Whatever Coca-Colas politics may be, the drinks a gift to the world
In 1942, the Nazi apparatchik Otto Dietrich sniffed, “America never contributed anything to world civilization but chewing gum and Coca-Cola.”He rather understated our significance, but even if he’d been right, giving the world Coca-Cola is a greater contributor to human happiness than most other countries have managed to muster. In yet another sign of how corporate America is happy to be associated with Donald Trump as he takes office a second time, the CEO of Coca-Cola presented Trump a commemorative bottle of Diet Coke for his Inauguration. Given Trump’s legendary attachment to the beverage, it must have been as satisfying to him as winning a Nobel Peace Prize. In one of what would prove a long series of confounding reversals of Trump policies, President Biden removed the red button Trump had installed at the Resolute Desk to instantly order Diet Cokes (and to occasionally prank visitors who assumed the red button had a more momentous purpose).Coke occupies an outsized place, not just in the US beverage market, but in our culture. The drink is inextricably part of Americana.The cola has been associated with cutting-edge aspects of our national life since its formulation as a medicinal drink in the late 19th century, from soda fountains, to gas stations, to the movies. Its logo is instantly recognizable, and its iconic advertising has marked changing tastes in the country down through the decades.
The traditional Coke container, the green so-called hobbleskirt bottle (a curvier prototype was nicknamed the Mae West), is itself a symbol of America. In World War II, everyone considered it a national imperative to get Coke overseas to our troops.As Mark Pendergast notes in his history of the cola, the military brass was all-in.
Patton always wanted Coke available, MacArthur signed the first bottle produced in the Philippines when he returned, and Bradley had a case in his office. Then, there was Ike.Pendergast recounts a celebratory luncheon in Washi...