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Except the Secret Formula!
Phil Mooney has been the Director of the Archives Department of The Coca-Cola Company since 1977. Phil is a super-collector of all things Coca-Cola. The position sends him to conventions and private collections and keeps him in frequent contact with collectors around the world. In fact, one of his favorite things about the job is the people, since Coca-Cola collectors make up a large family, sharing a common and endlessly fascinating passion.
While the Coca-Cola Company archives contain,
naturally, the most substantial collection of Coca-Cola memorabilia
in the world, Phil is the strongest advocate for publicizing and
sharing the material. For instance, nearly 1,200 items from the
archives are on display in World of Coca-Cola Atlanta, where they
are seen by a million visitors a year. He never forgets that some of
the most prized pieces in the archives come from the most unexpected
places: attics, backyards, and garages. This is probably because
over the years so many people have had such a special relationship
with Coca-Cola and have kept, and passed down, the things that are
important in their lives.
Phil has conducted numerous interviews for radio and television. He recently spoke to the Rotary Club of Buckhead, Atlanta, about the history of Coca-Cola.
Rotarian Del Martin reports on Phil’s speech.
BIRTH OF A REFRESHING IDEA Coca-Cola® was born in Atlanta, Georgia, on May 8, 1886. Dr. John Stith Pemberton, a local pharmacist, produced the syrup for Coca-Cola®, and carried a jug of the new product down the street to Jacobs' Pharmacy, where it was sampled, pronounced "excellent" and placed on sale for five cents a glass as a soda fountain drink, teamed with carbonated water. Thinking that "the two Cs would look well in advertising," Dr. Pemberton's partner and bookkeeper, Frank M. Robinson, suggested the name and penned the now famous trademark "Coca-Cola" in his unique script. During the first year, sales averaged a modest nine drinks per day. Just prior to Pemberton’s death in 1888, he sold his remaining interest in Coca-Cola to Asa G. Candler.
THE CANDLER ERA By 1892, Mr. Candler's flair for merchandising had boosted sales of Coca-Cola syrup nearly tenfold. A firm believer in advertising, Mr. Candler expanded marketing efforts: the company was the first to distribute coupons for a complimentary glass of Coca-Cola. He promoted the product incessantly, distributing souvenir fans, calendars, clocks, urns and countless novelties, all depicting the trademark.
In 1895, three
years after The Coca-Cola Company's incorporation, Mr. Candler
announced in his annual report to shareholders that "Coca-Cola is
now drunk in every state and territory in the United States." PROTECTING A VALUABLE NAME The most persistent and serious problem for Coca-Cola was protecting the product and the package from imitation. In 1916, the bottlers approved the unique contour bottle designed by the Root Glass Company of Terre Haute, Indiana. The now-familiar shape was granted registration as a trademark by the U.S. Patent Office in 1977, an honor accorded only a handful of other packages. A MAN NAMED WOODRUFF
In 1919, a group
of investors purchased The Coca-Cola Company for $25 million. Four
years later, Robert Winship Woodruff, was elected president of the
Company, beginning more than six decades of active leadership.
Before joining the soft-drink firm, the 33-year-old Georgian had
risen from truck salesman to vice president/general manager of White
Motor Company.
A GOLD MEDAL REFRESHMENT Coca-Cola and the Olympic Games began their association in the summer of 1928, when an American freighter arrived in Amsterdam carrying the United States Olympic team and 1,000 cases of Coca-Cola. Forty thousand spectators filled the stadium to witness two firsts: the first lighting of the Olympic flame and the first sale of Coke at an Olympiad.
COKE GOES TO WAR
The entry of the
United States into the war brought an order in 1941 "to see that
every man in uniform gets a bottle of Coca-Cola for 5 cents,
wherever he is and whatever it costs the Company." More than 5
billion bottles of Coke were consumed by military personnel during
the war, in addition to countless servings through dispensers in
battle areas.
A CHEMIST TAKES CHARGE Woodruff died in 1985, but not before he had set the stage for the next great Chairman of the Company (another “Robert”): Roberto Goizueta. Mr. Goizueta, a chemist, was the first Chairman from a non-marketing position, and people were skeptical. However, his brand expansion vision proved to be imperative for Coke’s continuing leadership in the marketplace. Under Goizueta, the Company expanded its “portfolio” of Coke products, including Diet Coke, which became the #1 diet brand.
“NEW COKE” A “new taste for Coke” was announced in 1985, the first change in the secret formula since Coca-Cola was created. The new taste was overwhelmingly preferred in taste tests, but all the testing and research could not measure the emotional attachment Americans had for the original formula. That original taste had become more than just a soft drink, and consumers' deep memories and loyalties to it came alive. The Company listened to its consumers, quickly responded, and returned the original formula to the market as Coca-Cola classic®.
FROM SMALL BEGINNINGS Now operating in more than 200 countries and producing nearly 400 brands, the Coca-Cola system has successfully applied a simple formula on a global scale: provide a moment of refreshment for a very small amount of money – 1.5 billion times a day.
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EVERYTHING
ABOUT COKE YOU WANTED TO KNOW 
Prior
to joining The Coca-Cola Company, Phil was the director of the Balch
Institute and an archivist for Syracuse University. A Fellow of the
Society of American Archivists, he is a graduate of Boston College,
with a Bachelor of Science in History, and of Syracuse University,
with a Master of Arts in History.