Logo History: The Coca-Cola Logo Story

The Coca-Cola logo is known throughout the world and today’s it’s seen as an iconic logo. However, the logo you see today at sporting events and at your local supermarket isn’t the original Coca-Cola logo. The logo we know and instantly recognize today is the result of multiple iterations and revisions over nearly 140 years.

In Atlanta, Georgia on May 8th, 1886, Dr. John S. Pemberton brought Coca-Cola to life. He carried a jug of syrup down to Jacobs’ Pharmacy and mixed it with carbonated water. After a taste test, it was deemed worth selling and was then sold from a soda fountain for 54 cents a glass.

The jug of syrup mixed with carbonated water isn’t truly the start of the brand. First we need to go back to the 1860s. This is when Mr. Pemberton created Coca Wine, an alcoholic drink “for fatigue of mind and body.”

However, a prohibition law enacted in 1886 pushed John to rewrite the formula and rename his Coca Wine that was at the time, sold at a many pharmacies.

Why Coca-Cola? Pemberton’s partner and bookkeeper, Frank Robinson, thought the two C’s together would look good.

The first known use of the Coca-Cola was in a May 29th, 1886 Atlanta Journal advertisement for the drink. “Coca-Cola” was in all upper-case serif font inviting people to try “the new popular soda fountain drink, containing the properties of the wonderful coca plant and the famous Cola nuts.”

During the first year an average of 9 drinks per day were sold.

Frank Robinson, the marketing-minded bookkeeper who came up with Coca-Cola, also wanted the brand to have its own visual style. Experimenting with Spencerian script, Robinson created the script logo that enjoyed unanimous popularity amongst Pemberton Company employees.

It’s believed that Coca-Cola offered one of the first coupons in the United States in 1887. The Coca-Cola logo with the trademark text in the tail of the “C” began use a few years after 1887.

Unfortunately for John Pemberton, he never realized the full potential of his drink and portions of the business were sold off to various partners until his death in 1888. Pemberton sold his last remaining interest was to Asa Griggs Candler, a native to Atlanta. Asa would proceed to buy additional rights and gain complete control over Pemberton’s former business.

On May 1st, 1899 Candler published a full page advertisement in the Atlanta Journal proclaiming his wholesale and retail drug businesses as the sole proprietors of Coca-Cola. However, he wouldn’t achieve sole ownership for another 2 years.

A calendar from 1891(below) shows a version of the Coca-Cola logo that was only in use for a year. The logo opposite the Coca-Cola logo is for De-Lec-Ta-Lave, an Asa Candler mouthwash brand.

See the image below for a closer look at the short-lived Coca-Cola logo.

In 1892 there was a ten-fold increase in sales of the soft drink, thanks to Candler’s skilled merchandising. Candler would eventually liquidate his pharmaceutical business to focus solely on Coca-Cola. Asa would join with his brother John S. Candler and Frank Robinson(logo designer & Pemberton’s former partner), and two others to form The Coca-Cola Company with an initial capital of $100,000.

In 1894, Joseph A. Biedenham of Vicksburg, Mississippi was so impressed by Coca-Cola’s growing demand at his soda fountain that he installed a bottling machine in the back of his store. He then bottled and sold cases to farmers and lumber camps along the Mississippi River. This makes Joseph A. Biedenham the first Coca-Cola bottler.

By 1895 Coca-Cola would be in every U.S. state.

Coca-Cola leveraged celebrity endorsements as early as the 1890’s. Hilda Clark, a model and singer, was the celebrity face of Coca-Cola through the 1890’s and until 1904. Her image appears on calendars, serving trays, signs, posters, notepads, bookmarks, and practically anything else Coca-Cola during that time.

Amazingly, Coca-Cola was sold at the price of 5 cents for 73 years; from 1886 until 1959.

Coca-Cola’s first magazine advertisement would be a full page spread featuring Lillian Nordica, a popular opera singer of the day. Most notably, the advertisement appeared in Good Housekeeping. A promo coupon was attached to the bottom of the advertisement. In 1905, nearly $43,000 worth of coupons were redeemed at soda fountains. Today that same amount is equal to about $1,300,000.

In 1916 the now instantly recognizable Coca-Cola bottle that is a core element of Coca-Cola’s branding comes into being. To differentiate Coca-Cola from imitators, the “hobbleskirt” bottle design was developed by the Root Glass Company in Terre Haute, Indiana. The design finds inspiration in the shape of the coca bean, elongated with distinct ribbing.

In 1919 the brand was sold to Atlanta banker Ernest Woodruff and a group of investors for $25 million. The company was reincorporated in Delaware and 500,000 shares of common stock were sold publicly at $40 per share.

In the early 1930’s the red circle logo began appearing in advertisements. Then in 1945 “Coke” was registered with the U.S. Patent Office.

An arched “fishtail” surround was briefly used on signage in the late 1950’s and early 1960’s. It was dropped in a return to the red circle.

The “Arden Square” was unveiled in 1969. This one is almost certainly familiar to everyone. It’s a red square containing the Coca-Cola script underlined by the dynamic ribbon or white wave that’s still used today. However, the 1969 Arden Square has the trademark text and the ‘j” is missing the dot.

Jump forward to 2004. Coca-Cola owns nearly 400 brands in almost every country in the world and 70% of the company’s revenue comes from outside of the U.S.A. As of this post Coca-Cola holds over 2,000 patent applications. It also has a rare trademark accomplishment, and that is ownership over the shape of the Coca-Cola bottle.