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Coca-Cola (often "Coke") is a carbonated cola and the world's most popular soft drink.• The Coca-Cola Company's headquarters are located in Atlanta, Georgia, where the drink was first concocted around 1886. Coke's inventor John Stith Pemberton was not a shrewd marketer of his drink, and the ownership of Coke eventually passed to Asa Candler, whose company remains the producer of Coke today. Candler's successful marketing, continued by his successors such as Robert Woodruff, established Coke as a major soft drink first in the United States and later around the world. Originally designed to be sold at soda fountains, Coca-Cola was later sold in bottles whose distinctive shape has become a part of the drink's branding. Major advertising campaigns have established Coca-Cola slogans such as "The pause that refreshes" and "Always the Real Thing" as part of popular culture. The formula for Coke, whose status as a trade secret has been embellished by company lore, originally contained an uncertain amount of cocaine, though this was reduced over time (falling to 1/400th of a grain, or 0.16 milligrams, per ounce of syrup by 1902), and eliminated around 1906 as health regulations were tightened. Nevertheless, Coca-Cola has been criticized for its possible negative health effects, spawning many urban myths. In addition, the commercial success of the drink has been periodically challenged, particularly by its main rival Pepsi. This tension reached its peak during the 1980s, at the height of the Cola Wars, which eventually resulted in the heavily publicized introduction of "New Coke." The widely unpopular decision was eventually rescinded in the face of public opposition. The Coca-Cola Company has on occasion introduced other cola drinks under the Coke brand name. The most famous of these is Diet Coke, which has become a major diet cola but others exist, such as Cherry Coke and Vanilla Coke. There are also some drinks marketed by the company but which remain unaffiliated with Coca-Cola the drink, such as Sprite.
History Early years
Under Candler and Woodruff
World War II to the 1970s When the United States entered World War II, sugar rationing in the United States meant Coca-Cola was unable to produce drinks at full capacity. However, a deal was struck between the U.S. government and Coca-Cola whereby the company was exempted from sugar rationing, while Coca-Cola supplied free drinks to the United States Army. The U.S. Army permitted Coca-Cola employees to enter the front lines as "Technical Officers" where they operated Coke's system of providing refreshments for soldiers, who welcomed the beverage as a reminder of home. After the war, the soldiers brought home their newfound taste for Coca-Cola, further popularizing the drink. A survey of soldiers after the war indicated that veterans preferred Coca-Cola to Pepsi by an 8 to 1 ratio. Coca-Cola was criticized for its decision to continue trading in Nazi Germany. Eventually, the difficulty of shipping Coca-Cola concentrate to Germany and its occupied states, due to the Allied blockades, led to the creation of a new drink (Fanta) by the Coca-Cola Company. Fanta is still sold worldwide to this day. Another wartime innovation was the trademarking of "Coke" by the Coca-Cola Company, validating it as a way of referring to Coca-Cola. Although widely prevalent in vernacular usage, the company had initially fought against this practice with the reasoning that "nicknames encourage substitution." Advertising campaigns encouraged people to "ask for 'Coca-Cola' by its full name," but people persisted in asking simply for "Coke." In 1941, the company resignedly began advertising Coca-Cola jointly as Coca-Cola and Coke. In 1945, the "Coke" name was trademarked; nonetheless, Coke (or coke) has found wide use as a generic term for cola drinks, and in parts of the Southern United States is sometimes used to designate carbonated soft drinks of any type.http://www.coca-cola.com.au/about_origin.asp "Origins of the 'Coca-Cola' trademark". Retrieved February 13, 2005. Now defunct. After World War II, Coke began expanding worldwide. Initially having been restricted only to North America and Western Europe, Coke was soon being distributed in numerous other countries, especially those, such as the Philippines, which had been occupied by the Americans during World War II. The process was aided by the company assuming control of a number of Coca-Cola manufacturing plants which had been established during the war by the army, with help from the company, in order to spur distribution of the drink to soldiers. 1985 to the Present
Coca-Cola and local competitors Pepsi is often second to Coke in terms of sales, but outsells Coca-Cola in some localities. Around the world, some local brands do compete with Coke. Big Cola is a fast growing mark in South and Central America. In Peru, Inca Kola outsells Coca-Cola. The Coca-Cola Corporation purchased the producer in 1999. In Sweden, Julmust outsells Coca-Cola during the Christmas season. In Scotland, the locally-produced Irn-Bru was more popular until 2005 when Coca-Cola and Diet Coke began to outpace its sales. In India, Coca-Cola ranks third behind the leader, Pepsi-Cola, and local drink Thums Up. The Coca-Cola Company purchased Thumbs Up in 1993. In the Middle East, Mecca Cola is seen as a competitor to Coca-Cola. In Turkey, Cola Turka is a major competitor to Coca-Cola. In Iran and also many countries of Middle East, Zam Zam Cola and Parsi Cola are major competitors to Coca-Cola. Coca-Cola and Islam Due to its symbolic association with the United States, Coca-Cola has been a target of anti-Americanism in the Middle East. One such instance in 2000 saw a claim that the Coca-Cola label contained hidden anti-Islamic phrases in Arabic. The Coca-Cola Company claimed sales dropped 10 to 15% in Egypt after the rumor began spreading in 2000. The controversy became so widespread that the Grand Mufti of Egypt—who has proudly admitted in related interviews that he himself indulges in at least one Coke daily—publicly addressed it, declaring that the logo "does not injure Islam or Muslims." Mecca Cola was launched in France in 2002 and has since proliferated in Europe and the Middle East. Some purchasers may see buying Mecca Cola as a way to combat "America's imperialism … by providing a substitute for American goods and increasing the blockade of countries boycotting American goods." Coca-Cola formula As a publicity marketing strategy started by Ernest Woodruff, the company presents the formula of Coca-Cola as one of the most closely-held trade secrets in modern business, to which only a few employees have access. Franchised production model The actual production and distribution of Coca-Cola follows a franchising model. The Coca-Cola Company only produces a syrup concentrate, which it sells to various bottlers throughout the world who hold Coca-Cola franchises for one or more geographical areas. The bottlers produce the final drink by mixing the syrup with filtered water and sugar (or artificial sweeteners) and fill it into cans and bottles, which the bottlers then sell and distribute to retail stores, vending machines, restaurants and food service distributors. The bottlers are normally also responsible for all advertisement and other sales initiatives within their areas. The Coca-Cola Company owns minority shares in some of its largest franchisees, like Coca-Cola Enterprises, Coca-Cola Amatil, Coca-Cola Hellenic Bottling Company (CCHBC) and Coca-Cola FEMSA, but fully independent bottlers produce almost half of the volume sold in the world. As the bottler adds sugar and sweeteners, the sweetness of the drink is said to differ in various parts of the world, in order to cater for local taste. Bottle and logo design The famous Coca-Cola logotype is said to have largely been created by John Pemberton's business partner, Frank Mason Robinson, in 1885. It was Robinson who came up with the name, and he also chose the logo’s distinctive cursive script. The typeface used, known as Spencerian script, was developed in the mid 19th century and was the dominant form of formal handwriting in the United States during that period. The equally famous Coca-Cola bottle, called the "contour bottle" within the company, but known to some as the "hobble skirt" bottle, was created in 1915 by a Swedish former glassblower, Alexander Samuelson, who had emigrated to the U.S. in the 1880's and was employed as a manager at The Root Glass Company in Terre Haute, Indiana, one of Coca-Cola's bottle suppliers. According to the Coca-Cola Company, Samuelson took time to ponder a possible new design for the bottle after production at his plant was shut down due to a heat wave. Inspired, he considered the possibility of basing a new design on the kola nut or coca leaf, two of the drink's flagship ingredients. He sent an employee to research the shape of the two objects in question, but a misunderstanding led to the man returning with sketches of the cacao pod—a crucial ingredient in chocolate, but not Coca-Cola. According to the company, it was this mistaken design that was accepted and put into production. Advertising
Urban legends and unusual uses The numerous urban legends about Coca-Cola have led the Urban Legends Reference Pages to devote a whole section of their site to "Cokelore." Coca-Cola has in particular been the target of urban legends decrying the drink for its supposedly copious amounts of acid (its pH value of 2.5 is midway between vinegar and gastric acid), or the "life-threatening" effects of its carbonated water. These urban legends usually take the form of "fun facts" — for example, "highway troopers use Coke to clean blood from highways after accidents," "somebody once died in a Coke-drinking competition," or "Coke can dissolve a tooth overnight."* All of these claims are false. (While highway troopers do not use Coca-Cola for this purpose, the television program MythBusters showed that Coca-Cola could be used as a blood cleaning agent, if an expensive one.) Claims of Coca-Cola's unique tooth dissolving properties have been tested on UK television show Brainiac: Science Abuse where a tooth was left overnight in a glass of Coke. It proved Cola could not dissolve a tooth. Coca-Cola was also once believed to have been a possible form of birth control due to this allegedly high acidity level being supposedly able to kill sperm. * One unusual use for Coke is as a rust-control substance — the phosphoric acid in Coke converts iron oxide to iron phosphate, and as such can be used as an initial treatment for corroded iron and steel objects being renovated, etc. The acid can be used to anodize titanium according to various websites. Corroded battery terminals on cars are often corrected through the use of Coca-Cola. The MythBusters tested this and found that Coke seemed to be no more effective than any other liquid. According to popular belief, the coca leaf extract cocaine was once added to Coca-Cola. Because cocaine is naturally present in untreated coca leaves, small amounts of cocaine were also present in the beverage. Today's Coca-Cola uses "spent" coca leaves, those that have been through a cocaine extraction process, to flavor the beverage. Since this process cannot extract the cocaine alkaloids at a molecular level, the drink still contains trace amounts of the stimulant.• The United States DEA oversees the importation of coca for Coca-Cola, and later sale of the extracted cocaine to the drug industry. Pit crews in NASCAR sometimes pour Coke on their pit stalls to create traction for the racecar when exiting/entering the pit. Criticisms of Coca-Cola The Coca-Cola Company has been criticized for the allegedly adverse health effects of its flagship product. However, a common criticism of Coke based on its allegedly toxic acidity levels has been found to be baseless by most researchers; lawsuits based on these criticisms have been dismissed by several American courts for this reason. Most nutritionists advise that Coca-Cola and other soft drinks can be harmful if consumed excessively, particularly to young children whose soft drink consumption competes with, rather than complements, a balanced diet. Studies have shown that regular soft drink users have a lower intake of calcium (which can contribute to osteoporosis), magnesium, ascorbic acid, riboflavin, and vitamin A. The drink has also aroused criticism for its use of caffeine, an addictive substance. Although numerous court cases have been filed against The Coca-Cola Company since the 1920s, alleging that the acidity of the drink is dangerous, no evidence corroborating this claim has been found. In some of these cases, evidence has been presented that claimed Coca-Cola is no more harmful than comparable soft drinks or acidic fruit juices like apple juice. Under normal conditions, scientific evidence indicates Coca-Cola's acidity causes no immediate harm. Like most other colas, Coca-Cola contains phosphoric acid. One study has shown that this hastens bone loss, contributing to illnesses such as osteoporosis. There is also some concern regarding the usage of high fructose corn syrup in the production of Coca-Cola. Since the late-1980s in the U.S., Coke has been made with high fructose corn syrup, instead of sugar glucose or fructose, to reduce costs. This has come under criticism because of concerns that the corn used to produce corn syrup may come from genetically altered plants. Some nutritionists also caution against consumption of high fructose corn syrup because of possible links to obesity and diabetes. In India, there exists a major controversy concerning pesticides and other harmful chemicals in bottled products including Coca-Cola. In 2003, the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), a non-governmental organization in New Delhi, said aerated waters produced by soft drinks manufacturers in India, including multinational giants PepsiCo and Coca-Cola, contained toxins including lindane, DDT, malathion and chlorpyrifos — pesticides that can contribute to cancer and a breakdown of the immune system. Tested products included Coke, Pepsi, and several other soft drinks, many produced by The Coca-Cola Company. CSE found that the Indian produced Pepsi's soft drink products had 36 times the level of pesticide residues permitted under European Union regulations; Coca-Cola's soft drink was found to have 30 times the permitted amount. CSE said it had tested the same products sold in the US and found no such residues. After the pesticide allegations were made in 2003, Coca-Cola sales declined by 15%. In 2004, an Indian parliamentary committee backed up CSE's findings, and a government-appointed committee was tasked with developing the world's first pesticide standards for soft drinks. The Coca-Cola Company has responded that its plants filter water to remove potential contaminants and that its products are tested for pesticides and must meet minimum health standards before they are distributed. In the Indian state of Kerala, sale and production of Coca-Cola, along with other soft drinks, has been banned. Five other Indian states have announced partial bans on the drinks in schools, colleges and hospitals. On Friday, September 22, 2006, the High Court in Kerala overturned the Kerala ban ruling that only the federal government can ban food products. In 2006, the United States Food and Drug Administration responded to reports that the carcinogen benzene was present in unhealthy levels in certain soft drinks by conducting a survey of more than 100 soft drinks and other beverages. Based on this limited survey, the FDA stated that it "believes that the results indicate that benzene levels are not a safety concern for consumers."* ** Criticism of The Coca-Cola Company The Coca-Cola Company has also been accused of having monopolistic and discriminatory business practices. Due to its symbolic association with the United States, Coca-Cola has been a target in the Middle East. Its labor practices have been criticised, starting with a spate of mysterious murders of union-affiliated trade union-affiliated employees in Guatemala in the 1970's and more recently including allegations that Coca-Cola's main bottler in Latin America, Panamco, hired paramilitary mercenaries who assassinated trade union leaders in Colombia. Several court cases occurred, such as those by United Steelworkers of America and the International Labor Rights Fund in support of SINALTRAINAL, and boycott actions were taken against the company. The Coca-Cola Company has also been criticised for its interactions with Nazi-Germany during World War II and for the implications of doing business in Israel during the second half of the twentieth century and the early twenty-first century. See also Notes | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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