On May 15th, 1950, the Time magazine cover featured the famous red disc of The Coca-Cola
Company serving a globe of the world an ice cold Coca-Cola in our classic
contour bottle. That date and the cover marked a milestone for Coca-Cola .
A Global Brand
The foundation of Coca-Cola as a global brand began when
Robert W. Woodruff established the Coca-Cola Foreign Service Department in
1926. That expansion was hastened when
Coca-Cola built 64 bottling plants around the world to fulfill Woodruff’s
pledge that every soldier should be able to receive a Coke for a nickel
regardless of what it cost the Company.
By 1950, as the Time magazine
article states, “The Sun Never Sets on Cacoola” and Coca-Cola was acknowledged
as one of the first truly global brands.
The five page story highlights the overseas operations and notes that the expansive growth was due in large part because the rigorous training of international associates and that the business was essentially a local operation in every country whereCoca-Cola did business. “Coca-Cola … leaves the profit from these In
all countries where it is bottled, Coca-Cola stimulates local industry;
virtually all the cooler, bottles, cases, uniforms and advertising material
used in foreign countries are made outside the US.”
The cover illustration was created by Boris Artzybasheff, a noted illustrator who did more than 200 Time Magazine covers between 1941 and 1965. Within TheCoca-Cola Company, the
cover carries particular significance because, Robert Woodruff, our longtime
leader, was asked to pose for the cover but declined noting that the brand was
more important than any one man at the Company.
His long term vision for The Coca-Cola Company at the conclusion of the
Time feature still ring true today, “We’re not selling the world short; we’re
playing the world long. We decided that
we would live with the world and that the world would survive, that it must
survive, as a decent place to live in.”
A Global Brand
The foundation of The five page story highlights the overseas operations and notes that the expansive growth was due in large part because the rigorous training of international associates and that the business was essentially a local operation in every country where
The cover illustration was created by Boris Artzybasheff, a noted illustrator who did more than 200 Time Magazine covers between 1941 and 1965. Within The
More on Journey
-
Minute Maid: The Day
Coca-Cola Became the Company It Is Today - 'We Needed a Big Idea:' The Extraordinary Story of How Diet Coke Came to Be
- New Coke and New Media: Reimagining the Infamous Product Launch in the Digital Era
- Coca-Cola Tips Cap to Boston Red Sox World Series Win With Commemorative Can
- The Varsity at 90: Coke’s North Avenue Neighbor Marks a Milestone
COCA-COLA ON SOCIAL