Grand Daddy Hires

I've confessed earlier that one marketing strategy of soda I enjoy is when they attempt to make it nostalgic.  You know, those soothing Coca-Cola commercials where they show Santa Claus or some dust bowl Oakie chugging a Coke, suggesting the drink has been around forever.  Well, that made me wonder which soft drink really has been around forever.

Arizona Cherry Lime Rickey 2013 

The answer is Hires Root Beer, which was first sold in 1876.  That's 10 years older than Coca-Cola (1886) and 17 years before Pepsi (1893).  So if you really want some nostalgia, reach for a Hires Root Beer.

Can Draft and Coca-Cola Slogans Number 2

The next can in my can draft with a fellow collector appears below.

2002 Coca-Cola Christmas Can

And Coca-Cola's next advertising slogan after the no frills "Drink Coca-Cola" from 1886?  It appears below...

1904:  Delicious and Refreshing

I like that.  By 1904, Coca-Cola decided to toss some adjectives in there to describe the taste. Clever. And they were right.  Coca-Cola certainly is delicious, and yes, it is refreshing.

A Correction for Sprite

Last week, while discussing Pepsi storming the Wild Wing barricades, I made an off-hand comment about Sprite.  I mentioned their tag-line "Obey Your Thirst" had been around since 1994.  Well I was a bit off-the-spot, a mistake I would never make with 7-Up.

Still More Cans for Trade February 2014

Little did I know, Sprite actually retired the "Obey Your Thirst" moniker back in 2010. As a lad who tries to keep his ear close to the soothing heartbeat of the soda world, I find this embarrassing. Sprite's current tagline is "For the Thirsty."  See what they did there?  With this new look, Coca-Cola is looking to give Sprite a little nudge.  See, Sprite reigns over 66 percent of the lemon-lime soda world, which makes it a type of kingpin, but they want more from their kingpin.  Sadly, less people are buying soda these days, which means if they can't get new people to buy soda, they can get current soda drinkers to switch to a new brand, hence the new tag-line.  So, 7-Up and Sierra Mist drinkers, be warned that if you are truly thirsty, those drinks are not for you.      

Can Draft and Coca-Cola Slogan Number 1

One year after starting my soda can collection and corresponding blog, I have finally reached the big leagues!  Yessir, I received my very first shipment of soda cans from a fellow collector as part of a trade.  He had a lot of cans to select from, and I "drafted" 28 soda cans for my collection.  In return, I am sending him cans from my collection. In order to prolong the suspense of what cans are now in the basement, I will be posting one can a week, from my 28th selection all the way up to my number one can pick.  Boy aren't you lucky! So here it is, my very first can trade.

Also, just to jazz the posts up a bit, I will be including the advertising slogans used by Coca-Cola starting from the year 1886.  And here it is, the very first one...

1886: Drink Coca-Cola

Not too subtle, huh?  Don't worry, they get better as time goes on.  Check back in a week to see the latest can and the next crafty advertising slogan Coca-Cola executives created to peddle their iconic product. 

Pepsi Wins Wild Wing's Turf

The two big soda ogres, Coca-Cola and Pepsi, are always slugging it out and trying steal the other fellow's alliances.  Well, Pepsi just won big two months ago by winning over Buffalo Wild Wings.

More Cans for Trade February 2014

Pepsi will now be the official drink of Buffalo Wild Wings, a wise, tactical move because it brings in Mountain Dew, that neon green drink with all its electronic and youthful imagery.  It also brings in Doritos, which happens to be Pepsi owned, to prominence on the Wild Wings menu.  (Think about it...you can have Dorito Nachos now!)  I must admit, Pepsi does seem to fit better since Wild Wings markets itself as THE PLACE to watch football, which is a sport dominated by Pepsi.  (And Beyonce's Pepsi painted lips.)  It does, however, leave basketball out in the cold, as the NBA is marketed by Sprite, which is Coca-Cola owned, and will now be banned from the shelves. Surely people watch basketball at Wild Wings too.  Must their thirst (which they must obey, as the commercial has instructed since 1994) be forgotten?

Here's the thing.  While studly American males fight over balls in various shapes on fields and courts, paunchy, million dollar corporate executives are fighting over turf for their sodas. Folks don't often think about that contest.  Well I do, and so does this little can collecting blog.

Coca-Cola Painting $$$

I just learned one of four Andy Warhol Coca-Cola paintings just sold for $57.2 million dollars to Wal-Mart heiress Alice L. Walton.  What does this mean?

Cans for Trade February 2014

Well, first I suppose ole' Andy would be pleased with the irony.  The painting is a hand painted black and white Coca-Cola bottle the size of a human.  It's a towering symbol of pop art.  Coca-Cola is for the masses, Warhol once said more or less in a popular quote.  If there is anything for the masses beyond Coca-Cola, its definitely Wal-Mart.  Way to go Alice!

Summer Can Countdown 3

Introducing Coca-Cola summer can number 3 from 2013.  Ah, baseball!  What could be more American than baseball and Coca-Cola taken together?

Coca-Cola Summer Can 3 of 6 2013

If you want to dig even a bit deeper between the natural nostalgia of Coca-Cola and a ball game, did you know that Coca-Cola owned the Atlanta Crackers, a minor league baseball team?  They owned the team from 1929 until 1949.  A significant achievement of the team was being one of the first to stand up against segregation in baseball.  That's Coca-Cola for you, I suppose, bringing people together!  I love the baseball on this can.  It's like...BAM!...it's being thrown right at ya!