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.
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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:
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– 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
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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.
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