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History

Since its birth at a soda fountain in downtown Atlanta, Georgia, in 1886, Coca‑Cola has been a catalyst for social interaction and inspired innovation.

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The Origin of Coca‑Cola

On May 8, 1886, Dr. John Pemberton brought his perfected syrup to Jacobs' Pharmacy in downtown Atlanta where the first glass of Coca‑Cola was poured. Serving about nine drinks per day in its first year, Coca‑Cola was an exciting new drink in the beginning. See the story here of how it all began.

See the birth of Coca‑Cola
Jacob's pharmacy building

Coca‑Cola’s Sustainability History

Since 1917, our sustainability efforts have covered a wide range of topics including: water, women empowerment, community well-being, packaging, emissions, human and workplace rights, and agriculture.

Coca‑Cola’s Sustainability History
Coca-Cola female bottler

Making of ‘Hilltop�

Read the story about one of the most famous commercials that saw Coke not as it was originally designed to be—a liquid refresher—but as a tiny bit of commonality between all peoples, a universally liked formula that would help to keep them company for a few minutes. Learn about the background of “I’d like to buy the world a Coke.�

See “I’d Like to Buy the World a Coke�
Coca-Cola hilltop commerical close up

Coca‑Cola’s First Bottle

The contour bottle has been celebrated in art, music and advertising. Read the story of the collaboration that began in 1915 and turned into one of the most famous shapes in the world.

Explore the History of Coca‑Cola Bottle
Coca-Cola making of bottle

1886

May 8. Coca‑Cola is created and served atJacobs� Pharmacy. Nine drinks aday are sold during this year.

Ϸ‑Cola Company accountant names the drink “Coca‑Cola,� andthinking the two Cs would look wellin advertising, pens the famousSpencerian script logo.

John S. Pemberton

1887

Coupons are first used topromote Coca‑Cola.

“Coca‑Cola Syrup and Extract”label is registered as a copyright with theU.S. Patent Office.

First Coca-Cola coupon
1890s

1892

Asa Candler, who began to acquireϷ‑Cola Company in 1888,finalizes the purchase and incorporatesϷ‑Cola Company as a GeorgiaCorporation.

1895

Asa Candler declares in the AnnualReportthat Coca‑Cola is sold anddrunk in everystate and territory inthe United States.

Asa Candler

1898

The first building is erected forthe sole purpose of housingϷ‑Cola Company. It is quicklyoutgrown as the Company moves tolarger quarters five times in the next12 years.

1899

The rights to bottle Coca‑Cola inmost of the United States are sold byAsa Candler to Benjamin F. Thomas andJoseph B. Whitehead of Chattanooga,Tennessee, for $1. Chattanooga becomesthe first city to bottle Coca‑Cola underthe contract.

First Coca-Cola Company building

1904

The first advertising for Coca‑Colaappears in national magazines.

Annual sales of Coca‑Cola hit the1 million-gallon mark.

Lillian Nordica, noted opera singer,begins to endorse Coca‑Cola and appearsin nationwide advertising in 1905.

Lillian Nordica in Coca-Cola ad

1906

Bottling operations begin in Canada,Cuba and Panama, becoming the firstthree countries outside the UnitedStates to bottle Coca‑Cola.

Panama Coca-Cola Bottling Co. building

1907

The Company begins its longassociation with athletes witha series of ads featuring notedbaseball players.

Coca-Cola ad featuring baseball player

1911

The annual advertising budget forϷ‑Cola Company surpasses$1 million for the first time.

1912

Bottling operations are started inthe Philippines, the Company’s firstexpansion into Asia.

Restaurant in the Philippines advertising Coca-Cola

1915

Answering the call ofϷ‑Cola Company, the contourbottle prototype is designed byAlexander Samuelson and patentedby the Root Glass Company. It isapproved by the Bottlers� Associationand becomes the standard bottle.

Contour bottle prototype

1916

Asa Candler retires from theCompany to successfully runfor mayor of Atlanta.

1919

The first bottling plants are openedin Europe in Paris and Bordeaux.

Ϸ‑Cola Company is purchasedby a group of investors led by ErnestWoodruff for $25 million.

Lillian Nordica in Coca-Cola ad

1923

The introduction of the first six-bottlecarton is a significant innovation forthe beverage industry. The carton ispatented the following year.

Robert W. Woodruff is electedPresident of Ϸ‑Cola Company,beginning more than six decades ofleadership in the business.

Robert W. Woodruff

1925

The Board of Directors passes aresolution placing the secret formulafor Coca‑Cola in a bank vault at theTrust Company Bank in Atlanta.

Outdoor billboards are introduced aspart of the advertising mix.

Early Coca-Cola billboards

1928

The Company begins its long-termassociation with the Olympic Gamesby supplying drinks from kioskssurrounding the venues in Amsterdam.

Coca-Cola kiosk at the 1928 Olympic Games in Amsterdam

1931

Seeking to create an advertisingprogram that links Coca‑Cola withChristmas, artist Haddon Sundblomcreates his first illustration showingSanta Claus pausing for a Coke. Forthe next three decades, from 1931 to1964, Sundblom paints images ofSanta that help to create the moderninterpretation of St. Nick.

First Santa and Coca-Cola Illustration by Haddon Sundblom

1935

Lettie Pate Evans joins the Board ofDirectors of Ϸ‑Cola Company.She is the first woman to serve onthe board of a major corporation,a position she holds until 1953.

Robert W. Woodruff

1942

The first in a series of posters depictingAmerican fighter planes is issued foruse in schools, restaurants and retailstores. Additional series are issued in1943, 1944 and 1945.

WWII Coca-Cola poster

1943

The U.S. government requests thatCoca‑Cola be made available to thetroops. Robert Woodruff pledges toprovide Coke to the military for anickel regardless of what it costs theCompany to produce the product.During the war, 64 portable bottlingplants are sent to Asia, Europe andNorth Africa. More than 5 billionbottles of Coca‑Cola are distributed.

Black and white image of 2 WWII solders opening a bottle of coke

1945

“Coke� becomes a registeredtrademark of Ϸ‑Cola Company.

1946

The “Yes� poster with artwork byHaddon Sundblom is released. Theposter wins multiple design awards.

First Santa and Coca-Cola Illustration by Haddon Sundblom

1950

Coca‑Cola becomes the first productto appear on the cover of Timemagazine. The magazine wants tohave a photo of Robert Woodruff onthe cover, but he refuses stating thatthe product is the only importantelement in the Company.

The first television commercial forCoca‑Cola is broadcast on ThanksgivingDay on a CBS half-hour specialfeaturing Edgar Bergen and CharlieMcCarthy.

1951 Coca-Cola Times cover

1955

Ϸ‑Cola Company beginsfeaturing African-Americans in marketingwith the Harlem Globetrotters in 1951and Olympic Games athletes JesseOwens and Alice Coachman in 1953.Clark University student Mary Alexanderbecomes one of the first African-American women to appear in printadvertising when she is featured in 1955.

Fanta Orange is introduced in Naples,Italy, the first new product to bedistributed by the Company. The Fantaline of flavored beverages comes tothe United States in 1960.

Coca-Cola ad featuring Mary Alexander

1960

Steel 12-ounce cans are introduced tohelp make Coca‑Cola more portable.

Ϸ‑Cola Company acquiresThe Minute Maid Corporation, addinga line of juice products to its portfolio.

1960s Minute Maid orange juice can

1963

TaB, the first diet drink produced bythe Company, is launched. Its name isselected from a computer-generatedsearch that yields more than300,000 options.

1960s Tab ad

1969

A new graphic look for the Coca‑Colasystem is introduced, featuring ared-and-white color scheme and logo.

1960s Coca-Cola truck with new graphic look

1970

Coca‑Cola introduces its first sportsdrink when Olympade is test marketedin the United States. The packagingfeatures a logo for the U.S. OlympicCommittee.

1970s Olympade can

1971

First introduced as a radio ad and laterproduced as a television commercial,“I’d Like to Buy the World a Coke”becomes an international hit andremains one of the most popularads for Coca‑Cola.

1970s "I'd like to buy the world a Coke" ad

1976

Ϸ‑Cola Company and theFédération Internationale de FootballAssociation (FIFA) agree to thefirst-ever sponsorship between acompany and an international sportsgoverning body.

1970s Coca-Cola and FIFA sponsorship logo

1978

The 2-liter polyethylene terephthalate(PET) bottle is introduced, beginningthe Company’s use of PET packaging.

1979

The North Avenue Tower headquartersbuilding is first occupied.

Coca‑Cola begins worldwidesponsorship of Special Olympics.

1970s Coca-Cola PET bottle ad

1982

Diet Coke is introduced in a celebrity-filledceremony in New York, becomingthe first extension of the trademarksCoca‑Cola and Coke.

1980s Diet Coke ad

1985

The formula for Coca‑Cola is changedfor the first time in 99 years. Theproduct, popularly dubbed “NewCoke,� generated consumer protestnationwide. Product made with theoriginal formula, renamed “Coca‑ColaClassic,� is returned to the market79 days later.

Coca‑Cola becomes the first softdrink consumed in space when theastronauts aboard the space shuttleChallenger tested the space can ona mission.

1980s New Coke ad

1986

May 8. Coca‑Cola marks its hundredthanniversary with a worldwidecelebration in Atlanta.

Ϸ‑Cola Scholars Foundationis created as a joint program betweenthe Company and Ϸ‑ColaBottlers� Association.

Company-owned bottlers and severalindependent bottler groups combineto form Coca‑Cola Enterprises (CCE)as an independent bottler and publiclytraded company.

Coca-Cola Scholars Foundation logo

1990

The World of Coca‑Cola museumopens at Underground Atlanta,greeting an average of 1 millionguests a year until 2007.

1993

The popular Coca‑Cola polar bearsare introduced in the commercial“Northern Lights.�

1990s ad featuring the Coca-Cola polar bear

1996

The Centennial Olympic Games are heldin Atlanta. Ϸ‑Cola Companycreates Coca‑Cola Olympic City as away to entertain fans.

1998

Ϸ‑Cola Company announces a100-year partnership with the NationalBasketball Association.

1996 Coca-Cola Olympic City

2001

Ϸ‑Cola Company joins thefight against AIDS in Africa withthe joint United Nations Programon HIV/AIDS, UNAIDS.

Ϸ‑Cola Foundation andCoca‑Cola bottlers contribute$12 million in disaster relief followingthe September 11 terrorist attacks inthe United States.

UNAIDS worker helping patient

2005

Coca‑Cola Zero, a zero-calorie cola,makes its debut.

2006

The Bottling Investments Group isestablished. This organization managesthe operations of Company-ownedbottling plants around the world.

20oz botles of Coca-Cola Zero, Coca-Cola Classic, and Diet Coke

2009

Coca‑Cola Freestyle, an innovativefountain dispenser that allowsconsumers to select from morethan 100 beverages, is unveiled.

Coca-Cola Freestyle machine
1990s

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