This is Fanta, one of the most popular
soft drinks in the world. It's easily identifiable
by its bright colors and bold advertisements, which often feature a group of diverse people dancing
to loud, upbeat music. The brand presents itself as
multicultural and fun-loving and lures consumers in with the promise of fresh, bold flavors. But would you believe
the first bottle of Fanta was made from food scraps? Or that it was invented in Nazi Germany? So, how did we get here... from here? In the book "For God,
Country and Coca-Cola," Mark Pendergrast tells the
story of how Fanta came to be. It started in 1923, when Robert Woodruff was elected president of
The Coca-Cola Company. He had big dreams of expanding the brand and its global reach. In the years before, Coca-Cola's international
production was somewhat reckless. French Coke manufacturers
accidentally made consumers sick with unhygienic bottling practices. And international demand for
Coca-Cola was relatively low. But under Woodruff's guidance, the company established
the Foreign Department, later come to be known as The
Coca-Cola Export Corporation. This set up official bottling
plants in over 27 countries and allowed Coca-Cola
to oversee all of them. While Coca-Cola provided the flavoring, each country provided its
own bottling equipment and sugar for its own production. This started a global boom. Coca-Cola sponsored the 1928
Summer Olympics in Amsterdam, where people from all over the world became familiar with the Coca-Cola logo, which appeared on everything
from hats and bulletins to the walls of the city streets. Coca-Cola quickly became associated with the ideal American life and became known internationally as a patriotic American icon. Coca-Cola expanded throughout Europe, where it eventually reached Germany. An American expatriate
named Ray Rivington Powers was put in charge of
the German subsidiary. He was a charismatic figure and an excellent salesman who would often promise potential clients that they'd be rich and own villas in Florida for purchasing Coke. Powers skyrocketed sales
from 6,000 cases a year to about 100,000 using this tactic. But despite Powers' crafty salesmanship, he didn't care for the details
of financial bookkeeping and often left bills unpaid
and bank statements unopened. As a result, the German
subsidiary was a financial mess, and the accounts were left
in serious need of managing. Then, in 1933, Adolf Hitler rose to power and the reign of the Third Reich began, marking a new era for
Germany and for Coca-Cola. Enter Max Keith, a German-born man with a domineering air and an unwavering allegiance to Coca-Cola. Often described as
imposing and a born leader, Keith was determined to save
the subsidiary's accounts. With the German economy booming, he took measures to market the drink to the hardworking people of his country. At the time, this meant reestablishing Coca-Cola's reputation - not as an all-American icon, but as a brand fit for German consumption. Much like the Summer
Olympics in Amsterdam, the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin were the perfect marketing
opportunity for Coca-Cola. It catered at the games once again. Just like with most brands
active in Germany at this time, it appeared beside waving banners
emblazoned with swastikas. After this, the Coca-Cola logo was seen at various athletic
competitions in Germany and later even on trucks
at Hitler Youth rallies. And the ninth annual
concessionaire convention ended with a Keith-led pledge to Coca-Cola and a rousing "Sieg heil!" to Hitler. Despite never actually joining
the Nazi Party himself, Keith was willing to
work with the Third Reich to keep the company
afloat, Pendergrast writes. In a statement, Coca-Cola
told Business Insider that there is no indication that Keith collaborated with the Third Reich. Woodruff, for his part, maintained close relations
with Keith before the war. For both men, the top priority was ensuring the prosperity of Coca-Cola. As the war ramped up, so
did economic tensions. The German government began
punishing foreign businesses. When Hitler invaded Poland in 1939 and declared war on Europe, Keith feared his American-owned business would also be seized by the government. Then the war entered a new stage. With the attack on Pearl Harbor, the United States formally
entered World War II and declared Germany an enemy. It used the Trading With
the Enemy Act of 1917 to enforce a full embargo
on the Axis powers. Woodruff and Keith were
finally forced to cut ties, and Keith's constant flow of
Coca-Cola syrup was halted. Keith was effectively stranded. While other multinational businesses operating in Germany at this time were unable to make products, Keith was determined to
still produce something. So he made a tactical decision. He oversaw the creation of an
exclusively German soft drink. Keith had chemists concoct a soda that was vaguely similar to Coke, caffeinated and with an
unidentifiable blend of tastes. But rather than being made with the secret 7X Coke flavoring, this product was made from the leftovers from other food industries, mostly scraps from produce markets. This was usually fruit pulp, like apple fibers from cider pressing and whey, the liquid
byproduct of cheese curdling. The resulting liquid
was a translucent beige that more closely resembled
today's ginger ale. Keith asked his sales team to explore their fantasies while inventing a name, and the drink was christened...Fanta. The name was a hit. At this time, Fanta was all he had to
keep the company afloat. Fortunately for Keith, Fanta
was also all Germany had. With few soft-drink alternatives,
its popularity exploded. Its prominence allowed it to
skirt the sugar rationing, making it the sweetest
drink on the market. This made it increasingly popular as an additive in soups and stews. Sales gradually rose as it
became a household staple. Keith then used his
connections in the Third Reich to gain a position overseeing
all Coca-Cola plants in Germany and the
territories it conquered. This allowed him to
spread Fanta across Europe and save other subsidiaries
from shutting down. The German branch sold
about 3 million cases of the drink before the war was over. And when the Allies eventually
marched on German factories, production of Fanta ceased and Keith handed over the
profits of his creation to Coca-Cola headquarters in Atlanta. The version of the drink we know today gradually evolved from
its rebrand, Fanta Orange, which was introduced to Italy in 1955. This new beverage was
a vibrant orange color and was produced using
local citrus ingredients, as opposed to leftover scraps. In this way, Coca-Cola continued to make a profitable product, while distancing itself
from the associations it once had with the Third Reich. At least, for the most part. Coca-Cola launched this ad celebrating Fanta's 75th
anniversary in 2015. The company faced critical backlash for its apparent reference to World War II-era Germany
as the "Good Old Times." As a response, Coca-Cola
took the video down and issued a formal apology. When asked for comment,
a representative said, "The 75-year-old brand had
no association with Hitler or the Nazi Party." Fanta's origin is a tale of what happens when necessity meets moral ambiguity. What was once a concoction of scraps in the Third Reich became a fizzy, brightly colored soda in Italy and is now a drink shared internationally by all types of people.
Found the Pepsi account
Not possible. Fanta is orange, but back then everything was obviously black and white (or grey)!!!!
BMW, KFC, Audi and many more companies have their roots in some seriously fucked up political and racial shit
Makes it better