Coca-Cola: The Complete History & Strategy

Coca-Cola is… sugar water. And somehow it’s also America, Christmas, summertime, friendship and happiness. Today we tell the story of how The Coca-Cola Company amazingly transmogrified a beverage into emotion in all of our collective psyches, and ALSO built one of the most incredible scale economy businesses of all-time. And oh yeah, there’s also cocaine, WW2, Mad Men, Warren Buffett, James Dean, Bill Cosby, Michael Jackson, Michael Ovitz, Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, McDonald’s and Monsanto. So cozy up to the fire with your favorite images of Santa Claus and Polar Bears and enjoy an ice-cold episode of Acquired — always delicious, always refreshing. Sponsors: Many thanks to our fantastic Fall ‘25 Season partners: - J.P. Morgan Payments https://bit.ly/acquiredJPMPcokeyt - WorkOS https://bit.ly/workos25 - Shopify https://bit.ly/ShopifyACQ25 - Sentry https://bit.ly/acquiredsentry (Link to ACQ Cassette Players: https://checkout.sentry.shop/products/sentry-x-acquired-walkman) use code “audiophile”) Links: - Sign up for email updates and vote on future episodes! https://www.acquired.fm/email - The Hilltop ad https://youtu.be/1VM2eLhvsSM?si=EGPTNoPaXTMePcyx / Mad Men finale https://youtu.be/GxtZpFl3pPM?si=aZ5L7CO2gUcapMrV - Pepsi Challenge commercials https://youtu.be/mEXEdibXSak?si=9YB060i9BdgHEpYx - Pepsi’s Michael Jackson commercials https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=po0jY4WvCIc - Coke’s Bill Cosby commercials https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cAhRphhQsmY&t=33s - Two liter bottles inflating https://youtu.be/kU_gH36GG58?si=Suwm9No6HM0-pLOw - Worldly Partners’ Multi-Decade Coca-Cola Study https://worldlypartners.com/businesshistory - For God, Country, and Coca-Cola https://www.amazon.com/God-Country-Coca-Cola-Mark-Pendergrast/dp/0465054684 - Secret Formula https://www.amazon.com/Secret-Formula-Inside-Coca-Cola-Best-Known/dp/1504019857/ - All episode sources https://docs.google.com/document/d/1EAJUc7HRYqOjvwivuYvk06yMXyq8aK4qv39bsPnkINs/edit?usp=sharing Carve Outs: - SkiErg https://www.concept2.com/ergs/skierg?srsltid=AfmBOoqW20PnzP0cgbkXHcVWk0FwWZXglXi67XXxBF3vUKxrWX3c2kBj - Super Smash Bros. Ultimate https://www.smashbros.com/en_US/ - Claude https://claude.ai/acquired - Nike Vomero Plus https://www.nike.com/t/vomero-plus-mens-road-running-shoes-5npsVBwT - Hermanos Gutiérrez https://open.spotify.com/artist/73mSg0dykFyhvU96tb5xQV More Acquired: - Get email updates and vote on future episodes! https://www.acquired.fm/email - Join the Slack http://acquired.fm/slack - Subscribe to ACQ2 https://pod.link/acquiredlp - Check out the latest swag in the ACQ Merch Store! https://www.acquired.fm/store 00:00:00 Intro 00:12:28 John Pemberton and Coca-Cola 00:30:19 Asa Candler 00:42:53 Bottling 01:10:00 Woodruff 01:37:54 Pepsi and the first real competitor 01:48:29 WW2 01:54:20 50s-60s: Television and McDonalds 02:26:45 Cola Wars 02:43:54 Roberto Goizuetta 03:18:49 21st Century 03:27:57 The business today Note: Acquired hosts and guests may hold assets discussed in this episode. This podcast is not investment advice, and is intended for informational and entertainment purposes only. You should do your own research and make your own independent decisions when considering any financial transactions.