Since Coca-Cola was already the soft drink of the American military during World War II, Pepsi was trying to get them to change their minds by appealing to the other popular habit of the armed services… smoking.
Old Pepsi Cola military insignia matchbook cover WWII
WWII vintage Pepsi Cola matchbook covers
Pepsi "Wear that dress-serve him a Pepsi-Cola or two - and you'll have that young lieutenant eating out of your hand" 1945
Hey, Joe! Hide that Pepsi-Cola. She's supposed to act sad in this scene 1945
Well, the Army hasn't changed you any 1944
Coca-Cola has done a lot of posters with American planes. Throughout their history, posters have been a significant means of mass communication, often with striking visual effect.
The posters were framed and hung in bottling plant lobbies, schools, and other places. Students were instructed on the airplanes so that they knew the difference between friendly planes and enemy aircraft in preparation for bomb drills.
Grumman "Hellcat" F6F Fighter - U.S. Navy 1943
F4U-1 "Corsair" U.S. Navy - fighter 1943
Douglas B-19 "Guardian of a Hemisphere" U.S. Army - Long Range Bomber
Wartime Ad Campaigns
“There’s a friendly phrase that speaks the allied language. It’s Have a “Coke.” Friendliness enters the picture when ice-cold Coca-Cola appears. Over tinkling glasses of ice-cold “Coke,” minds meet and hearts are closer together. It’s a happy custom that’s spreading ’round the globe.”
By 1944, Coca-Cola became known as “The Global High Sign.” This ad campaign showed men in uniform together enjoying Coca-Colas. The advertisements reinterpreted friendship and community.
American soldier in Alaska, Coca-Cola ad 1943
American soldiers in China, Coca-Cola ad 1943
American soldier in Iceland, Coca-Cola ad 1943
This newspaper ad from 1951 years is really weird, someone was selling ice cold Coca-Cola for 7 cents and getting 2 cents more than the rest of the country.
Newspaper ad from 1951, Coca-Cola for 7 cents
Maybe this somehow related to these ads from 1947 and 1949, where was 2 cents wartime tax included or maybe not…
1947 Coca Cola advertisement. Illustrated in vibrant color. Includes 2¢ wartime tax special pricing.
1949 Coca Cola advertisement. Illustrated in vivid color at the seaside with an ice cooler below. Price still included the 2¢ wartime tax.
In 1943, Coca-Cola put out an advertisement urging people to buy U. S. War Bonds and War Stamps.Coca-Cola strongly aligned itself with the war effort. The newly created elf-looking Coca-Cola mascot named “Sprite” appears in the new advertisements.
Coca-Cola War Bonds - For Victory
Buy more War Bonds = A quicker Victory
Coca Cola (GmbH) were the German bottlers for Coke under the leadership of the CEO Max Keith. After the US entered the war in 1941 Max Keith couldn’t get Coca Cola syrup from America to make Coke so he invented a new drink out of the ingredients he had available to him and made it specifically for the Nazi market and the Third Reich. The drink was called Fanta.
Fanta was acquired by The Coca-Cola Company in 1960.
Old Fanta advertisement
Airplane spotter’s plane identification tips and hints on playing cards with Coca Cola advertising. These cards were prepared by Coke to “assist you in learning the characteristics of United Nations and Enemy Aircraft.”
Coca-Cola airplane spotter cards
Coca-Cola airplane spotter cards 2
Coca-Cola airplane spotter cards 3
Coca-Cola airplane spotter cards 4
Spotter cards are still used by the armed forces today. For example, personality identification playing cards were recently distributed in Iraq in order to train soldiers to spot individuals such as Saddam Hussein.
Coca Cola was involved in the Second World War. In 1941, when the United States entered the war, Woodruff decided that Coca Cola’s place was near the front line.He sent an order to
“See that ever man in uniform gets a bottle of Coca Cola for 5 cents wherever he is and whatever the cost to the company”.
Coca Cola had not only lifted the spirits of the US Armed Forces, it had also introduced itself to new markets. When the war ended the bottling plants and a little bit of America stayed too.
Coca-Cola goes along
Have a Coca-Cola = Howdy, Neighbor
Coca-Cola Compares the Wartime experiences of Three Wars, c.1943
How Boeing company advertised space exploration and defense programs in the early 1960s
How well known brands advertised during World War II [15 pics]
Coca-Cola ads in Nazi Germany
Coca-Cola “Feel The Curves”
Coca-Cola WWII American airplane posters