Coca-Cola, Earliest Print Advertisements
May 8, 1886
Coca-Cola was first introduced as a soft drink on May 8, 1886, founded by John Pemberton, an Atlanta pharmacist. Though today, the brand is known all over the world, when it was first released to the public, it only sold 9 glasses per day, running its first advertisement in The Atlanta Journal.
Over the next 130 years, the little company from Atlanta quickly became the world’s most popular soft drink, using innovative marketing strategies to reel in loyal customers. The use of a standardized logo written in the Spenserian script differentiated the brand from its competitors. Advertisements publicized the brand as “Delicious! Refreshing! Exhilarating! Invigorating!”
The distribution of free samples and coupons for the beverage in 1888 put Coca-Cola ahead of its time. One of its earlier print advertisements included the slogan “refreshing and invigorating,” in addition to the original price for a glass: 5 cents, which stayed consistent for the next seventy years. The image of Santa Claus as the face of the brand debuted in an advertisement for the Saturday Evening Post in 1931 and appeared regularly in magazines. His image was repainted every year follow his debut.