The Coca-Cola Colonels of World War II

Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2024/06/21/the-coca-cola-colonels-of-world-war-ii.html

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That kind of long-term thinking died with the advent of the MBA. Today such an initiative would be immediately turfed because it supposedly doesn’t add to shareholder value this quarter.

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Post contributed by Gail Sherman

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Kentucky has a program that creates Kentucky Colonels. The bar is apparently quite low-- you need another Kentucky Colonel to nominate you-- you apply and pledge to say nice things about Kentucky, and then they mail you a certificate naming you a Kentucky Colonel. Mike O’Meara and Robb Spewak of the Mike O’Meara Show (now a daily podcast) became Kentucky Colonels just for shits and giggles.

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Other states also appoint honorary Colonels. Elvis’s manager, Colonel Tom Parker got his from Louisiana.

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This was the continuation of a policy that saw the price of a bottle of coke staying at 5c for 7 decades.

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In 1943, General Eisenhower, then Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force, sent an urgent cable to the Coca-Cola Company, requesting supplies for ten temporary bottling plants and 3 million bottles of Coke.

I came across this recently, reading this, which I would recommend.

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The bottling plants themselves, and no doubt the experience gained from building and running them, paid off massively for Coca-Cola after the war.

The Coca-Cola Company’s efforts to establish bottling plants and distribution networks across Europe and Asia during the war had far-reaching consequences.

When the conflict finally ended, these facilities continued to operate, serving as the foundation for Coca-Cola’s post-war expansion.

Thanks to the groundwork laid during World War II, the company quickly became a global powerhouse, with its fizzy beverage making its way into millions of homes and hearts across the world.

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