For as long as I can remember “Coke” has been a huge part of everyday life. When you’re at home watching TV on every other you see the big white polar bear advertising the brand while drinking out of the iconic red bottle or if you’re out at dinner you order a coke with your meal and some of us order one at the bar with a little bit of rum in it. Coke has made a huge impact on American culture and many of don’t even realize its’ impact. While the company made its’ huge breakthrough in the 50’s, Coke is actually celebrating its 127th birthday this year. So when did it all start?
Coca Cola began in 1886 when a curious pharmacist from
Atlanta, Dr. John S. Pemberton, created a soft drink that could be sold in soda
fountains. Pemberton created the distinct flavored syrup and took it to the
pharmacy to be mixed with carbonated water. Those who sampled the drink fell in
love with it and it was soon in high demand. Although John Pemberton created
the drink, his partner, Frank M. Robinson coined the name “Coca-Cola” and
created the trademarked script we still use today (world of Coca-Cola).
In 1885 Pemberton began marketing an alcoholic drink
called “Pemberton’s French Wine Coca.” The beverage was a mix of coca, kola
nut, and damiana (a flowering shrub that has anti-anxiety and aphrodisiac
qualities). The drink was simply cocaine with alcohol. He served this drink to
the upper-middle class claiming that it would help the scientists and
intellectuals. People fell in love with the flavor of the carbonated beverage with
a hint of coca flavor. Pemberton left out the cocaine ingredient in 1904 even
though the drug wasn’t banned from the US until 1914.
Emanuel Goldman, a beverage industry analyst said,
''This is old hat to people in the industry, but might come as a surprise to
others. But it also makes sense: when you have a good product you change it as
little as possible (NY Times). Whether we know it or not we’re still drinking
that cocaine flavored beverage today. Randy Donaldson, a company spokesman,
said, ''Ingredients from the coca leaf are used, but there is no cocaine in it
and it is all tightly overseen by regulatory authorities.'' Mallinckrodt Inc.,
is the only company in the US licensed to purify the product and oversee the
use of coca use in the Coca-Cola Company. Cocaine is extracted from the coca
leaves as the flavoring agent in the drink.
So while the myth that cocaine is used in the popular
drink may have been true a long time ago, the drug has not been used in coke in
over 100 years. The drink has become much more popular than people realize. As a
drink originally created to stimulate the brain, people all over the world are
drinking this iconic pop. Nine cokes were sold a day in Atlanta when the drink
was first introduced. Today it is estimated that 1.9 billion are sold globally
every day (world of Coca-Cola). The name of the drink has become a brand in
itself, creating a whole line of soft drinks we call “coke products.”
Works Cited:
1. "Coca-Cola Hstory." World of Coca-Cola. Web. <https://www.worldofcoca-cola.com/about-us/coca-cola-history/>.
2. Epistein, Leonora. "9 Facts About Coca-Cola’s History That’ll Make You Go "Whoa"" Buzzfeed. 29 Apr. 2013. Web. <http://www.buzzfeed.com/leonoraepstein/9-facts-about-coca-colas-history-thatll-make-you-go-whoa#.ndPgKWMo6>.
3.May, Clifford D. "How Coca-Cola Obtains Its Coca." The New York Times. The New York Times, 1 July 1988. Web. <http://www.nytimes.com/1988/07/01/business/how-coca-cola-obtains-its-coca.html>.
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