Your favourite drink… a drug?

Posted by admin on Oct 1, 2008 in Arts & Culture | 1 comment

Queen Victoria was a coke addict. In fact, she helped spread the drug’s popularity around the world, so ultimately, she’s to blame for society’s current moral and physical decay. Queen Vic was just like any other well-known figure in history; giving the token royal wave that signaled the go-ahead of all things fashionable. And in this case, as is customary for the rich and famous, knock-offs were a no-no. Queen Vic wanted the real thing.

And that’s just what she got in what would become the most well-known, most consumed brand in history: Coca-Cola. Queen Vic was fond of the pioneer drink, “Vin Mariani,” from France, but the empire of the infamous beverage industry really began in an Atlanta pharmacy. The soda’s base syrup, called Pemberton’s French Wine Coca, was sold as an elixir. Its original formula contained extracts from the coca plant which had been used by natives of South America to remedy altitude sickness, hunger and fatigue. The oils of the kola nut were also used in the syrup, and thus, by subtracting the “K,” adding a “C” and sticking the name of the nut behind the name of the leaf we have “Coca-Cola.”

No wonder Coca-Cola experienced such initial success: people had to buy it to feed their addiction. Not even the queen of England could withstand the siren’s call of the seductive soda. However, we can’t give cocaine all the credit for making sales. We have to give alcohol a fair shot too as the syrup initially contained wine. But the real boost in sales came when Coca’s inventor, Dr. John S. Pemberton, removed the alcohol in response to the temperance movement of the early 20th century. With local bars shut down, the bubbles started coming up as citizens flocked to the soda fountains as a social substitute.

But what would become of the popular drink if ever prohibition were to end? Robert W. Woodruff answered that question when he took the soda global by establishing the Coca-Cola Export Corporation by 1930. The invasive spread of the company’s bottling plants was furthered by Coke’s promise during World War II to go wherever they had to so that every American serviceman could enjoy their product. President Eisenhower even ordered millions of bottles to be sent to troops in Africa; a refreshing boost for the Allies even if the cocaine element had been long since banished.

“Whenever you hear ‘Have a Coke,’ you hear the voice of America,” gives a good picture of just how popular the product had become. Even today, America is defined by that voice, whether it is perceived as one of prosperity and hope or one of corporate greed and the desire for world dominance. America may not last as a political power, but as far as the prevailing soda pop prince: it’s “Always Coca-Cola.”