A Dying Soldier Invented Coca-Cola. This Is How It Happened.

i'd like to buy the world a home and furnish it with love grow up on trees [Music] coca-cola is widely known as being a symbol of america it was created by dr john pemberton a famous physician in the 1800s when the civil war hit he tossed away his lab coat for a button uniform and joined the army after getting caught in a direct line of fire he was given a life-threatening drug to ease the pain for his last few hours but he miraculously survived and used his near-death experience to build coca-cola's 74 billion dollar [Music] brand in 1831 john was born in the small town of knoxville and raised in rome georgia when he was 19 years old he received his license to practice thomsonian medicine it was known to use the principles of botany and herbalism to rid the body of harmful toxins at the time it wasn't well respected and many were suspicious of the practice but that didn't stop john from opening a business that specializes in materia medica substances that were used to make medical remedies a few years later john pursued a more conventional path and earned a graduate degree in pharmacy but not long after he was forced to ditch his white lab coat for a button uniform the civil war had erupted and jon was made a first lieutenant three years into battle he got caught in a direct line of fire and was slashed with a saver his doctors didn't think he would live and gave him morphine to ease the pain for his last few hours but he proved them wrong and miraculously survived from then on it was only a matter of time until jon was back on his feet when the smoke of the civil war cleared john strived for a better life he moved his family to atlanta and became a senior member of a pharmaceutical firm the media called it one of the most impressive labs in the u.s and john became known as the most famous physician in atlanta but behind closed doors john was struggling after his near-death experience he became addicted to morphine with no cure in sight for what had became a daily habit he looked for a herbal remedy at the time he heard good things about a drink called vin mariani it contained ground up coca leaves and red wine and was said to heal any ailment that gave john the idea of making his own version to cure his morphine addiction using coca leaves red wine and cola nuts he created what he called pemberton's french wine coca coca leaves were known to act as a stimulant and suppress hunger thirst fatigue and pain while one leaf contained 0.35 percent of cocaine it was easy to get in the u.s some doctors and pharmacists reported that it was a possible cure for opium and morphine addiction as for cola nuts they were high in caffeine and known to aid digestion john believed his french wine coca could not only cure addictions but depression anxiety and different ailments including headaches to help other war veterans he set up a distribution network to sell his remedy he would make the syrup in his lab and then ship it to partners and contractors who could sell it as they liked the remedy was an instant hit and used by many but the demand alone wasn't enough to keep the business going jon was faced with a challenge that forced him to pivot his new business leading to the invention of coca-cola the year that pemberton's french wine coca hit the market atlanta announced they would be joining other u.s states in banning alcohol fearful that it would mean the end of his new remedy jon raced to come up with a new formula when he removed the wine he realized the cola nuts made it extremely bitter so he replaced it with a synthetic caffeine and then added sugar citric acid vanilla lemon oil and orange nutmeg and coriander extracts afterwards john's bookkeeper frank robinson suggested he changed the name to coca-cola however he insisted that it be spelt with two c's since it would look more eye-catching jon took his advice and launched his new remedy coca-cola a year later it was a total disaster the first year of sales topped off at 50 with a sunken cost of 70 in supplies john saw this as a failure meanwhile frank saw it differently the loss was to be expected since the business was new his optimism led to coming up with another brilliant idea marketing the remedy through banners streetcar placards and store awnings john was hesitant but frank convinced them it was a risk worth taking fortunately he wasn't wrong coca-cola became a hit through atlanta john and frank prove that when faced with a challenge tackling it instead of giving up can lead to new heights of success in a strange twist of fate john's health dwindled as coca-cola sails heightened he was diagnosed with stomach cancer and relapsed to ease the pain worried that money for his family and addiction would run dry he made the difficult decision of selling shares of the business but that didn't mean he had little expectations for the future of coca-cola he believed it would become a national drink one day and kept a third of his shares for his son charles at the time charles was in charge of manufacturing but later became a morphine addict himself frank feared that coca-cola would have no one to steer john's vision of going national so he took on the responsibility of finding the right investor as john remained bedridden through a business contact he met a wealthy and hardworking entrepreneur named asa candler when frank approached him he told him that he didn't think that coca-cola was a worthwhile venture but frank knew better while the two stood outside one day frank pointed to a wagon and said see that wagon going by with all those empty beer kegs well we are going to push coca-cola until you see wagons going by with coca-cola just like that asa was swayed by the company's vision and bought the rights to the coca-cola name and secret formula and just as frank predicted he wasted no time in building the company he not only expanded sales to more pharmacies and grocery stores but came up with an idea that made history he gave out little slips of paper that could be redeemed for a glass of coca-cola at soda fountains at the time they were considered a popular hangout spot and where many went to socialize it was the first instance in history where a company gave out what is now called coupons for free samples john's vision for coca-cola was the key to instilling faith among his employees and later the man who would help build its brand sadly john never did see his entire vision unfold two years after asa started to grow the company he succumbed to his morphine addiction and died penniless with charles zone addiction worsening asa took over and founded the coca-cola company he led the expansion of selling coca-cola to every u.s state and then canada but he failed to create the demand in europe in germany anything other than beer wine or water was considered for children whereas in france buying an inferior american drink was considered insulting asa was also short-sighted when it came to an idea that fell into his lap one day two lawyers named joseph whitehead and benjamin thomas walked into asus office coca-cola is already successful as a fountain drink but what if it was bottled they proposed bottled asa asked what a puzzle looked yes sir folks could take them home asa thought it was a ridiculous idea he believed the future of coca-cola was in fountain drinks bottling was an expensive operation that he wanted no part of he told joseph and benjamin that they could bottle all the coca-cola they wanted for just one dollar he had nothing to lose since if they succeeded they would sell more syrup and if they failed he wouldn't lose a penny afterwards joseph and benjamin found other people to finance and build an operation to bottle coca-cola it became one of the first franchising businesses in america to asus surprise customers were hooked on coca-cola bottles it became so popular that competitors tried to create their own version eventually the coca-cola company decided to create something more unique that was difficult to copy a contour bottle that way customers would know they were getting the real product years later the amount of coca-cola sold in bottles exceeded the number sold through soda fountains joseph and benjamin's so-called ridiculous idea inspired coca-cola's iconic packaging and paved the way for its continued success [Music] the year after coca-cola developed its contour bottle asa resigned from the company he was elected the mayor of atlanta and handed the company over to his children three years later they sold it for 25 million dollars to a group of investors at the time it was the biggest financial deal in the history of the america south one of the investors behind the deal was a banker named ernest woodruff who took the company public that year he streamlined coca-cola's production process and ensured quality was maintained when produced anywhere not long after he retired and convinced his son robert to become the president of the company robert was a marketing genius who worked his way up from being a truck salesman to a general manager before joining under his leadership the company removed the tiny amounts of cocaine from the formula afterwards it launched metal top open coolers six bottle packs and automatic fountain dispensers it also succeeded in taking care of asa's unfinished business creating the demand for coca-cola and europe the company advertised gave away and sold coca-cola all over europe as a fun refreshing import some bottles were green with a gold foil seal to resemble champagne magnums they also created an association with many historical and celebratory events when the u.s olympic team traveled to amsterdam for the 1928 olympic games they gave away 40 000 bottles of coca-cola and when world war ii erupted they swore that every american soldier would be able to get a coca-cola wherever the war took them they also created the modern image of santa claus a jolly man in a red suit before he was seen as a lean man in a red green or brown suit today coca-cola is closely associated with american culture and is known as a national symbol it's also the second most recognized brand in the world behind nike every day nearly 2 billion servings of its drinks are served in more than 200 countries before robert retired from coca-cola he kept a paperweight on his desk that read there is no limit to what a man can do or where he can go if he doesn't mind who gets the credit this is the story of how a pharmacist turned war veteran and his successors built coca-cola's 74 billion dollar brand for more inspiring stories and advice from today's most successful leaders don't forget to subscribe to our channel

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Keywords: coca cola, coca cola invention, coca cola story, coca cola inventor, coca cola founder, who made coca cola, the company man, the company man coca cola, who invented coca cola, the story behind coca cola, inspiring story, inspiring stories, success stories, the rise of coca cola, company stories, coca cola commercial, coca cola how it's made, how coca cola is made, how to make coca cola

Id: BZ7mcB2Ud2U

Length: 13min 40sec (820 seconds)

Published: Fri Aug 28 2020

Reddit Comments

[u/DependentPipe_1]

Opioids do help mankind, but I wouldn't use soda as a prime example of that lol.