Coca-Cola is An American Icon: 1930s-1960
Slogans from this Era include:
1932 - Ice Cold Sunshine
1938 - The Best Friend Thirst Ever Had
1939 - Thirst Asks Nothing More
1939 - Whoever You Are, Whatever You Do, Wherever You May Be, When You Think of Refreshment Think of Ice Cold Coca-Cola
1942 - The Only Thing Like Coca-Cola is Coca-Cola Itself
1948 - Where There's Coke There's Hospitality
1949 - Along the Highway to Anywhere
1952 - What You Want is a Coke
1956 - Coca-Cola... Makes Good Things Taste Better
1957 - Sign of Good Taste
1958 - The Cold, Crisp Taste of Coke
1959 - Be Really Refreshed
1932 - Ice Cold Sunshine
1938 - The Best Friend Thirst Ever Had
1939 - Thirst Asks Nothing More
1939 - Whoever You Are, Whatever You Do, Wherever You May Be, When You Think of Refreshment Think of Ice Cold Coca-Cola
1942 - The Only Thing Like Coca-Cola is Coca-Cola Itself
1948 - Where There's Coke There's Hospitality
1949 - Along the Highway to Anywhere
1952 - What You Want is a Coke
1956 - Coca-Cola... Makes Good Things Taste Better
1957 - Sign of Good Taste
1958 - The Cold, Crisp Taste of Coke
1959 - Be Really Refreshed
The next era of Coca-Cola came during a patriotic time in American history. Within this advertising era, there was a world war, cultural shifts, and the introduction of two of the most popular Coca-Cola icons. There was an emphasis on how Coke works to relieve stress and can be a very hospitable product. Coca-Cola always began to adapt and associate itself to different movements and ideals as the world was changing, like the early beginnings of the Civil Rights movement and supporting troops internationally. Coca-Cola affirmed itself to be an American icon and brand, even with being featured in TIME magazine. There was a lot of focus on what was happening on American soil, and reaching out to the everyday American, but there was also some foundations laid out during this time to start reaching out globally.
Coca-Cola turned 50 years old in 1936, and this image illustrates how much has changed within those 50 years. By painting the two girls side by side, a person could see how much expectations of women has changed, from clothing to body language. However, both spokesgirls are advertising the same drink, and a person can notice how the drink has stayed the same, even for 50 years! Reaching this milestone is huge for a cola company at this time, and it is just the beginning of what is to come.
This ad also illustrates how Coca-Cola has managed to advertise to people as society has changed. Coca-Cola has managed to stay in business for 50 years because they as a company adapted their marketing to fit the needs and wants of their consumers. |
This billboard ad has won numerous awards and is considered to be one of the best poster designs of its time. Created in 1946 by artist Haddon Sundblom, who also illustrated Coke's Santa Claus, it is know as the "Yes Girl" and is simple in it's design. The name is easy to figure out, since it just combines the two elements in the ad: a girl and the word "yes." This ad is still powerful though in the way it creates a message: with just the word yes on the billboard and the Coke logo, the mind would easily put the two together, as in "yes, have a Coca-Cola." The image of the girl smiling also adds to the message that a Coca-Cola is a drink a person can enjoy. The clothes she is wearing also indicate that it is summer time in the world of the poster, and that, yes, Coca-Cola is a great drink to have during the summer. The "Yes Girl" is one of the most recognizable icons produced by Coca-Cola.
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Coca-Cola today can be seen as beverage a person could serve at a party and be safe, since lots of people like the product. That same mentality was true for housewives in the 1950s, as this ad suggests. "Hospitality can be so easy," the tagline reads with empty bottles and bottle caps on a table. While simple in design, a housewife could see this advertisement and start thinking how simple it would be to just have Coke at a party, and not need to buy anything else! This ad is simplistic in it's design and message, and it also does not have any face models!
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Coca-Cola has experimented with many different types of advertisements within its 50 years of being a company. One of the common styles that could be found in the 1950s was like the 2 seen here, emphasizing the smile of the model. The smile is in the center of the ad, with the text surrounding the smile as well. The text draws a viewer's eye to the smile, and the smile leads to what the model is drinking: Coca-Cola! The use of text at the bottom also does not distract from the image of enjoying coke, but instead advertises how it is only 5 cents.
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Coca-Cola has always been associated with taking a break from work and reliving stress. That has not changed much in the 1940s and 1950s, but the way it was advertised has. For example, in the left image, this poster has no words to promote how refreshing Coke is, but instead relies on the warm colored images to tell the story of taking break while working hard. The right image tells a different story, and actually is a cross promotional campaign with a typewriting company. The iconic Coke bottle can be found sitting next to the typewriter, as if to advertise that Coke can help a person work, even while using a fast typewriter!
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In 1955, the Coca-Cola company kept up with changing world by having an African-American model. The model on the right, Mary Alexander, was the first African-American model for the Coca-Cola company, and appeared in many ads, like this one for Ebony magazine. While it may have been a marketing strategy to appeal to multiple groups of people, it still made history, as many companies did not have advertisements with people of color. Ms. Alexander would continue to break other "firsts" by being the first African-American teacher in a school in Detroit, and also eventually the first African-American principal at a different school in Detroit.
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When the USA began to participate in World War II, it was at first unclear if Coca-Cola would have a role in it all. In 1941, when Americans were being sent overseas, Coca-Cola President Robert Woodruff ordered that “every man in uniform gets a bottle of Coca-Cola for five cents, wherever he is and whatever it costs the company." In addition to the Coca-Cola President's effort, USA President Eisenhower even asked for Coca-Cola to send packages of bottles overseas to American soldiers and it's allies, as it could help lift their spirits. This laid the groundwork for Coca-Cola to become a more global product. Also, as with any war, war bonds would be sold to help support the war, and Coca-Cola also advertised their product with the war bonds, like the image on the left.
One of the most popular icons that the Coca-Cola company has created was jolly St. Nick himself: Santa Claus! He first appeared in 1931 and was illustrated by Haddon Sundblom, who made up to $1000 per canvas he painted (which is a lot of money during that era). Sundblom himself was the one who decided to make Santa's suit red, since the color is known to be warm and inviting. With the help of the icon Santa, Coke started to be marketed as a drink that could be consumed throughout any time of the year, including the winter months. The ads that depicted Santa, like the two above, illustrate Santa as drinking Coke during his time delivering presents (sometimes even with cookies) or even raiding fridges for Coke to drink! It marketed the idea that Coke was a satisifying drink, and that it was the drink of choice to help Santa on his big night, During this era, some families would even let Coke out for Santa to "drink" on Christmas Eve.
Coca Cola has come a long way since the first contour bottle in 1915. By 1950, the bottle had a sleeker look and was being sold over the world. It was also during this era that Coke started to become a more popular brand through the media; in 1950, the Coke contour bottle was the first product to ever be featured on the cover of TIME magazine. In 1955, Coke began to offer the cola in different sizes of bottles, giving consumers more liberty of how much Cola they could get. In 1957, the Coca Cola company was able to place its first trademark "Coca Cola" on the contour bottles themselves, which would help differentiate the bottle from it's competitors.