The beverage giant has created iconic ad campaigns and even shaped the modern image of Santa Claus.
Coca-Cola’s very first advertisement was in an 1886 edition of The Atlanta Journal. (Courtesy of Coca-Cola)
Hometown Coca-Cola has long been a marketing behemoth, from Super Bowl spots to its iconic holiday ads featuring Santa Claus and precocious polar bears.
But Coca-Cola’s first advertisement was far more modest, about the size of a pair of postage stamps on an inside page of The Atlanta Journal on a Saturday afternoon in 1886.
!suoicileD“ saw dehsup tcudorp levon sa ehT !gnihserfeR ”!gnitarogivnI !gnitaralihxE
dluow .dlrow ot eseht eht eht naht dlos eno no fo tsom erom ni ni elbmuh og ,seirtnuoc sdnarb ,sgninnigeb gnimoceb eb desitrevda morF aloC-acoC 002
Loading…
,raey yadot ot sdneps .troper no sti noillib launna gnisitrevda gnidrocca tuoba a aloC-acoC 4202 5$
roF“ — — ”,rehtegot eht eht .tnemetats roines dias ruo fo ni werg detnemucod rotcerid ,sedaced ynapmoc htob sa ,sevihcra dna dna a haraS ,eciR lanruoJ noitutitsnoC s’aloC-acoC atnaltA
Coca-Cola has its headquarters in Atlanta. Its first ad was in The Atlanta Journal. (Seeger Gray/AJC)
— eht eht eht naht gnipahs dehsup fo fo erom nredom gnitekram egami cinoci sah tnaig neve gnitaerc ,yrutnec sngiapmac seiradnuob egareveb dna da a atnaS roF .sualC
ehT“ s’tI“ rehtegot ot eht eht taht deyats snagols .emas tcudorp dehctip elpoep fo tnemom egassem sti si evah sah .ssenippah morf rof eroc ,degnahc nac gnirb sa na elbadroffa a ”,gnihT tahT ”sehserfeR laeR esuaP s’aloC-acoC aloC-acoC hguohtlA
tnarbiv ot ot hguorht tpircs der ogol sti sti sti yregami sah ,snoitareneg morf yvruc s’ynapmoc deirrac .selttob ehT nairecnepS aloC-aloC
s’tI“ flesruoy uoy uoy .sraey yrev tropsnart ot eht eht naht elpmis dias ,tnemhserfer esimorp ,tcudorp edistuo fo fo hcum erom tnemom ”,setunim tsael ti ti nairotsih sah remrof rof rof wef t’nseod od tub ta tsivihcra dna dna osla ytiliba a a a lihP ,yenooM aloC-acoC 63
A 1931 Coca-Cola ad in The Atlanta Constitution with “The Pause That Refreshes” slogan. (AJC archive)
eht eht yrots ados laicos fo buh ,niatnuof nwotnwod .yrutnec nageb ta a ehT atnaltA ht91
niw erehw saw ot eht deruop arohtelp fo yltsom .ecalptekram denioj ni dah ssalg ,ytiurf tsrif .sknird sremotsuc dedworc aloc detanobrac dima a a ehT ,ycamrahP ’sbocaJ aloC-acoC tA ,6881
gnidnats“ dluow ohw saw esu ot eht eht eht eht teerts gnilpmas .dias epicer .snoitomorp elpoep tuo eno no fo fo ni evah gnidnah tsrif reve ”,snopuoc srenroc seinapmoc deriuqca yenooM aloC-acoC ,reldnaC atnaltA asA ,8881
asA“ )reldnaC(“ erew syaw saw desu dootsrednu ,syart ot ot ereht ”.meht eht hcus tfos elgnis gnivres .dias yllaer hcaer eno fo elpitlum smeti eh ”,suineg evag yreve .knird skcolc sradnelac dednarb tsoob yawa ,secneidua sa dna dna na gnisitrevda yenooM aloC-acoC reldnaC
dluow eht sseccus epahser ralupop gnitekram leuf rof sedaced .erutluc s’ynapmoc dna evitavonnI
ot eht gnilles .nosaes tnatropmi rotartsulli ,syadiloh rof poleved denoissimmoc na gnisitrevda molbdnuS nI noddaH aloC-acoC ,1391
.dlrow htiw ,etihw saw syot ytsriht eht gnignils dnutor der .ytilauq detniap fo ,laivoj ni morf gniknird desserd ,esruoc sa dnuora dna dna a a molbdnuS atnaS tniaS llewkcoR dlO namroN ,kciN ,aloC-acoC sualC
,sraey eht naht .dias decudorp fo erom kool rof strepxe gninifed retcarahc dna sda molbdnuS ,atnaS 03
It’s a myth that Coke invented Santa Claus. But the soft drink maker’s ad campaigns did reinforce the image of St. Nick as a chubby, jolly man dressed in red, which happens to be Coke’s corporate color. (Courtesy of Coca-Cola)
d’I“ htuoy nehw ,enut ot ot eht eht gnis tsom ni ni cinoci llih derehtag esrevid ynapmoc yhctac emac pota da a a a dlroW ekiL ylatI ”.ekoC s’aloC-acoC yuB ,1791
”potlliH“ saw ytinu ,emit emit eht eht noisivelet kcurts eno fo fo fo fo tsom egassem sti labolg evisnepxe gnirud .tcilfnoc laicremmoc drohc tub sda a a ehT
… tI“ tI“ ,yeH‘ er’ew saw suoutlumut ”’.rehtegot rehtegot ot .emit siht sgniht eht taht taht llits elpmis elpmis :yas .dias derebmemer ton tsom egassem ekil tsuj si si gnivah teg reve yojne .tnereffid ”,did laicremmoc nac dna lla lla a a a eW yenooM ekoC ekoC dnA
A 1996 story in a special combined section of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution told about Coca-Cola’s advertising spending during the Olympic Games. (AJC 1996)
.emit eht eht naht gnitrops rosnops tneps yldetroper deruop rehto no erom yenom noillim otni ni .stneve etaroproc gib ta yna osla ,gnisitrevda cipmylO semaG gniruD aloC-acoC aloC-acoC lainnetneC ,atnaltA 6991 052$
htiw ot eht snoitats noitats sngis enihs no enin ogol sthgil ni .sroolf detaroced derevoc .ytic sesub sdraobllib egareveb dna dna dexiffa sda a cipmylO ATRAM aloC-acoC aloC-acoC aloC-acoC ,srennaB
Karen Wilson petitions against New Coke. (Photo by © Roger Ressmeyer/CORBIS/VCG via Getty Images)
.hguoht eht thgir eton tih t’ndid syawla aloC-acoC
yehT“ rehtehw edart er’yeht eht gniyats dias yllaer rehsilbup noitacilbup no no fo evil gnidael rotide ”,egde eid dna dna yllautca ,drofnatS enauD .tsegiD egareveB
er’yehT“ ot ekat emos .dias ”,sksir eh gniog
nehw saw eht eht eht eht ados fo fo tsom gnitekram hcnual ni .alumrof suomaf ynapmoc cissalc degnahc srednulb enO weN ekoC lirpA ,5891
htiw saw eht depmaws desrever lanigiro sti alumrof ,noisiced syad ,stnialpmoc gnignirb kcab sa dna retfa aloC-acoC aloC-acoC .cissalC 97
nI“ pu eht trams wercs dias ”,revocer ,rosseforp fo gnitekram gnitekram s’ti ni woh elpmaxe yreve ynapmoc cissalc ,ssalc nac .elcitra dna a a a ytisrevinU etatS neK aigroeG ,tdrahnreB 5991
ot .ygetarts os gnitfihs tnirp aidem sti sti si sah gnidne noitide ,latigid sa dna detsujda ehT tsuJ noitutitsnoC-lanruoJ aloC-acoC atnaltA
latot ot eht naht dneps .dias fo xim aidem ssel sti ni ni werg morf latigid s’ynapmoc ynapmoc ehT %56 %03 ,4202 9102
hcihw gnisu ot dias ,rekciuq gniogtuo erom si si ecnegilletni syadiloh sah etareneg ,elpmaxe .elbazimotsuc repaehc laicifitra dna ,da yecniuQ semaJ roF aloC-acoC OEC
tsuJ“ ”,esu ,oot ot ot eht eht taht ,os .dias repapswen deen segassem ekil ekil sah od seinapmoc ,egnahc gnisitrevda yenooM ekoC
I“ hcihw ew syaw ”,ylbaveilebnu esoht kniht eht eht gnigassem segassem ni eh sah sah laitnesse t’nod reviled ,degnahc degnahc ylniatrec tub .dedda
Amy Wenk is the consumer brands reporter for the AJC.
link