GOOD

For Ramadan, Coca-Cola Eschews Labels and Asks Us to Do the Same

Soda company’s new campaign encourages us all to look past first impressions.

image via youtube screen capture

For the last several weeks, and continuing until July 17th, Muslims around the world have been celebrating the holiday of Ramadan, during which observant practitioners traditionally fast during daylight hours, eating and drinking only after dark. To mark the occasion, Coca-Cola has temporarily removed its iconic signature from pop cans sold across the Middle East, replacing its familiar calligraphic name with a simple message of open-minded tolerance.

Keep Reading Show less
coke coca-cola ramadan no labels
Articles

New Ad Viciously Spoofs Iconic Coke Commercial to Stress Soda Risks

Coca-Cola’s 1971 “Hilltop” ad helped redefine the soda for a new generation. Now, doctors hope their version can do the same.

image via youtube screen capture

When it first aired in 1971, Coca-Cola’s “Hilltop” ad was the most expensive commercial ever recorded, launching not only the careers of The Hillside Singers, but also a new era in advertising altogether. It has since gone down in history as one of the most effective commercials of all time, earning both industry accolades, and a coveted spot as the ultimate Don Draper creation in the final moments of TV’s Mad Men. Armed with a message of global feel-good-ness and an impossibly catchy jingle, Coke’s Hilltop commercial sold more than just bottles of pop (though it sold plenty of those)—it sold a lifestyle in which the product became synonymous with multi-cultural good vibes. And who wouldn’t want to get some of that?

Keep Reading Show less
coke coca-cola coca cola soda pop health
Articles

Regulators, Mount Up: What Happens to the Coke in Coca-Cola?

In order for Coca-Cola to continue to exist in its current form, the company has a special arrangement with the Drug Enforcement Administration.

Dan Lewis, author of the daily newsletter Now I Know (“Learn Something New Every Day, By Email”) joins us Wednesdays with surprising facts about the world of business.

Keep Reading Show less
drugs coca-cola cocaine now i know food and drink
Articles

Spider Webs and the Battle Over Federal Caffeine Limits

One hundred years ago, the predecessor of the FDA had no data on how caffeine affects humans. Unbelievably, the same is pretty much true today.


A fascinating article in Monday's New York Times looks at the long debate over safe limits for caffeine consumption in the United States. "Long" in this instance means 100 years—journalist Murray Carpenter tells the story of the USDA vs. Coca-Cola, which went to trial a century ago this month.

At the time, Coke contained 80 milligrams of caffeine per serving, as much as a Red Bull today. To defend themselves against the government's charge that caffeine was a harmful ingredient, they hired a scientist to look at the effects of the stimulant on the mental and motor skills of both abstainers, occasional, and heavy users. No one had gathered this kind of data before.

Keep Reading Show less
health culture drugs fda regulation usda soda tea coca-cola red bull four loko caffeine harvey washington wiley energy drinks spiders benzedrine spiderwebs space elections and politics food and drink
Articles

This Is Probably Coca-Cola's Secret Recipe (and There's No Corn Syrup)

This American Life thinks it's uncovered one of the most closely guarded recipes in the whole world. You can find it right here.


Save for maybe the seasoning of Kentucky Fried Chicken, no beloved American flavor is guarded more closely than the original recipe of Coca-Cola. That's probably why the team behind the radio program This American Life was stunned to find what looked to be that very recipe published openly in a decades-old newspaper article. More shocked was the food historian TAL interviewed, who said it's very likely the recipe is authentic.

Here, the formula for Coca-Cola Classic, complete with the ultra-secret "7X flavor" that makes Coke so unique:

Keep Reading Show less
media culture history coca cola recipes this american life soda food and drink
Articles

The GOOD 100: Cola Life

There aren't too many places in the world where you can't buy a Coke, and that includes some of the remotest parts of developing...

There aren't too many places in the world where you can't buy a Coke, and that includes some of the remotest parts of developing countries. Coincidentally, that's often where aid organizations have the hardest time delivering medicine and other supplies. That's why ColaLife is lobbying the international beverage behemoth to open up its distribution channels for some constructive piggybacking. The nonprofit is working on a wedge-shaped package that can deliver goods in the space between the bottlenecks in a full crate of Coca-Cola, and in partnership with another NGO, it has already performed a successful test of the idea in Tanzania. In its quest for global beverage dominance, Coca-Cola may have inadvertently built the best tool for international aid. You can't beat that.

Keep Reading Show less
coca cola good 100 cola life international aid business and entrepreneurship
Infographics