How does the world’s most powerful brand conquer the world? Well, the secret is all here. Actually, not quite, because the World of Coca Cola museum is just another way they are trying to sell more coke to you!
So what is so magical about the Coke brand? That’s what this whole exhibit is trying to foster and convey. Needless to say, it has the most unique flavor that any beverage has. It gives the most satisfying sensation any beverage can, and has a universal appreciation from every corner of the world, a culture that has no boundary and accepted by all culture. That’s the magic! I think on top of all, Coke realized the value of its own brand from very early on and have always been very careful about how it sells itself. Although there was a pit fall in the 90s against Pepsi, Coca Cola is no doubt the most dominant brand of all times. The different icons that it has created, the bottle, the sizzling sound, the polar bears, the Santa Claus, and the festive emotion that it symbolizes, are all very much unchanged for decades. It has gone so far that it’s not about the taste anymore. It’s what it stands for. It’s Coca Cola.
So after all the cheesy rides that are nothing but irritating, comes my most anticipated part of the tour. The taste of coke products all over the world!!! Asia, North America, South America, Africa and Europe. You can really pick up a trend by tasting the sodas from different region. Asia is lightly flavored. North America is the regular stuffs. African tends to taste artificially fruity. European ones taste bitter, and South American taste like carbonated cough syrup. I don’t know how much does soda taste reflect the culture, but there’s definitely a story to be explored right there.
A part of the coke museum was also dedicated to “green”. The cups that they give out to people for the soda tasting is made of compostable resin, and they asked people not to use too many of them to reduce waste. The gift shop was full of products made of recycled plastics. The gift shop floor is made from bamboo, so on and so forth. It all seems pretty good, then the shop lady came up to me when I was looking at the recycled PET T-shirts.
“Do you have any question?”
“Yes Mdm, is this made of recycled PET?”
“Yes it is…”
Then I went on to tell her that even though it sounds good that the T-shirt is made of recycled plastic, the reality is, if it ends up in a landfill, it’s not going to decompose like a cotton shirt, and her head imploded….. then I went on to tell her the “other” side of the green story that is not so green, and her mind went through the big bang. It’s the reality bro, keep it real!
She said,”Now I can’t wait till the next meeting, because I am going to ask them all these questions!”
So I successfully corrupted an innocent mind. Bravo!!!
I think it is definitely comforting to see a giant brand like Coca Cola taking the initiative to be sustainable, but there’s still a looooong way to go. Let’s not take that foot step too quickly, or else it will just end up being one that stays forver, like everything else we’s done to this planet.
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