by Eric Clapton as part of a promotion in the mid 1990s.  I have displayed it as part of several exhibitions on Coca-Cola and pop culture and we will be using it as the centerpiece of an upcoming exhibit on Coke and music.  I will miss it when it goes on tour. 

Lorna Dallas - Talentsville U.S.A. Winner

A few months ago, I received a note on the wall of the Coca-Cola Archives facebook page from Lorna Dallas.  50 years ago, Lorna won one of the more interesting contest that we ever held.  I was excited to hear from her and to find out what she was doing.

With a singing contest that would prove to be a forerunner to today's American idol, The Coca-Cola Company created and sponsored the Talentsville, U.S.A contest.  Nationwide, each local chapter of the Coca-Cola Hi-Fi Club held talent contest to identify notable teenage amateur musicians during the first six months of 1960.  The ten regional finalist were invited to New York to perform on June 18th, 1960.  Ray Charles and Pat Boone were among the judges in the final competition.  The contest was won by Lorna Dallas of Carrier Mills, Illinois.  Lorna, who was 18 when the contest was held, performed "Love Is Where You Find It."  You can hear Lorna's winning performance clicking on the link below.

Love Is Where Your Find It

The Coca-Cola Refresher magazine wrote an article in 1964 giving the update that Lorna had used her scholarship money to attend Indiana University completing her Bachelor of Music degree.  Since she contacted us, Lorna and I have traded several notes and I thought you might want to know what she is doing today.

First, you can visit her website (the bio on her website is a must read) to get up to the minute information, but Lorna described living condition as "BiPondal" with houses in both London and New York.  She has continued to perform as a singer primarily in England.  In addition to her extensive stage career, Lorna appeared in numerous television projects and more recently the movie United 93. Lorna's recent credits include a Buckingham Palace performance with Dame Judi Dench, a current Microsoft commercial in France and upcoming performance with Dame Cleo Laine in December.  She closed one of her notes to me by saying she felt she had proved a worthy winner.  I'll second that.

 

National Bad Poetry Day

August 18th is National Bad Poetry day, and I have to celebrate by showing a series of interesting ads.  Created in 1971, these ads ran in Editor & Publisher and other trade magazines.  While the purpose of the ads was to reinforce the rules about printing our trademark, the first ad challenged the trade press to write a better limerick about the rules of use of our trademark than this one purportedly created by our legal team.

The rules that we write are three:

We abhor the diminutive "c"

and "s" preceeded by "e" or "a"

is no better than apostrophe.

The winner of the limerick would win a trip to Atlanta to have dinner with our legal staff. 

As one would imagine, the replies were swift and furious.  Many pointed out that the initial rhyme was not even a limerick and that the ad had misspelled the word "preceeded."  After a few mea culpas, a follow up ad declared that Carol Wait of The Seymour Daily Tribune won the contest.

We don't have any prizes now, but you are welcome to submit your own limericks about the trademark.  We will even post the good ones.

Christmas In August

We had a couple of special visitors at The Coca-Cola Company today.  Our lunch guest created quite a scene in the cafeteria.  The were excited when Phil showed them the new Freestyle fountain dispenser.  When they moved on to the Everything Coca-Cola store, they attracted quite a crowd with everyone asking to have their pictures taken.  Everyday is Christmas here at The Coca-Cola Company.

 

Barq's Celebrates International Beer Day

Today is August 5th which is International Beer Day.  I don't know about you, but my first thought was for a Barq's Root Beer.  This brand has always been one of my favorites because shortly after joining the Company in 1997, I was put in charge of building a small museum for Barq's in Biloxi, Mississippi to celebrate the centennial of the brand in 1998.  We had a blast celebrating the centennial and I learned a great deal about the heritage of the brand The Coca-Cola Company had acquired in 1995.

My favorite Barq's promotion is perfectly in keeping with International Beer Day.  One of the most clever promotions involving Barq's was for "Free Soviet Stuff."  Select cans in 12 packs were actually hollow and contained trinkets that were supposed to have come from the former Soviet Union.  We actually have quite a few of these items in the Archives including pins, medals and the hollowed out cans.

So, for this International Beer Day, I am going to toast "Free Soviet Stuff" with an ice cold Barq's Root Beer.

Coca-Cola Brisket At The 5 Spot In Seattle

While my wife and kids were on vacation in Seattle last week I received a text from them with a photograph of the menu from the 5 Spot restaurant.  The portion of the menu she sent me offered Coca-Cola Brisket and they wanted to let me know because they knew how much I loved to find places that serve Coke as an ingredient.  

The 5 Spot is interesting in that the menu and the interior decor have changed over time as they have completed a regional food festival altering the menu every few months to focus on a different region of the US.  While my family was there, Seattle was the theme and the place was decorated with computer paraphernalia and grunge band flannel shirts.

I e-mailed Jessica Skye Bolt who is the General Manager of the 5 Spot and she said that the Coca-Cola Brisket was added to the menu more that 10 years ago when they were focusing on the food of Brooklyn and wanted a good brisket recipe.  It has been a top seller ever since.  In fact, they sell out of it every night, so if you are in the Seattle area looking for a good meal, make sure to get there early.  I know my family loved it!

National Talk In An Elevator Day

I was going to write a serious post about our acquisition of the Schweppes brand in over 100 countries around the world which occurred 11 years ago today, but then I realized it was National Talk In An Elevator Day and that had to trump Schweppes.  I did have a tough time finding an image to illustrate the post, but finally found this print ad from 1937.  They all look happy, but I am not sure if they have been talking.

Mark this one on your calendar for next year, then, on last Friday in July, make sure to tell everyone you meet in an elevator, "Hello."

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.

 

Coke and Jazz

Did you know that Louis Armstrong performed at a Coke-sponsored concert in 1944? You can actually see the program script from that event at The World of Coca-Cola. I'm a huge music fan, and I've been working on a small Coke and music exhibit which reminded me of all the jazz greats that were featured in Coke programs over the years such as Duke Ellington, Benny Goodman, Count Basie and Artie Shaw. We often joke that Ted and I fight over the Coke and music projects, and I was happy to be involved in this latest one. Check out this 1953 Coke ad featuring xylophone player Lionel Hampton. This is valued around $500 dollars.