Coca-Cola – The Refreshing Journey

Everyone in the world knows the name Coca-Cola.  Invented 133 years ago in 1886, Coca-Cola, manufactured by The Coca-Cola Company, is a carbonated soft drink.  The Coca-Cola Company is also one of the world’s most recognized and iconic brands with more than 3500 beverages, ranging from sodas and energy drinks to soy based drinks, under its name.

Coca-Cola was the invention of Confederate Colonel John Pemberton, who developed the drink as a substitute for his addiction to morphine.  His invention was sold at soda fountains in various pharmacies, in the form of a patent medicine marketed as a nerve tonic.  

After the death of John Pemberton, American businessman Asa Griggs Candler bought the rights to Coca-Cola from Pemberton’s family for just $ 300 in 1889 and established The Coca-Cola Company in Atlanta, Georgia in 1892.  It was due to Candler’s incredible marketing strategies, that Coca-Cola was sold in every state of America by 1895.  Candler was a great businessman ,but he took one wrong step when he sold the right to package Coca-Cola to bottlers, for a fee of one dollar.  This led to the appearance of many knock off brands and people had trouble identifying the real product. To solve this problem, The Coca-Cola Company asked the bottlers to come up with a bottle which would help people distinguish Coca-Cola from other knockoffs.  The first bottle made for Coca-Cola was designed as a cocoa bean. Since then the bottle design of Coca-Cola has gone through various changes, with Coke cans first being introduced to the public in 1955.

Coca-Cola remained popular well through the 20th century, with the Company owning almost 60 % of its market share in 1948.  However, this number decreased in 1984 to 21.8 % because of a new competitor—Pepsi. This prompted The Coca-Cola Company to change its formula and it then introduced New Coke, the taste of which consumers preferred more than the old Coke and Pepsi.  However, Coca-Cola faced backlash because of the public’s nostalgia for the old drink and the Company returned the old formula under the name Coca-Cola Classic. Coca-Cola Classic was changed back to Coca-Cola in 2011, after the New Coke formula was stopped from production.   The Coca-Cola Company is popular for its acquisition of various brands all over the world, including Minute Maid, Indian cola brand Thumbs Up, Fuze Beverage and many others. 

Despite its popularity, Coca-Cola has faced much criticism for its effect on health, environmental issues, animal testing and the nickname of the brand, “Coke.”  The Company is also banned in countries like North Korea and Cuba because of its identity as an American brand. 

Coca-Cola is the most popular brand of soft drinks, with its name being the second most popular word in the world after “OK.”  With an annual revenue of $ 31.856 billion in 2018 and a net worth of $ 224.43 billion, Coca-Cola is still ruling the soft drink industry with its amazing drinks and incredible marketing campaigns.