Coca-Cola and Christmas have been intertwined for nearly a century, their relationship evolving from simple advertising to immersive, technologically advanced experiences. The Coca-Cola Company's marketing strategy revolves around creating unique and memorable experiences, demonstrated by its innovative campaigns that leverage human artistry with creative uses of artificial intelligence and other digital tools.
Coca-Cola's Innovative Holiday Campaigns
Coca-Cola is venturing into AI-driven storytelling by using the imaginative power of emerging technology, combined with human creativity, to refresh its seasonal advertising. The company's recent campaigns showcase the programmatic, hyper-local capabilities of AI. For example, viewers in Boston might see the Coca-Cola Christmas trucks passing by a "Welcome to Boston" billboard.
One of the first-of-its-kind digital experiences allows consumers to have a real-time, AI-powered conversation with Santa to generate a customized snow globe to share on social media. This activation marks the second consecutive AI-driven Coca-Cola holiday campaign. A custom model created by Leonardo.ai reacts and responds to the conversation in real time by combining AI-generated images and video alongside traditional holiday songs in a digital snow globe.
"Until now, we have only presented the 1931 Sundblom Santa in static images, not dynamically," said Pratik Thakar, Coca‑Cola’s Global Head of Generative AI. The experience prompts users to share their cherished holiday memories, kicking off a real-time, personalized chat with Santa. Santa listens to and responds to stories and answers questions about everything from the day’s weather forecast at the North Pole to his favorite reindeer.
Coca-Cola North America’s geo-specific media buy for the campaign includes tailoring the films with localized elements. Coca-Cola also plans to create real holiday magic in real life through bespoke "Anyone Can Be Santa" experiences in Finland, New York City, Mexico, the Philippines, and Japan. Additionally, the Coca-Cola Caravan will embark on the "Kindness Travels" tour, where local Coca-Cola teams will host events with social impact partners to tackle inequality, promote inclusion, and help deliver a better shared future.
Read also: The Hoxsey Diet
The History of Coca-Cola
Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a cola soft drink manufactured by The Coca-Cola Company. In 2013, Coke products were sold in over 200 countries and territories worldwide, with consumers drinking more than 1.8 billion company beverage servings each day. Originally marketed as a temperance drink and intended as a patent medicine, Coca-Cola was invented in the late 19th century by John Stith Pemberton in Atlanta. In 1888, Pemberton sold the ownership rights to Asa Griggs Candler, a businessman, whose marketing tactics led Coca-Cola to its dominance of the global soft-drink market throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. The name refers to two of its original ingredients: coca leaves and kola nuts (a source of caffeine).
The formula of Coca-Cola remains a trade secret; however, a variety of reported recipes and experimental recreations have been published. The Coca-Cola Company produces concentrate, which is then sold to licensed Coca-Cola bottlers throughout the world. The bottlers, who hold exclusive territory contracts with the company, produce the finished product in cans and bottles from the concentrate, in combination with filtered water and sweeteners. A typical 12-US-fluid-ounce (350 ml) can contains 38 grams (1.3 oz) of sugar (usually in the form of high-fructose corn syrup in North America). The bottlers then sell, distribute, and merchandise Coca-Cola to retail stores, restaurants, and vending machines throughout the world.
The Evolution of the Coca-Cola Brand
The Coca-Cola Company has, on occasion, introduced other cola drinks under the Coke name. The most common of these is Diet Coke, along with others including Caffeine-Free Coca-Cola, Diet Coke Caffeine-Free, Coca-Cola Zero Sugar, Coca-Cola Cherry, Coca-Cola Vanilla, and special versions with lemon, lime, and coffee. Believed to be the first coupon ever, this ticket for a free glass of Coca-Cola was first distributed in 1888 to help promote the drink.
Confederate Colonel John Pemberton, wounded in the American Civil War and addicted to morphine, also had a medical degree and began a quest to find a substitute for the problematic drug. In 1885 at Pemberton's Eagle Drug and Chemical House, his drugstore in Columbus, Georgia, he registered Pemberton's French Wine Coca nerve tonic. Pemberton's tonic may have been inspired by the formidable success of Vin Mariani, a French-Corsican coca wine, but his recipe additionally included the African kola nut, the beverage's source of caffeine.
In 1886, when Atlanta and Fulton County passed prohibition legislation, Pemberton responded by developing Coca-Cola, a non-alcoholic version of Pemberton's French Wine Coca. It was marketed as "Coca-Cola: The temperance drink", which appealed to many people as the temperance movement enjoyed wide support during this time. The first sales were at Jacob's Pharmacy in Atlanta, Georgia, on May 8, 1886, where it initially sold for five cents a glass. Drugstore soda fountains were popular in the United States at the time due to the belief that carbonated water was good for the health, and Pemberton's new drink was marketed and sold as a patent medicine, Pemberton claiming it a cure for many diseases, including morphine addiction, indigestion, nerve disorders, headaches, and impotence.
Read also: Walnut Keto Guide
Early Business Maneuvers
By 1888, three versions of Coca-Cola - sold by three separate businesses - were on the market. A co-partnership had been formed on January 14, 1888, between Pemberton and four Atlanta businessmen: J.C. Mayfield, A.O. Murphey, C.O. Mullahy, and E.H. Bloodworth. Charley Pemberton's record of control over the "Coca-Cola" name was the underlying factor that allowed for him to participate as a major shareholder in the March 1888 Coca-Cola Company incorporation filing made in his father's place. Charley's exclusive control over the "Coca-Cola" name became a continual thorn in Asa Candler's side.
After Candler had gained a better foothold on Coca-Cola in April 1888, he nevertheless was forced to sell the beverage he produced with the recipe he had under the names "Yum Yum" and "Koke". This was while Charley Pemberton was selling the elixir, although a cruder mixture, under the name "Coca-Cola", all with his father's blessing. John Pemberton died suddenly on August 16, 1888. Charley Pemberton, an alcoholic and opium addict, unnerved Asa Candler more than anyone else. Candler is said to have quickly maneuvered to purchase the exclusive rights to the name "Coca-Cola" from Pemberton's son Charley immediately after he learned of Dr. Pemberton's death. With this action on August 30, 1888, Candler's sole control became technically all true.
In 1892, Candler set out to incorporate a second company, the Coca-Cola Company (the modern corporation). On June 23, 1894, Charley Pemberton was found unconscious with a stick of opium by his side. On September 12, 1919, Coca-Cola Co. was purchased by a group of investors led by Ernest Woodruff's Trust Company for $25 million and reincorporated under the Delaware General Corporation Law. The company publicly offered 500,000 shares of the company for $40 a share. In 1923, his son Robert W. Woodruff was elected President of the company. Woodruff expanded the company and brought Coca-Cola to the rest of the world.
The Endorsement of "Coke"
During its first several decades, Coca-Cola officially wanted to be known by its full name despite being commonly known as "Coke". This was due to company fears that the term "coke" would eventually become a generic trademark, which to an extent became true in the Southern United States where "coke" is used even for non Coca-Cola products. The company also didn't want to confuse its drink with the similarly named coal byproduct that clearly was not safe to consume. Eventually, out for fears that another company may claim the trademark for "Coke", Coca-Cola finally embraced it and officially endorsed the name "Coke" in 1941.
Bottling and Early Advertising
The first bottling of Coca-Cola occurred in Vicksburg, Mississippi, at the Biedenharn Candy Company on March 12, 1894. A few years later two entrepreneurs from Chattanooga, Tennessee, namely Benjamin F. Thomas and Joseph B. Whitehead, proposed the idea of bottling and were so persuasive that Candler signed a contract giving them control of the procedure for only one dollar. Candler later realized that he had made a grave mistake. Candler never collected his dollar, but in 1899, Chattanooga became the site of the first Coca-Cola bottling company. Candler remained very content just selling his company's syrup. The loosely termed contract proved to be problematic for the Coca-Cola Company for decades to come. The first outdoor wall advertisement that promoted the Coca-Cola drink was painted in 1894 in Cartersville, Georgia.
Read also: Weight Loss with Low-FODMAP
Key Milestones and Controversies
By the time of its 50th anniversary, the soft drink had reached the status of a national icon in the US. In 1935, it was certified kosher by Atlanta rabbi Tobias Geffen. On July 12, 1944, the one-billionth gallon of Coca-Cola syrup was manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. On April 23, 1985, Coca-Cola, amid much publicity, changed the formula of the drink with "New Coke". Follow-up taste tests revealed most consumers preferred the taste of New Coke to both old Coke and Pepsi but Coca-Cola management was unprepared for the public's nostalgia for the old drink, leading to a backlash. The company gave in to protests and returned to the old formula under the name Coca-Cola Classic, on July 10, 1985.
In April 2007, in Canada, the name "Coca-Cola Classic" was changed back to "Coca-Cola". The word "Classic" was removed because "New Coke" was no longer in production, eliminating the need to differentiate between the two. The formula remained unchanged.
Modern Innovations
Coca-Cola introduced the 7.5-ounce mini-can in 2009, and on September 22, 2011, the company announced price reductions, asking retailers to sell eight-packs for $2.99. That same day, Coca-Cola announced the 12.5-ounce bottle, to sell for 89 cents. In October 2025, the company announced plans to introduce single-serving 7.5 US fl oz (220 mL) mini-cans of its beverage lines to convenience stores for the first time. Previously available only in multi-packs sold at North American grocery stores, the mini-cans have gained significant popularity, accounting for approximately 9% of the sparkling soft drink market share in large retail stores.
The Secret Formula
The exact formula for Coca-Cola's natural flavorings is a trade secret. (All of its other ingredients are listed on the side of the bottle or can and are not secret.) The original copy of the formula was held in Truist Financial's main vault in Atlanta for 86 years. On February 11, 2011, Ira Glass said on his PRI radio show, This American Life, that his staffers had found a recipe in "Everett Beal's Recipe Book", reproduced in the February 28, 1979 issue of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, that they believed was either Pemberton's original formula for Coca-Cola or a version that he made either before or after the product hit the market in 1886.
In 2006, Joya Williams, a secretary to the global brand director at Coca-Cola's Atlanta headquarters, stole the formula. Williams, along with her accomplices Ibrahim Dimson and Edmund Duhaney, conspired to sell the confidential trade secret to Pepsi for US$1.5 million. However, Pepsi did not capitalize on the opportunity and instead reported the illegal offer to Coca-Cola and the FBI. The FBI setup a sting operation posing as Pepsi executives, leading to the arrest of Williams and her accomplices.
Coca and Caffeine
When launched, Coca-Cola's two key ingredients were cocaine and caffeine. Pemberton called for five ounces of coca leaf per gallon of syrup (approximately 37 g/L), a significant dose; in 1891, Candler claimed his formula (altered extensively from Pemberton's original) contained only a tenth of this amount. Coca-Cola once contained an estimated nine milligrams of cocaine per glass. After 1904, instead of using fresh leaves, Coca-Cola started using "spent" leaves - the leftovers of the cocaine-extraction process with trace levels of cocaine. Since then (by 1929), Coca-Cola has used a cocaine-free coca leaf extract.
The kola nut acts as a flavoring and the original source of caffeine in Coca-Cola. In 1911, the US government sued in United States v. Forty Barrels and Twenty Kegs of Coca-Cola, hoping to force the Coca-Cola Company to remove caffeine from its formula. The court found that the syrup, when diluted as directed, would result in a beverage containing 1.21 grains (or 78.4 mg) of caffeine per 8 US fluid ounces (240 ml) serving. In 1913 the case was appealed to the Sixth Circuit in Cincinnati, where the ruling was affirmed, but then appealed again in 1916 to the Supreme Court, where the government effectively won as a new trial was ordered.
Global Reach
The production and distribution of Coca-Cola follows a franchising model. The Coca-Cola Company only produces a syrup concentrate, which it sells to bottlers throughout the world, who hold Coca-Cola franchises for one or more geographical areas. Coca-Cola has been sold outside the United States as early as the turn of the 20th century, as the drink was first sold in Britain on 31 August 1900 and the Cuba Libre (a mix between Coca-Cola and rum) was created in Havana shortly after the Spanish-American War of 1898.
Coca-Cola and the Shaping of Santa Claus
The festive season, with its sparkling lights and joyful carols, is deeply tied to the figure of Santa Claus. While the roots of Santa stretch back centuries, Coca-Cola's advertising campaigns in the 20th century played a transformative role in shaping the jolly, red-suited figure we know today. The Santa Claus legend has origins in Europe, tied to Saint Nicholas, a 4th-century Greek bishop known for his charity. Dutch settlers in America brought the tradition of Sinterklaas, a gift-giving figure celebrated on December 6th.
In 1823, Clement Clarke Moore’s poem, A Visit from St. Nicholas, helped to standardize Santa’s image. Before the 20th century, Santa was depicted as everything from a tall, stern figure to a thin, elf-like man. In the early 20th century, Coca-Cola was primarily associated with summer refreshment. To boost sales in the colder months, the company began experimenting with winter-themed advertising in the 1920s. Initially, Santa Claus appeared in Coca-Cola ads wearing a variety of outfits, including green or brown robes.
Haddon Sundblom's Influence
In 1931, Coca-Cola hired illustrator Haddon Sundblom to create a consistent, friendly, and festive version of Santa Claus. Sundblom used his friend Lou Prentiss, a retired salesman, as the original model for Santa. Santa’s red and white outfit perfectly matched Coca-Cola's branding, but Coca-Cola didn’t invent this color scheme. Coca-Cola’s advertisements featuring Santa appeared in magazines like The Saturday Evening Post, National Geographic, and Life, spreading the imagery to millions in the United States and beyond. From 1931 to 1964, Sundblom painted Santa for Coca-Cola ads annually, often including small, playful details in his artwork.
Before Coca-Cola, Santa’s personality was less consistent. Sundblom’s illustrations gave him a warm, relatable character-a grandfatherly figure with twinkling eyes, a hearty laugh, and boundless generosity. Coca-Cola’s marketing helped standardize Christmas traditions around the world. In 1995, Coca-Cola launched its now-famous Holiday Caravan ad campaign, featuring glowing red trucks adorned with images of Santa and festive lights. Coca-Cola also introduced polar bears in their Christmas ads, beginning in 1922. Sundblom’s Santa ads reinforced the idea of the North Pole as Santa’s home.