Department 56 Christmas Village, Coca-Cola, and Some of the Best Marketing of All Time!

Dept. 56, Snow Village,
"Coca-Cola Brand Billboard," #54810

Would you like to know how popular Coca-Cola is?  Well, consider that the Coca-Cola trademark is recognized by 94% of the world's population, probably making it the most known commercial product on earth.  Or, consider that 7000 coke products are consumed every SECOND  of every day.  Here's another great bit of trivia:  in the 1950's, service stations were selling more Coca-Cola than motor oil!  Coca-Cola® Brand Billboard

Image from
http://www.drugstoremuseum.com/sections/level_info2.php?level_id=47

But it isn't just the product that makes Coca-Cola a great company.  It is their intensely effective product branding and marketing that has catapulted Coke into one of the most successful brands on the planet.

Dept. 56, North Pole Series,
"Ice Cold Coca-Cola,"
56873
Image from
http://www.dept56retirees.com/northpole.htm

No wonder that Department 56 partnered with Coca-Cola to create a series of licensed Christmas buildings and accessories.  To celebrate this partnership, I have picked out a series of Coca-Cola ads, posters, and other marketing devises that relate beautifully to the Dept. 56 items.  For me, this has been a walk down memory lane....though,  regardless of what my kids say, unlike Coke, I was not born in the 19th century.

Dept. 56, Snow Village,
"Coca-Cola Brand Corner Drugstore,"
#54844

In the Beginning....  On May 8, 1886, the drink that was to become Coca-Cola went on sale  at Jacob's Pharmacy in Atlanta, Georgia.  It was marketed not as a pleasurable fountain drink, but as a pharmaceutical.  It's inventor, John Pemberton,  claimed that Coca-Cola was not only what we might call the "Viagara of the day," but so much more.  He claimed it could cure not only impotence, but also morphine addiction, dyspepsia, neurasthenia, and headache. 

Image from
http://www.psdeluxe.com/articles/inspiration
 /100-old-coca-cola-posters/

A glass of coke cost $.05, and in the first year brought in $50 in sales, but had $70 in expenditures.  (I suspect it took Viagara even longer to turn a profit.)  Many soda drinks of the day did contain caffeine and/or cocaine, which probably did cure headaches.  On the other hand, rebound headaches would also ensure, drawing the customer back for another round of soda drinks!

Dept. 56, Christmas in the City,
"Coca-Cola Soda Fountain,"
#59221

This all changed in 1914, with the passage of the "Harrison Act," which banned the sale of cocaine and opiates in over-the-counter products.  From that time on, soda drinks were marketed only because of their good taste.  As the Liquid Carbon Company advertised:  "...it isn't medicinal, won't cure anything....isn't intoxicating or habit-forming--it's just flavory, fruity, snappy, sparkling, delicious."  Fountain operators started to leave drug stores and open their own soda fountains, or at the very least, shed the reputation of serving "habit-forming" drinks.  http://www.drugstoremuseum.com/sections/level_

info2.php?level_id=47

1900 Coca-Cola ad.
http://www.beautifullife.info/
advertisment/
history-of-coca-cola-in-ads/

Soda Fountains  Starting in the late 19th century, soda fountains had become very popular, the Starbucks of their time. They were the  crossroads of people from all walks of life, the place to see and be seen.  I just love Dept. 56's "Coca-Cola Brand Corner Drugstore," since one of the best jobs I have ever had was as a soda jerk during high school in a Rexall Drug Store in the 1960's.  As you walked into the drug store, there was a marble-countered soda fountain that catered to all the kids in the small community, as well as to the men and women who worked downtown in the banks, the groceries, the radio station, the lawyer offices, the stationary store, the clothing and shoe shops, the insurance offices, and the small restaurants.

Coca-Cola poster
from allposters.com

I made cherry, chocolate, and vanilla Cokes, malts and shakes, and sodas.  I sold Seventeen Magazines and wrap-around sunglasses, and I was cool.   

Dept. 56, Christmas in the City,

"Coca-Cola Bottling Company,"

#59258

Bottle Beginnings  At first, all Cokes were hand-made at the soda fountain counter, using a syrup concentrate from Coca-Cola, water, and sweeteners.  In 1899, though, three attorneys from Chattanooga came to believe that bottling would rapidly expand sales.  They purchased the exclusive rights to bottle Coke, for the sum of one Dollar.  $1.00  A buck.  100 cents.  This business model endures.  Coca-cola manufactures the syrup concentrate, and sells it to franchises which mix, carbonate, bottle or can, sell, and distribute the final product. Department 56 Christmas In The City Coca-Cola Bottling Company

Copyright, Coca-Cola, 1947

By 1909 there were nearly 400 Coca-Cola bottling plants.

Dept. 56, Snow Village,
"Coca-Cola Brand Bottling Plant,"#54690

By the 1920's there were more than 1000 bottlers, and Coke was expanding into 44 countries. In the 1990's, $1.5 billion was committed to new bottling facilities, in Africa alone.  It is no wonder that Department 56 included 2 Coca-Cola Bottling plants in their Christmas Village line. http://www.thecoca-colacompany.com/
ourcompany/
historybottling.
html  Dept.56 Retired Brand New Coca-cola Bottling Plant, Snow Village [Item #54690]

Dept. 56, Christmas in the City,

"Vintage Coca-Cola Truck,"

59428

Trucks and Logos  The distribution of bottled Coke required a transportation system, and the Coca-Cola truck was born.  And at this point, it is important to talk about the enduring Coca-Cola logo, because regardless of the size, style, or year of the Coca-Cola truck, they were all identified by the proud display of that logo.

Coca-Cola Truck, 1931,
Ford Model AA,
Image from
http://www.adbranch.com/coca-
cola-delivery-trucks-1930-1940s/

From the very beginning, the Coca-Cola company had employees who understood the important of product branding.  John Pemberton, the man who formulated the original recipe, hired a bookkeeper by the name of Frank Mason Robinson in 1885.  Robinson was the man who came up with the company's name and chose the distinctive cursive for the Coca-Cola label, called the Spencerian Script.

Dept. 56,  Snow Village,
"Coca-Cola Brand Delivery Truck,"
#54798

Trucks used for hauling coke products have always displayed the company logo and have been moving advertisements that came into visual contact with millions of people a week. 

Dept. 56, Snow Village,
"Coca-Cola Brand Delivery Men,"
#54801

Coca-Cola delivery men who drove the trucks have also been honored by Department 56 ...

http://www.beautifullife.info/
advertisment/
history-of-coca-cola-in-ads/

...just as Coca-Cola honored blue collar workers with this ad in 1937.  Even back then they were using the famous Coke phrase, "The pause that refreshes..." 

Dept. 56, Snow Village,
"Santa Comes to Town-2005," #55266

Coca-Cola and Santa Claus Coke advertising has influenced our lives in many ways that are not immediately obvious.  For example, none of us would be jolted to see an image of Santa drinking a Coke.  But why is that?

1931 Coca-Cola ad
http://www.beautifullife.info/
advertisment/
history-of-coca-cola-in-ads/

Well, consider that the Coca-Cola company itself takes credit  for popularizing the modern image of Santa in red suit and white beard.  Here is a quote from the company website:  "Starting in 1931, magazine ads for Coca-Cola featured St. Nick as a kind, jolly man in a red suit.  Because magazines were so widely viewed, and because this image of Santa appeared for more than three decades, the image of Santa most people have to day is largely based on our advertising." http://www.thecoca-colacompany.com/heritage/cokelore_santa.html 

Dept. 56, North Pole Series,
"Coca-Cola Fizz Factory,"
#56754

So what does this have to do with a Christmas miniature village.  Well, you can just image Santa sitting in this whimsical North Pole Series building "Coca-Cola Fizz Factory"....

1953 Coca-Cola ad,
http://www.beautifullife.info/
advertisment/
history-of-coca-cola-in-ads/

...Why, there he is, sipping a bottle of Coke and surrounded by toys!  

Dept. 56, North Pole Series,
"Coca-Cola Taste Test," #56841

The Coke Polar Bear Among marketing gurus, Coca-Cola reigns supreme in  branding and advertising spheres.  Over the years they have had a succession of hugely successful advertising runs, and among my all-time favorites are the ads featuring the polar bears who love Coke.

1993 Coca-Cola ad,
http://www.beautifullife.info/
advertisment/
history-of-coca-cola-in-ads/

In 1993 the beverage company made a major shift in its advertising by introducing the "Always Coca-Cola" campaign.  Creator Ken Stewart of Coke imagined that his Labrador Retriever resembled a polar bear, and Stewart made the creative leap that polar bears could enjoy watching the aurora borealis at the North Pole and drink Coke while they did it!  In order to create naturalistic cartoon images, Coca-Cola's artistic team watched actual films of polar bears to see how they moved, and then made 3-d representations.Dept. 56 North Pole Series Coca-Cola Taste Test

Dept. 56, North Pole Series

"Coca-Cola Sliding Hill,"

#56851

Each commercial took about about 12 weeks for the furry friends to come alive with human attributes.  Coke tried to create bear characters that were "...innocent, fun, and reflect the best attributes we like to call 'human.'  The bears are cute, mischievous, playful and filled with fun." The bears captured the imagination of the public, and  Dept. 56 has celebrated that mood in the whimsical North Pole Series, piece, "Coca-Cola Sliding Hill." http://www.thecoca-colacompany.com/heritage/cokelore_polarbears.html

1994 Winter Olympics
Coca-Cola Campaign

Only a year after the introduction of the "Always Coca-Cola" campaign, the company introduced a series of Olympic ads and  Olympic collector pins-of-the-day featuring very classy and cool polar bears.  Our ursine friends were portrayed as taking part in winter activities like bobsledding, playing hockey, ski jumping, and skating.  To the left is a very cool ski-jumpin', coke-drinkin' polar bear...

1994 Coke Olympic Pin,
http://www.midwestpins.com/
Lillehammer_pins.htm

...and to the right is a collectors pin featuring a speed skating polar bear drinking Coke!  During the Lillehammer Olympic, in fact, Coke sponsored a "Pin of the Day" series which featured a different design each day. The Coke ad regiment drove an impressive 7 % annual increase in volume in the US, though other variables probably also played a part in the returns.