Coca-Cola in World War II

During World War II, Coca-Cola ran a series of ads which expressed Coca-Cola as a patriotic brand which greeted Americans wherever they went, ‘reminding them of home’.

In 1941, America entered World War II and thousands of US citizens were sent overseas. To show support for those brave men and women, Coca-Cola President Robert Woodruff ordered that “every man in uniform gets a bottle of Coca-Cola for five cents, wherever he is and whatever it costs the company.”

When U.S. Army General Dwight D. Eisenhower saw the early success of bottling plants, he sent a pressing telegram addressed to Coca-Cola’s headquarters in Atlanta. Dated June 29, 1943, his request included 10 portable factories, 6 million filled bottles of Coke a month, and the materials and resources to provide American GIs with refreshingly cool Cokes.

Vital equipment, gear, and food for survival packed the cargo decks and rooms aboard supply ships. Anything that wasn’t used for survival was viewed as nonessential, and that included crates of Coke. When Eisenhower’s plea was received by high-level executives from Coca-Cola, they started devising a plan to bring distribution of Cokes to combat areas.

Six months following the message, a Coca-Cola representative flew to the capital of Algeria to implement the paper plans into actionable construction of the first bottling plant. Eisenhower anticipated only 10 would be sufficient but, to his surprise, 64 bottling lines were by the war’s end.

Soon, 148 representatives from Coke filled the ranks with an official title of “Technical Observers,” or TOs. The TOs were given army fatigues, treated like commissioned officers, and had one responsibility: to serve Coke to every American GI, no matter where they were located. Americans welcomed the TOs without prejudice. Their inclusion into these units earned them the nickname “Coca-Cola Colonels,” and they worked tireless days, two returning home in flag-draped caskets.

The “Have A Coke” promotions featured ads with unique art accompanied by underlying meanings of the expression. All featuring people smiling with bottles of Coke, the ads used a message to appease civilians and armies alike. By the end of World War II, over 5 billion bottles were distributed to those in uniform, and Coca-Cola transformed the experimental war-time plants into fully operational facilities.

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