Midnight Madness With Coca-Cola

I am a HUGE University of Kentucky basketball fan, and have been since 1993. So, you can imagine how delighted I was we received this a pair of tickets from a 2009 Kentucky game. They came in to the Archives with a collection of tickets with the Coke logo on them. The 2009-2010 team just happens to be my favorite Kentucky team in my nearly 20 years of rooting for them. Tonight is "Midnight Madness", or as it is called at Kentucky, "Big Blue Madness", which is the official launch of practices for the team for the season. At Kentucky, 24,000 tickets sold out in less than an hour to watch this event! Every now and then, I have to tolerate a colleague or two who prefer the Duke Blue Devils National Championship commemorative Coke bottles, but that's when I point them to the collectibles pictured below. Go Big Blue!

Willie Mays Coca-Cola Carton Insert

As Black History Month comes to a close today, I wanted to share one of the more recent items we acquired for the collection.  This Willie Mays card from the 1952 set was produced by the Coca-Cola Bottling Company of New York and is a difficult item to find.  It is interesting to note that the other carton inserts from this series note "Collect all 10" on the bottom. When the Mays insert was issued, the note was changed to the "Collect all 11" visible at the bottom of this card.

It is also interesting to note that the Giants only played 12 night games in 1952, but they did have 7 double headers scheduled that year.  Baseball has certainly changed since that time.

In 1965, Willie Mays appeared in television advertising for Coca-Cola and we produced a special print ad celebrating his MVP award at the end of that season. 

Take a minute to read "Willie Mays Baseball Story" on the back of the card.  1952 was only his second year in baseball, and while he won the Rookie of the Year award in 1951, it is amazing to consider how many records he would set and what a tremendous career he would have.  The card finishes with the quote, "Willie Mays' record to date proves, like Coke, 'He is as Natural!"

 

Vintage Vending Machine At East Lake Golf Club

I visited East Lake Golf Club today to make plans to set up an exhibit of historic Coca-Cola golf material for at the club for The Tour Championship presented by Coca-Cola which will be held in two weeks.  At one point in my career prior to joining The Coca-Cola Company, I was the Bobby Jones Curator at the Atlanta History Center. East Lake is the course where Jones learned to play and has always been one of my favorite golf clubs because it has such a rich golf heritage.  If you are able to attend the tournament, make sure to visit the pro shop where they have a vintage vending machine.  Pretty nice looking machine and the Bobby Jones Coca-Cola cutout to the right of it is a nice touch.

Youth Olympic Games In Singapore

Today marked the close of inaugural Youth Olympic Games which were held in Singapore.  The Youth Olympic Games are part of the International Olympic Committee efforts to inspire young people to participate in sports and adopt the Olympic values.  It not only focuses on sports, but also education and culture.  Over 3,600 athletes between the ages of 14 and 18 took part in the Games.  Our team in Singapore has been working overtime the last few weeks with activations during the Olympic Torch Relay and at schools around Singapore. 

I shipped some historical material to Singapore a few month ago and the team used them as part of a portable exhibit that has been displayed at over 16 schools and several Olympic Torch Run Celebration Sites.  I love the idea in the photograph where the kids get to pretend they are running with the torch.  We considered that concept when we were working on the World of Coca-Cola in Atlanta. 

The photos below show the activations team setting up for the Games and then a few of the traveling exhibit. 

 

Brazil 2014 World Cup Can

As soon as the 2010 World Cup was over, the logo for the FIFA 2014 World Cup in Brazil was released. And just a few days ago we got in our newest artifact for our sports collection: A Commemorative FIFA World Cup Brazil 2014 can that features the logo prominently. We received this from our friends in the sports marketing department, and before I catalog it, I'm sharing a picture with you. The line on the bottom of the can that reads "Felicidade é ter a Copa do Mundo FIFA Aqui" means "Happiness is having the FIFA World Cup Here".

Blog Poll: Netherlands vs Spain World Cup Final

We are down to the final two teams who will play this weekend in the FIFA World Cup Final in South Africa: The Netherlands and Spain. I thought it'd be interesting to do an unscientific poll of Coca-Cola Conversations readers to see who we collectively thought the winner would be. Although I'm not going public with my prediction, I will offer up a few links that represent soccer and Coke from each country. This 1962 Dutch print ad from The Netherlands translates to "When You Pause...Coca-Cola Refreshes You Best!".  This 1954 calendar page from Spain translates to "Tastes Good Ice Cold." Let us know below who you think will celebrate with the FIFA trophy this weekend:

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.

World Cup At The World Of Coke

With the first week of the FIFA World Cup in full swing I am getting excited by all the action and the vuvuzelas. If you want to experience some of the excitement here in Atlanta, the World of Coca-Cola now has a special 3-D film airing that was shown during the World Cup Trophy Tour.  It is an exciting new addition that will only be there until July 5th.

If you miss that but still want to see some World Cup items, check out the Milestones of Refreshment gallery and keep one the lookout for a miniature version of the trophy.

Winner Of The Coca-Cola 600 Vending Machine

I posted a blog a few weeks ago about the vending machine the winner of the Coca-Cola 600 would win.  I just received a photograph from victory lane after the race showing Kurt Busch with the trophy and the vending machine.  I wonder which he was happier to receive? 

Thanks to Kurt Busch and his team for letting us use the photograph.

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.