The Very Beginning: The 1886-1930
Slogans from this Era include:
" 1886 - Drink Coca-Cola
1904 - Delicious and Refreshing
1905 - Coca-Cola Revives and Sustains
1906 - The Great National Temperance Beverage
1917 - Three Million a Day
1922 - Thirst Knows No Season
1923 - Enjoy Thirst
1924 - Refresh Yourself
1925 - Six Million a Day
1926 - It Had to Be Good to Get Where It Is
1927 - Pure as Sunlight
1927 - Around the Corner from Everywhere
1929 - The Pause that Refreshes"
" 1886 - Drink Coca-Cola
1904 - Delicious and Refreshing
1905 - Coca-Cola Revives and Sustains
1906 - The Great National Temperance Beverage
1917 - Three Million a Day
1922 - Thirst Knows No Season
1923 - Enjoy Thirst
1924 - Refresh Yourself
1925 - Six Million a Day
1926 - It Had to Be Good to Get Where It Is
1927 - Pure as Sunlight
1927 - Around the Corner from Everywhere
1929 - The Pause that Refreshes"
As the Coca-Cola company grew, so did it's advertising. In this first era, a time period including the beginning of the company in 1886 and the beginning of the Great Depression in 1929/1930, Coca-Cola as a company was working on building it's foundation. Coca-Cola wanted to market itself as a consumable product and always make sure to differentiate itself from it's competition. During this era, there was a lot of emphasis of marketing Coke as a "delicious and refreshing" beverage, and how good it was. Some of the slogans that came out of this era focused on how popular the brand was getting "x million a day" and that it was accessible to everyone, and only for the small price of 5 cents. Also during this time, Coca-Cola made changes that would impact the Coke brand as we know it today, like the shape of its bottles and promotional work with figures in sports.
When the beginning of the company in 1886, Coca-Cola was meant to be consumed as a tasty beverage, but instead to be more like medicine. As the advertisement states here, Coca-Cola was advertised to be meant to help relieve pains like headaches and fatigue. This ad also differentiates how Coke can be used for different purposes. It was only 5 cents at the time, and it was unclear whether it would be successful or not. It is also important to note that this is a typographical advertisement, it is all text. There are really no images or models, but it still tells a story and sells the product Coca-Cola.
The cola was first sold at Jacob's Pharmacy in Atlanta, Georgia and was created by John Pemberton. It was later acquired by salesman and druggist Asa Griggs Candler, it saw the opportunity for Coca-Cola to be sold as a soft drink. |
By the late 1890s, Coca-Cola grew to be a beverage that more people want to consume. The product began to pop up in soda parlors across the east coast, after starting out in Georgia. It was still advertised as a drink that can help someone feel better, and still be "delicious and refreshing." This ad also features both text and images which was different than some other early advertisements.
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After the turn of the century, Coca-Cola was still advertised to be a drink that would help take one's mind off of work and stress. Not only did the company advertise to wealthy businessmen who may be stressed from work, it also advertised to women. "Fancy" women, as advertised on from this image, could consume Coca-Cola to be a part of a wealthier class. Drinking Coca-Cola began to emerge as a social drink, and it was still only 5 cents to get.
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This ad from 1907 was one of the first advertisements from Coca-Cola to be linked to something from the world of sports. In this particular case, it was a promotional campaign with baseball players, and how they would discuss Coca-Cola in a new newspaper article in the next edition of the Sunday paper. Using the medium of newspaper helped circulate the product of Coca-Cola to more people. Also, the idea that a professional baseball player, a celebrity, would be drinking Coca-Cola, others may want to drink to be just like him.
This was one of the first advertisements that associated Coca-Cola and the world of sports together. Sports will continue to be a huge marketing platform for Coca-Cola, from football advertisements to the Olympics and FIFA world cup. |
As Coca-Cola grew in popularity, copycats began to emerge. Advertisements like this one began to circulate to encourage brand loyalty, and to make sure people were ordering the "real" stuff, even telling people to demand it by it's full name. The two women in this image also help begin to form Coca-Cola's identity as a beverage that promotes happy things, it is a beverage you can enjoy!
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The 1920s brought in a decade of different societal changes ranging from clothes to parties. As the advertisement suggests, Coca-Cola worked to stay current with the changing United States. The color scheme is a little cooler, with the use of the black background, and the model has a flapper hairstyle. The relaxed nature of the 1920s can be seen in this advertisement and further promotes the idea of how Coca-Cola can be refreshing and help a person relax.
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1923 was a turning point in Coca-Cola advertising and marketing. President of the Coca-Cola company, Robert Woodruff, pushed for a new type of packaging for Coca-Cola bottles: the six pack. New waves of advertisements were created to illustrate the ease of the six-pack, and how it could make Coca-Cola easier to handle and access- it could now be easier to pick up multiple bottles at a grocery store! It would also make Coke easier to access and consume at the house, and becoming a bigger part of the American identity.
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The bottling of Coca-Cola has changed throughout the past 100 years. The year 2015 is the 100th anniversary of the classic bottle, the contour bottle (the right image). Before the contour bottle came to be though, it had to go through a design process. The first bottle, as seen on the left, was created in 1899, and all that was mentioned on it was the name, since the company had to get another company to make the bottles. The second image in the middle, was the second edition of the bottle for Coca-Cola and was made in 1906. The diamond shape that can be found in the bottle was created to first emphasize the brand and product on the bottle, as well as make it harder for competing cola companies to copy. It was also copycats that influenced the design of the of the contour bottle in 1915. It was patented, so no one else could imitate it, and the shape of the contour bottle can still be seen in the design of Coke bottles, both glass and plastic.