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  Why Coca-Cola railed against the nickname 'Coke' | CBC Radio Loaded
  [18]Under the Influence

Why Coca-Cola railed against the nickname 'Coke'

  "Coke" wasn't always a welcome nickname. In fact, early Coca-Cola ads
  attempted to dissuade the public from using the term.

Social Sharing

  CBC Radio · Posted: May 21, 2020 11:08 AM ET | Last Updated: May 21,
  2020
  (Wilfredo Lee/Associated Press)
  Under the Influence27:28S9E21 - Fix It Again, Tony: Brand Nicknames

  "Coke" is a nickname.

  The soft drink is officially called Coca-Cola. It is one of the most
  valuable companies in the world. Coca-Cola was also a mass marketing
  pioneer.

  Founder John Pemberton placed the first newspaper ads for Coca-Cola
  back in 1886. By 1912, the advertising budget was $1M or nearly $30M in
  today's dollars - a huge ad budget for the times.

  Even with a budget that big, the soft drink company discovered people
  weren't asking for a Coca-Cola in stores, they were asking for a Coke.
  It was a nickname that evolved very early in Coca-Cola's history. And
  the Coca-Cola company wasn't very happy about that.
  Under the Influence0:57Clip - Fix It Again, Tony: Brand Nicknames
  Some people call Under The Influence "UTI" for short. It’s not a good
  nickname. But certain brand nicknames are positive and extremely
  valuable - like "Coke" and "Chevy." Others like “Whole Paycheck” don’t
  make Whole Foods happy. Join us this week as we explore the unexpected
  implications of Brand Nicknames. 0:57

  In 1913, the company actually created an advertising campaign to
  dissuade people from using the nickname Coke. The campaign theme was:

  "Coca-Cola: Ask for it by its full name - then you will get the
  genuine."

  Clearly, Coca-Cola feared the short nickname would erode its unique
  brand identity and could quite possibly lead to a generic trademark. In
  other words, the company worried that "Coke" could become the catch-all
  word for any soft drink.

  Coca-Cola kept encouraging the public to ask for a Coca-Cola instead of
  a Coke for the next 30 years. But the public still insisted on asking
  for a Coke. The nickname was unstoppable.
  The brand's diet variety is now called "Diet Coke." (The Associated
  Press)

  So the soft drink company had to make a decision. To either keep
  fighting that trend and risk another company grabbing the word "Coke"
  as a trademark - or embrace it. They chose the latter.

  To fold Coke into their trademark and brand identity, Coca-Cola created
  an advertising character called the "Sprite Boy" in 1942.

  The mascot was illustrated by Haddon Sundblom, the same artist who
  created the iconic Coca-Cola Santa Claus image. This Sprite mascot was
  designed to look like an elf or a little pixie - with just a face and
  hands - and it wore a Coca-Cola bottlecap as a hat.

  By the way, Sprite Boy was not connected to the lemon-lime soft drink
  of the same name. As a matter of fact, Sprite Boy was created and
  retired long before Sprite the drink was introduced.

  The purpose of Sprite Boy was to remind people that Coke and Coca-Cola
  were the same thing. Print ads would show the Sprite Boy peeking around
  a bottle of Coca-Cola. You can feel how much the company was struggling
  with their nickname - as even the headlines were awkward. For example,
  one Sprite Boy ad said: "Hello, I'm Coca-Cola, known too, as Coke."

  There was even a P.S. at the bottom of the ads that said: "Everybody
  likes to shorten words. Abbreviation is a natural law of language.
  'Coke' is the friendly abbreviation for the trademark Coca-Cola."

  In 1945, Coca-Cola gave in to the force of its customers and
  trademarked the nickname. The first advertising slogan to use the word
  "Coke" appeared in 1948. It said: "Where there's Coke, there's
  hospitality."

  Maybe the biggest sign the company had fully embraced the nickname came
  in 1971 when it launched this campaign:

  IFRAME: [19]https://www.youtube.com/embed/1VM2eLhvsSM
    __________________________________________________________________

  For more stories about Brand Nicknames, click or tap the "Listen"
  button above to hear the full [20]Under the Influence episode. You can
  also find us on the CBC Radio app or subscribe to our [21]podcast.
    __________________________________________________________________

  [22]Under the Influence is recorded in the Terstream Mobile Recording
  studio, a 1969 Airstream trailer that's been restored and transformed
  into a studio on wheels, so host Terry O'Reilly can record the show
  wherever he goes.

  Follow the journey on [23]Facebook, [24]Twitter and [25]Instagram, and
  search the hashtag: #Terstream.
  The Terstream Mobile Recording Studio. (Image Credit: Sidney O'Reilly)

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