Thursday, May 19, 2011

Stitched in the Fabric of our Pop Culture Psyches


The 125th anniversary of the first Coca-Cola sold - on May 8, 1886 for 5 cents- has inspired the release of Coca-Cola, a collection of images of the beverage, in "realms real and imagined."

"Arguably the world’s most ubiquitous brand, the jolly red logo has been pasted on just about every susceptible surface on the planet, and this book serves to remind us youngsters of the breadth and endurance of its appeal, just in case it wasn’t already stitched into the fabric of our pop culture psyches. Indeed, at times, “Coca-Cola” seems less a birthday tribute to the stamina of a yummy, fizzy black taste with mysterious origins and more a tribute to several generations of successful advertising. And let’s not forget its importance as a symbol of what’s great about our republic.

As Andy Warhol, no stranger to ubiquity or commercialism, contests on Page 8, Coke “started the tradition where the richest consumers buy essentially the same things as the poorest. … A Coke is a Coke and no amount of money can get you a better Coke than the one the bum on the corner is drinking. All the Cokes are the same and all the Cokes are good."

Read the review and a selection of several more images included in the book here.

The image depicted above is Out Fishin’, the first of six paintings by the American artist Norman Rockwell for Coca-Cola which debuted on the company calendar, 1935

Sailin’ ‘round the world in a dirty gondola
Oh, to be back in the land of Coca-Cola!

~ Bob Dylan, "When I Paint My Masterpiece"

Finally was Coca Cola's secret recipe ever revealed, particularly ingredient 7X?