Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2024/06/21/the-coca-cola-colonels-of-world-war-ii.html
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Coca-Cola in WW2
The history of Coca-Cola in World War II is a story of innovation, resilience, and global impact.
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.
Post contributed by Gail Sherman
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.
Other states also appoint honorary Colonels. Elvis’s manager, Colonel Tom Parker got his from Louisiana.
This was the continuation of a policy that saw the price of a bottle of coke staying at 5c for 7 decades.
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.
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.
The history of Coca-Cola in World War II is a story of innovation, resilience, and global impact.
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