In 1943, General Dwight Eisenhower ordered 3 million bottled Cokes to be shipped to North Africa, where he was serving as Supreme Commander, twice a month. This allowed Coca-Cola to be treated as a wartime necessity, with bottling plants near the front receiving allotments of considerably larger sugar compared to regular civilian plants. Employees of the Coca-Cola company were also sent overseas to oversee the installation and management of the bottling plants. These 148 employees received officer status and US Army uniforms despite having no military duties to speak for.
The presence of Coca-Cola, what many considered to be the national drink of America, was successful in boosting soldier morale. In a letter written home from a soldier during WWII, "the excitement caused by a case of Cokes... was quite that strong!" Soldiers were able to buy bottles for only 5 cents, no matter the cost of production or shipping of the bottle. The Coca-Cola company further attempted to make their drink more accessible to men in uniform, developing a portable dispensing unit known as a "jungle fountain," which could be easily transported by truck to any location.
Interestingly enough, despite Coca-Cola being the self-proclaimed national drink of America, it was also Hitler's drink of choice. By the time Adolf Hitler had taken office, sales of Coca-Cola in Germany were around 100,000 cases a year. He was reported to have enjoyed Coca-Cola, and he was pictured drinking a bottle on the covers of magazines and advertisements. This slightly damaged the reputation of Coca-Cola as being an all-American company, as it was being associated with the Nazi Party in Germany.
Coca-Cola advertisements addressed the conflict by representing itself as a drink which could bring people and nations together. One ad portrayed GIs intermingling and laughing over Cokes with British, Polish, Soviet and other allies with a caption along the lines of: "Have a 'Coke'—a way of saying we're with you." The idea behind the ads was that if workers and soldiers were given a moment to pause and refresh themselves with a Coke, they would work more efficiently. They took the opportunity during the war to lay the groundwork for becoming an international company and a symbol of refreshment and solidarity. The introduction and continuance of overseas factories created an enormous consumer base throughout the world that wouldn't have been possible if not for American troops stationed around the world.
Sources: http://www.nww2m.com/2011/08/coca-cola-the-pause-that-refreshed-2/
http://neatdesigns.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/271.jpg
http://www.coca-colacompany.com/stories/coke-and-the-us
Interesting! I wonder how its connection to soldiers and the war affected sales for Coca-Cola in the US. Why were people who managed bottling plants given uniforms and the title of officer? Was it about raising morale?
ReplyDeleteI found it very interesting to point out how Coca-Cola was famed to be this American's drink of choice when at the same time someone like Hitler enjoyed it just as much. Digging a little deeper into that point, I found an article that discusses this specifically. In fact, the article even says that it wasn't uncommon to have a Coca-Cola advertisement usually on the back of an article about Hitler in Nazi Germany.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.historyanswers.co.uk/history-of-war/how-coca-cola-won-a-place-in-adolf-hitlers-heart/
Julia! Thank you for such an entertaining topic! After reading this, I realized that many companies like Coca-Cola were able to utilize World War 2 to campaign their products. Although this is not the best case, I think that the war was a very important time for companies like Coca-Cola. I feel that because of companies promoting their products with warm captions like "Have a 'Coke'—a way of saying we're with you", as you mentioned, it gave a lot of comfort for people who were going through hard times during the war!
ReplyDeleteDuring World War II, Pepsi also existed. There was an ongoing battle between Coca-Cola and Pepsi for market lead as well. Coca-Cola had the stronger brand name and ended up being on the top of the market. Because of this battle, people focused more on wanting to drink Coca-Cola over water and milk when these other choices were available. Coca-Cola tried to please all customers including Nazis.......they wanted to be and stay on the top of the market.
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