It All Began With A Coca Cola

The Man Behind the Bottle

The contour Coca-Cola bottle is the most recognized package created by man. It has been called an international icon and one of the most significant artifacts of the twentieth century. Of everything that has been written about The Coca-Cola Company, the one error of omission has been the complete and accurate story about the creation of its famous contour bottle and the impact it has made in the world. Knowing his entire life that it was his father, Earl R. Dean, who designed the bottle, it became the authors mission to get the story told before the truth was forever lostto set the record straightnot only for his father and his descendants, but for the millions of people all over the world who have enjoyed a romance with his bottle.

The Real Coke, the Real Story

“Examines why the set-in-its-ways Coca Cola Company tampered with a drink that had become an American institution—and blundered into one of the greatest marketing triumphs of all time.”—New York On April 23, 1985, the top executives of the Coca-Cola Company held a press conference in New York City. News had leaked out that Coke, the king of soft drinks, would no longer be produced. In its place the Coca-Cola Company would offer a new drink with a new taste and would dare call it by the old name, Coca-Cola. The new Coke was launched—and the reaction of the American people was immediate and violent: three months of unrelenting protest against the loss of Coke. So fierce was the reaction across the country that it forced a response from the Coca-Cola Company. Stunned Coca-Cola executives stepped up to the microphone and publicly apologized to the American people. They announced that the company would reissue the original Coca-Cola formula under a new name, Coke Classic. The Real Coke, the Real Story is the behind-the-scenes account of what prompted Coca-Cola to change the taste of its flagship brand—and how consumers persuaded a corporate giant to bring back America’s old friend.

How it All Began