Coca Cola And Its Evolution Essay Research

Coca Cola And Its Evolution Essay, Research Paper

Coca-Cola and its Evolution

The Coca-Cola company started out as an insignificant one man business and over the last one hundred and ten years it has grown into one of the largest companies in the world. The first operator of the company was Dr. John Pemberton and the current operator is Roberto Goizueta. Without societies help, Coca-Cola could not have become over a 50 billion dollar business.

Coca-Cola was invented by Dr. John Pemberton, an Atlanta pharmacist. Dr. Pemberton concocted the formula in a three legged brass kettle in his backyard on May 8, 1886. He mixed a combination of lime, cinnamon, coca leaves, and the seeds of a Brazilian shrub to make the fabulous beverage(CokeMANIA). Coca-Cola debuted in Atlanta’s largest pharmacy, Jacob’s Pharmacy, as a five cent non- carbonated beverage. Later, carbonated water was added to the syrup to make the beverage that is know today as Coca-Cola.

Named by one of Pemberton’s close friends, Frank Robinson also penned the famous Coca-Cola logo and it’s unique script. In addition to the early history of acquiring its name, the Coca-Cola Company traded several hands. While living, Dr. John Pemberton sold a portion of the Coca-Cola company to Asa Candler, then after Pemberton’s death, Candler bought the remaining portion of the company. Candler acquired the whole company for only $2,300 and became known as “The Man Who Taught Coca-Cola to Walk” (Coca-Cola).

Candler accomplished great achievements as owner of the company. On January 31, 1893, the famous Coca-Cola formula was patented. He also opened the first syrup manufacturing plant in 1884. His great achievement was large scale bottling of Coca-Cola in 1899. In 1915, The Root Glass Company made the contour bottle for the Coca-Cola company. Candler aggressively advertised Coca-Cola in newspapers and on billboards. In the newspapers, he would give away coupons for a free Coke at any fountain. In less than 10 years, Candler had increased the sales by 400 percent. After Asa’s retirement, Coca-Cola was sold again following the Prohibition Era to Ernest Woodruff for 25 million dollars. In turn, he gave Coca-Cola to his son, Robert Woodruff, who would be president for six decades(Gould 16-18).

A man known for his achievements and ideas, Robert Woodruff had “Taught Coca-Cola to Fly” (Coca-Cola). In 1923, Woodruff introduced the six bottle carton. He also made Coca-Cola available through vending machine in 1929. He started advertising on the radio in the 1930’s and on the television in 1950. Currently Coca-Cola is advertised on over five hundred TV channels around the world. In 1931, Woodruff introduced the Coke Santa as a Christmas promotion and since then, it has been a Christmas Tradition. Candler also introduced the twelve ounce Coke can in 1960. The Coca-Cola contour bottle was patented in 1977. The two liter bottle was introduced in 1978, the same year the company also introduced plastic bottles(Coca-Cola). As a result of his efforts, Woodruff made Coke available in every state of the Union through the soda fountain.

In 1985, the Coca-Cola Company made what has been known as one of the biggest marketing blunder. Putting forth 4 million dollars of research, The Coca-Cola company stumbled onto the new formula in efforts to produce Diet Coke. The decision to change their formula and pull the original Coke off the market came about because taste tests showed a distinct preference for the new formula. The new formula was a sweeter variation with less tang, it was also slightly smoother(Tchudi 37). Robert Woodruff’s death was a large contributor to the change because he stated that he would never change Coca-Cola’s formula. Another factor that influenced the change was that Coke’s market share fell 2.5 percent in four years. This was the first flavor change since the existence of the Coca- Cola company.

The change was announced April 23, 1985 at the Vivian Beaumont Theater at the Lincoln Center. Some two hundred TV and newspaper reporters attended this very glitzy announcement. It included a question and answer session, a history of Coca-Cola, and many other elements(Oliver 131). The debut was accompanied by an advertising campaign that revived the Coca-Cola theme song of the early 1970’s, “I’d Like to Buy the World a Coke”(CokeMANIA). The change to the world’s best selling soft drink was heard by 81 percent of the United States population within twenty-four hours of the announcement. Within a week of the change, one thousand calls a day were flooding the company’s eight hundred number (1-800-GET-COKE). Most of the callers were shocked and/or outraged, many said that they were considering switching to Pepsi. Within six weeks, the eight hundred number was being jammed by six thousand calls a day. The company also fielded over forty thousand letters, which were all answered and each person got a coupon for the new Coke. A retired Air Force officer, explained in a letter to the Coca-Cola company that he wanted to be cremated and interred in a Coke can, but now that this change had come about he was reconsidering. (Oliver 43). Sharlotte Donneally, a thirty-six year old anthropologist said, “I hate the new stuff. It’s too sweet. It tastes like Pepsi.” She also stated, “Real Coke had punch. This taste almost like it’s flat”(Coca-Cola). Many upset American consumers of Coca-Cola asked if t