Summary:
From Soda to Cola:
The upcoming of America, and the controversy of war, politics, trading, and communications during the twentieth century happened because of the rise of Coca-Cola. Back then, it was known as the outline of America and its values. Coca-Cola too had people who approved of it, as well as disapproved. For example, some see it as the ability to state their choice and start a democracy while others may see it as a ruthless global capitalism. Coca-Cola and other artificially carbonated soft drinks was produced by Joseph Priestley around 1767 because he was amazed by some sort of gas that would bubbled from the fermentation vats next door to him. He decided to take his fascination of the odd, bubbled gas into his laboratory and experiment of the properties of the unknown gas. Through a couple of his experiment, he produced sparkling water! After he wrapped up his experiment with the sparkling water, he wrote his own book to acknowledge others about it. Not to long after, Thomas Henry started producing his own sparkling water and sold it to people because back then, it could've been used for medicine. He also mentioned that people could mix sparkling water with lemonade, thus starting the development of sweet, artificially fizzy drink. After Henry told people about it, in the 1790s, scientists and entrepreneurs started making artificial mineral waters for sale. Now, Coca-Cola, itself was invented by John Pemberton in May 1886. The invention of Coca-Cola was an accident because he was attempting to make a cure for headaches but the ingredients that he had mixed turned into a sweet, fizzy, drink called Coca-Cola. Pemberton was also known for producing copious patent medicines which had false claims about their effectiveness. He had a few successes with his business, but by 1872, he was declared bankrupt! That didn't stopped him from his hope of becoming rich again, so he started to incorporate coca into medicines for a stimulating effect. Pemberton then decided to mix coca and kola together into a beverage and called it Coca-Cola. They used an abundance of different ways of advertising for it to become popular and well known. But when Coca-Cola was bottled, that was when the expansion of Coca-Cola grew. Because it was bottled, it could be sold in more cities, markets, and even over the world!
Globalization in a Bottle:
Coca-Cola played a huge part in the rise of America. Numerous of situations that was going on during the late ninetieth and twentieth century, it was associated with Coca-Cola. When World War II started, troops from the U.S. was being send over to Japan one after another, including Coca-Cola. Coca-Cola was seen as a support for the soldiers and it was also supposed to remind the soldiers of their home and to keep their preserving. As a matter of fact, the soldiers really valued Coca-Cola, especially if it's bottled. Coca-Cola also created a few controversy between America and the Middle East because the U.S. wanted to put a settlement there but the Islamic government denied their idea. In fact, they even started to imitate Coca-Cola with an "Islamic" cola made in Iran instead of the U.S. Overall, though Coca-Cola, today is just soda, it will always carry some sort of history in it, whether it's: the rise of America, the big commotion of capitalism over communism, and the advance of globalization!
Quote:
"Its drink is now the world's most widely known product, and "Coca-Cola" is said to be the second most commonly understood phrase in the world, after "OK."" (Standage 264).
Reaction:
When I first read this line, I laughed to myself and read it again. At first, I was a tad reluctant to actually believe that "Coca-Cola" was the second most commonly understood phrase in the world because it seems like it was too good to be true sort of thing. So, I did a quick little survey asking whether they know what Coca-Cola was, and almost everyone that I asked knew exactly what I was talking about. It didn't matter about age, race, nor sex! I believe why many people are familiar with Coca-Cola is because it's been in the U.S. for quite some time AND it also affected the U.S. and our history a whole lot. Before I even read this chapter, I never see soda as an importance in our history. I just thought it was a beverage that wasn't good for you, haha. But after reading this entire book, I see the beverages that we drink today in a different perspective. It makes me think about it's importance in our history and our lives. :)
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