After almost 60 years, Coca-Cola is on sale again in Burma. It's one of the world's most recognised brands, so are there any countries where the drinks giant still remains unsold?
Coca-Cola says it sells 1.8 billion servings of the drink every day. But for the last six decades, none has been in Burma.
That's because of US trade sanctions on the military junta which ruled the country from 1962 to 2011.
But the company said on Monday its first delivery had arrived and local production would begin soon.
Coca-Cola's entry into any country is a powerful symbol, says Tom Standage, author of A History of the World in Six Glasses.
"The moment Coca-Cola starts shipping is the moment you can say there might be real change going on here," he says. "Coca-Cola is the nearest thing to capitalism in a bottle."
Coca-Cola's rival PepsiCo has also announced plans to resume sales in Burma.
There are now just two countries in the world where Coca-Cola cannot be bought or sold - at least, not officially. They are Cuba and North Korea, which are both under long-term US trade embargoes (Cuba since 1962 and North Korea since 1950).
Cuba was actually one of the first three countries outside the US to bottle Coke, in 1906.
But the company moved out as Fidel Castro's government began seizing private assets in the 1960s, and has never returned.
In North Korea - the other Coca-Cola-free zone - recent media reports suggested it was being sold in a restaurant in Pyongyang. But Coca-Cola says if any drinks are being sold in either North Korea or Cuba, they are being smuggled in on the black market, not via official channels.
The dark fizzy soda was created in 1886 in Atlanta, Georgia. From the early days the Coca-Cola company looked to expand worldwide, and by the early 1900s it was bottling the drink in Asia and Europe.
But the big boost came as a result of World War II when Coca-Cola was provided to US troops overseas.
There were more than 60 military bottling plants for Coca-Cola around the world during the war, and locals got a taste for the drink too.
It became powerfully associated with American patriotism, says Standage, and was seen as so crucial to the war effort that it was exempted from sugar rationing.
Dwight Eisenhower, at the time the supreme commander of Allied forces in Europe, was said to be a particular fan and he ensured its availability in North Africa.
He also introduced the drink to top Soviet general, Georgy Zhukov, who asked if a special, colourless version - one that looked like vodka - could be made, and Coca-Cola duly obliged for a while, says Standage.
These days Coca-Cola is regularly ranked as one of the top, if not the top, global brands.
"It has always been about the American dream," says Bruce Webster, an independent branding consultant who has done work for the Coca-Cola company in the past.
But not all countries have embraced the American-ness that seems to be embodied by Coca-Cola.
It was the French who first coined the pejorative term "coca-colonisation" in the 1950s. Trucks were overturned and bottles smashed, says Standage, as protesters saw the drink as a threat to French society.
During the Cold War, Coca-Cola became a symbol of capitalism and a faultline between capitalism and communism, says Webster.
It was not marketed in the former Soviet Union due to the fear that profits would go straight into communist government coffers, says Standage.
Pepsi filled the gap and was widely sold.
When the Berlin Wall fell in 1989, many East Germans bought Coca-Cola by the crate-load, says Standage. "Drinking Coca-Cola became a symbol of freedom."
Other than the former Soviet Union, the main region that Coca-Cola has struggled in historically is the Middle East, largely due to a boycott implemented by the Arab League from 1968-1991, as a punishment for it selling in Israel.
Pepsi picked up a lot of the sales in the Middle East - and many local versions of the drink thrived.
Coca-Cola is not trying to get involved in politics, says Webster, but as a huge brand so closely associated with the US, it sometimes finds itself tangled up in politics, or singled out for criticism.
"The whole strength of the brand is plugging into a way of life that so many people wanted. As an ideology, it polarises. And sometimes those associations become unattractive," he says.
"America itself as a brand is more tarnished now. People are more ambiguous towards it."
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| After almost 60 years, Coca-Cola is on sale again in Burma |
Iran's president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has threatened to ban Coca-Cola and Venezuela's Hugo Chavez recently urged people to drink locally-made fruit juice rather than drink Coca-Cola or Pepsi.
But 126 years after its birth, Coca-Cola is still pushing forward in terms of sales, with strong growth - especially, it says, in the emerging markets of India, China and Brazil.
Reporting by Cordelia Hebblethwaite. Taken from HERE
FACTS AND FIGURES
- Only two countries where Coca-Cola is not officially bought or sold - Cuba and North Korea
- This is due to trade embargoes with the US
- Coca-Cola says if any drinks are being sold in these countries, they are coming in via "unauthorised third parties"
Tricky markets
- China: After 10 years of negotiation, Coca-Cola re-entered the market in 1979
- USSR: Official sponsor for the World Ice Hockey Championship in Moscow in 1979
- East Germany: Coca-Cola employees handed out free cans of Coke during fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and re-entered market a year later
- India: Coca-Cola re-launched in 1993 a parade through central Calcutta
- Vietnam: The US lifted its embargo in 1994 and Coca-Cola returned soon after
- Burma: Began selling in Burma in 1927 but stopped in the 1960s after military junta took power, now sent its first shipment there
Global expansion
- The first Coca-Cola was served in 1886 at a pharmacy in Atlanta, Georgia
- Canada, Cuba and Panama became the first countries outside the US to bottle it in 1906
- Coca-Cola expanded to Asia, opened a bottling plant in the Philippines in 1912, and then in Paris and Bordeaux in 1919
- By 1930 Coca-Cola was bottled in 27 countries around the world.
- By 1959, it was operating in over 100 countries
I thought that a brand that is as big as Coca-Cola can be found in every country around the world. The fact that they have just started selling Coca-Cola in Burma after six decades really blew my mind. Other countries that can’t taste this globally acclaimed coke are North Korea (the most obvious) and Cuba. The article said that it is because of the long-term US trade embargoes that made them couldn’t sell Coca-Cola. Vietnam also got the embargo but then the US lifted its embargo in 1994 so that they could continue selling Coca-Cola. Despite not being able to sell Coca-Cola in North Korea, the article stated that these drinks were being sold in a restaurant that is located in Pyongyang, North Korea. The company said that the drinks that are being sold in Cuba and North Korea are not official, rather the drinks were being sold by third parties. This fact alone tells us about how famous Coca-Cola is, even in countries that didn’t sell Coca-Cola because of the long-term US trade embargoes. I’d say US should lift its embargoes towards North Korea and Cuba just like they did to Vietnam so that literally everyone could buy a coke legally.
ReplyDeleteWith brand as big as the coca cola, it is impossible not to have demand all over the world. The problem with this demand is that not all of the countries that have demand for coca cola can have it. Long tension between communism and capitalism has been one of the reason why not everyone can enjoy this soft drink. In the past, coca cola has always been the symbol of the free capitalistic world, as seen on a lot of their advertisement. While most of the countries in the world apply capitalistic economy system, some of them do not. In the past, countries that do not apply capitalist economy system is seen as one of threat to the United States of America, therefore creating some tension in between those countries, this also led to a trade embargo applied by the USA to those countries. While a lot of product can’t enter those country because of the trade embargo, the existence of a speakeasy or a smuggler means that the product does exist in the market. I think that this trade embargo brings no benefit to those countries and US should remove this trade embargo because it can means more profit for US and it can create joy for a lot of people.
ReplyDeleteI think I saw somewhere on the internet that Coca-Cola was sold in every country of the world except North Korea, but I saw this information on Facebook fun fact pages, so I cannot be sure of the exactitude of this so call fact.
ReplyDeleteBut Coca-Cola is indeed sold almost everywhere and not only with famous cola product, but they also sell tea, sweet beverages, and even water.
In all the countries I have ever been to I could always found product from The Coca-Cola Company, even in Djibouti, Africa the most sold water brand “crystal” is owned by Coca-Cola and even the cola drink can be found in every restaurant even the small street food ones.
In Hong-Kong many iced teas that can be bough from convenient store belong to The Coca-Cola Company. I think it’s crazy how a company have succeed to grow so big and can be found all around the world.
I think that The Coca Cola Company is very smart when it comes to expand worldwide. Obviously, they are not present in Cuba and North Korea, but they managed to enter every other market. To do that they rely on the cola which is their main product, but they also diversified their offer by selling iced tea and even water. In some countries where they had issues to find their place on the market, they always managed to find a solution. For example, in China, where they were struggling because of the culture, they became famous by sponsoring the Olympic Games in Beijing in 2008. They also had problems in Peru, where the most famous soda is not Coca Cola but Inca Kola. So, to fix this problem, The Coca Cola Company just bought Inca Kola so that it doesn’t matter if Peruvians prefer Coca Cola or Inca Kola as they both belong to the same company.
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ReplyDeleteAs one of the top global brands that are shipping its products to almost any country in the world, I personally think that it is natural for the product to not be accepted to some country. I personally didn’t enjoy the taste of coca-cola or just soda in general, but most countries seem to grow a liking into this product as we can see in the increase of expanding sales to 63 other countries over 29 years (1930 – 1959). As coca-cola is one of the biggest brands that are in the global market originated from the US coca-cola became subject to protest, embargo, trade prohibition against the US. But, I don’t think that this kind of limitations won’t affect Coca-Cola’s operation throughout the world as of now they are officially selling their products at every country except for Cuba and North Korea which are still able to consume the products through unauthorized third parties.
Reading the facts in this article blew my mind. Because, all my life I have always thought that everybody in this world likes coca cola, or even if they don’t like it, they have ever taste coca cola. Because, coca cola is just a very common drink for me since I was a child, although I am not a big fan of coca cola, I always find coca cola being sold and consumed everywhere. Yet, this article tells that the country Burma, just recently legalized coca cola and bring coca cola into their country. And even, countries like North Korea and Cuba are still don’t have coca cola in their country. The reason why they still don’t have coca cola in their country is because of their relationship with United States. Well, this show that United States have a big impact for trade in the entire world and is a very strong country to give an impact to the world.
ReplyDeleteIts interesting to know that Coca Cola isn't fully global. It think Coca Cola is a household name in almost every country nowadays and its interesting how this is going to be for Burma and its citizens. One thing I will be wondering for sure is if it can have the same effect as it did around the globe. As in if it can climb in popularity among the other brands available within the country.
ReplyDeleteThe article also presents us some cases where the brand was involved in some political matters. Coca Cola didn't directly interfere but rather was treated as a symbol; As a representation of capitalism and the United States of America. And so the boycotts and criticism that Coca Cola received was mostly directed at the political issue they were entangled with rather than the company itself.
Overall, its a wonderfully perplexing idea of how much a power a company can have over countries and their actions.
Before reading this article, I understand that Coca Cola is one of the biggest brand of beverages, but I never knew that to reach this many countries, it will need huge amount of time ,and many negotiations. In the article we are greeted with the fact that there are only two countries that can not officially taste this brand of coke. This means that the number of countries with Coca Cola is more than the countries that join the United Nations. Personally, this fact really blew my mind. After reading this article i also realize how coca cola became some kind of symbol that took part in political matters. this fact is showed through the embargos, the negotiations, and the expansion of such brand. This reminds me of how China use their Pandas that are located in zoos around the world for a peace symbol. We can conclude that because of how big Coca Cola brand actually is, it became on of the many symbols of the United States of America.
ReplyDeleteI thought that the known brand Coca-Cola is distributed all around the world. I thought that everybody at least has known the taste of Coca-Cola and the fact says that most of them like it, including me. There are almost 2 billion Coca-Cola was sold every day. I believe that not a single person disagrees with the statement above: “These days Coca-Cola is regularly ranked as one of the top, if not the top, global brands”. And therefore, it is surprising to me that there are countries who don’t allow to sell Coca-Cola, which is North Korea and Cuba, and it is sad to know that one of the reasons is because of politics, such as when Coca-Cola was treated as a symbol of capitalism and a faultline between capitalism and communism. While after 60 years, Burma recently has allowed Coca-Cola to be on sold again in the country.
ReplyDeleteI never thought a bottle of soda that are being sold in minimarkets and can easily be purchased in Indonesia for less than $5 could bring lots of impacts to people from different countries. I am surprised by the fact that a big brand which is famous and well-known such as Coca-Cola is not being sold everywhere. I personally find this article very interesting as this article informs us about the history of Coca-Cola and let us think about the case from different perspectives. With only two countries not being able to purchase Coca-Cola due to trade embargoes, I believe that Coca-Cola is still a very successful company and had gain a lot of profit since its first release to the world’s market. In Indonesia alone, Coca-Cola’s name had grew big enough that they could be purchased anywhere by people from different levels of economy. It is still an amazing fact, how much a soda company could impact a country.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading the article, I was wondering why Coca Cola can’t be officially bought in Cuba. I didn’t waste my time wondering why it’s unavailable in North Korea, keeping in mind that North Korea is a very isolated country. I found out that Cuba was one of the first three countries outside the US that sold Coca Cola in 1906, but because of long-term US trade embargoes, Cuba can’t officially buy and sell Coca Cola since 1962. The so called el bloqueo or “The Blockade” is a commercial, economic, and financial embargo imposed by the US on Cuba during the Fulgencio Batista Regime, due to Cuba’s violation to use weapons sold by US to the Rio Treaty for hostile purposes. Being a tropical and exotic island, I believe that Coca Cola would be the perfect drink all year long in Cuba. I came across an article from hobotraveler.com stating that he went to a Jazzcafe at Galeria Paseo, and he asked for a coca cola and got exactly that. Buying and selling Coca Cola in Cuba can’t be done officially but I am sure that there are lots of illegal suppliers of Coca Cola in Cuba.
ReplyDeleteTSince I was still a very small child, I remember that my family really despised Coca Cola. They recognized its addicting flavor can cause the drinker to enjoy it way more than they should do. I think that this can be cause by the fact that my grandfather from my mother side, was diagnosed with diabetes. My family suspected that there was one major thing that cause this: his addiction of Coca Cola, he would finished a liter of Coca Cola in just a mere two days all by himself. After he passed, my family made sure that no other members of the family would repeat the same mistake.
ReplyDeleteI think it’s amazing for a company to be that successful in this planet, especially as an economic student. It is very inspiring. I just hope that Coca Cola could be more transparent and responsible on what their substance can cause when drink in excess amounts.
Coca Cola has been a popular drinks in a lot of countries for decades, and I am surprised that only two countries cannot have Coca Cola in its country, which are Cuba and North Korea. I thought that there will be a lot more countries where Coca Cola is not available, and I am amazed by the fact that there are only two countries that did not have Coca Cola. The interesting fact is that Coca Cola is not available in Cuba and North Korea because of the trade embargoes with the United States, I thougth unavailability of Coca Cola in a country might be caused by not having a factory or a plant there, or maybe because of a shipping problem, but it is rather caused by the embargoes. This shows that Coca Cola is doing a really good job in selling its products in all over the world, and the only thing that can stop them from selling their products are embargoes.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was a kid, I used to drink coca cola every day. I was aware that doing this is not healthy but whenever I drink a cold coca cola especially a canned one, it is very refreshing. I feel that drinking coca cola from a bottle and from a can feels different. I see a lot of people debating on which one is better between coca cola and Pepsi. Personally, I prefer coca cola. When I drink these drinks, they do not really taste that much different, but we can feel in our tongue that something is off. My tongue prefers coca cola more. It is also probably supported by the fact that I have drink lots of coca cola that switching to Pepsi might be weird. I do not know why Cuba and North Korea implement a coca-cola though. As mentioned this drink can refresh our mind and help us stay freshed.
ReplyDeleteI believe that everyone knows what is Coca - Cola. Coca - Cola is one of the most popular beverages. It's pretty amazing to know the journey of Coca - cola and the fact that there are only two countries where Coca - Cola is still remains unsold which are Cuba and North Korea. It's still mind blowing that it is not easy for Coca-Cola to be one of the most popular drinks in the world. I believe that we can find Coca - Cola in every corner around the world and also everyone have already tasted Coca - Cola. The fact that a lot of people love to drink Coca - Cola makes Coca - Cola becoming more popular. It was kind of sad that we can’t bought or sold Coca - Cola in Cuba and North Korea while Coca - Cola taste good. Even though they're not officially sold in Cuba and North Korea, but there still have a chance to taste Coca - Cola illegally by unauthorized third parties.
ReplyDeleteCoca cola is as iconic as a beverage product could ever possibly be. Most people within our planet would for sure recognized its iconic red packaging. I would also bet that whenever an average person drink a cola drink, Coca cola would be one of the earliest thing that comes into their mind. One story that intrigues me that a Russian general would smuggle clear coca cola during the cold war era. Yet, I would say that not every person have a spot for Coca cola. There are various reason of why this disliking would happen. Some happens because of a political issues such as the case for the anti-American movement happening a few years ago in certain countries. Some correlates with its availability. And some are just an issue of preference, such as the case for Scotland. The most popular carbonated drink in the highlands are Irn Bru. A product which are foreign to our ear; but, it is declared as the national drink of Scotland.
ReplyDeleteTalking from the health side, coca cola is bad for out body, the beverage itself is an absolute poison to the human metabolism. Coke is very acidic, it’s only one point higher on the pH scale than battery acid. Consequently, it can clean surfaces as well as (and often better than) many toxic household cleaners. People who consume soft drinks such as Coke experience a 48% increase in risk of heart attack and stroke compared to people who do not drink the sodas at all or do not drink them every day. A study published in the journal Respirology reveals that soft drink consumption is also associated with lung and breathing disorders including asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Drinking coke in daily basis leads to obesity, diabetes type 2, and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. Coke usually contains caffeine, which is (hypothetically) bad for calcium intake. Coke is bad for the teeth, too, because of its low pH (approximately pH=2). Drinking coke in daily basis may encourage teeth erosion.
ReplyDeleteCoca Cola is arguably the most well-known brand in the world based on my opinion and to find a Coca Cola in every countries requires little to no effort at all, you can find it in the supermarkets, minimarkets, or even food stalls. Coca Cola is famous because it made a breakthrough in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s with its unique yet refreshing flavor. To know there are some countries that not sold Coca Cola is surprising to me because it is unheard before but after reading further about it I have known the answer. Coca Cola is pretty much represents US culture and when we hear Coca Cola we automatically think about USA and countries that have issues with US definitely not sell Coca Cola. So we can conclude that a brand can represents its country origin so significantly and it may used for political reasons also.
ReplyDeleteCoke is like water. It has a perfectly balanced taste profile. It's not too sweet, not too tart, not too heavy, not too light. It's just right. That's what makes the formula "magic". It's even taste profile does not have an element that overpowers the others. But not all people enjoy it, in some countries coca cola drinks are not sold. Coke uses “public relations propaganda” to convince consumers and entire nations that it is an “environmental company” when really it is linked to pollution, water shortages, and disease. People who consume soft drinks such as Coke experience a 48% increase in risk of heart attack and stroke compared to people who do not drink the sodas at all or do not drink them every day. A study published in the journal Respirology reveals that soft drink consumption is also associated with lung and breathing disorders including asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
ReplyDeleteCoca-cola is indeed one of the most recognized beverages brand in the entire world. Its existence can be seen in many different places such as retail store, restaurant, theatre, and many more. According to the article, there are only two countries that doesn’t have Coca-cola in it, which is North Korea and Cuba, and it was caused by the trade embargoes made by the United States back in 1950 and 1962. It proves that as a company, Coca-cola has done a really great job on selling their product. I think what makes it so popular is not only that it taste good and refreshing, but also that the brand it self has already became an icon in soda drink industry, therefore whenever people thought about drinking a soda drink, the first think that will appeared in their mind must be a cold can/bottle of Coca-cola.
ReplyDeleteI’ve heard about this coca cola ban things in some country before, but i didn’t know that there is a lot of countries that is coca cola-free. I’m not surprised that North Korea also bans coca cola as they don’t want any western impact on their land. North Korea actually imports some of the western stuff, but not with coca cola. Coca cola was brought to the World War 2 by the Americans for the supplies. In my opinion, using coca cola as the media to connect with the locals is one of the good strategy to win the war back then as you can get the sympathy from the local people and also promotes the brand ‘coca cola’ to the international world. The way coca cola promotes and spread their products back in the world war era is effective as they didn’t spent too much money on the advertising and shipping cost.
ReplyDeleteCoca-Cola is arguably one of the biggest and most well known brand to have ever existed. But what makes Coca-Cola that good? their marketing could be one of the reason as seen from the article above. It goes way back before the world war that they have been making great adverts to advertise their products, it should not be a question how many people knows Coca-Cola, millions has consumed that fizzy. Coca-Cola is so popular that it is available almost in every single country worldwide, Coca-Cola introduced me to fizzy drinks when I was a kid. However, there is a downside of consuming lots of coca-colas, it contains lots of sugar; so it might be dangerous for people. As we know, if we consume too much sugar, we might get diabetes and I think diabetes is one of many disease which took a lot of lives. Recently I've been drinking less coca-cola. I can see why Coca-cola are not availabe to be sold or bought in North Korea and Cuba based on past altercation between the US and those countries. However, if the people in Cuba or North Korea wants to buy coca cola, they can visit another country and buy it there.
ReplyDeleteEverybody loves coca cola. Now it is almost like there is no difference between coke and water, especially for kids and teenagers. Who doesn’t drink coke? Well, sadly I don’t. I never like drinking water since I was a little kid. I only want to drink something sweet or something that contains so much food coloring because they always attracts me. One night, when I was 15, I had a really bad stomachache. My parents brought me to the hospital’s emergency unit and the nightmare came. I was diagnosed with both stomach and kidney infection. Ever since that day, there is no more coke for me. Not only coke, I also can’t drink coffee and even tea anymore. Sad, right? So my dearest friends, next time you choose between water and coke, ask yourself which will bring you more “good”. Trust me, water is boring. Love your kidney, people!
ReplyDeleteAfter reading this article, iam very sureprised about the fact that coca cola is not fully global, because coca cola can be easily found around the world and we already know coca cola is one of the largest food and beverage company in the world. Knowing the fact that coca cola is not available in Myanmar since 1960, and there is high demand of this brand in Myanmar, coca cola company must be careful to take action to expand their products to Myanmar, because economic and social freedom are still very new concepts in Burma, and the country ranks among one of the most corrupt in the world, sharing fine company with North Korea, Somalia and Afghanistan. Because of these reasons it is important to note that this process appears to be driven not by regulatory requirements but to meet the company’s internal policies and to figure out how it would do so in a high-risk environment like Myanmar.
ReplyDeleteThe title of the article interest me, because I think we can find coca cola everywhere but how can coca cola not selling their product on this country? Coca cola is a big brand; everybody will recognize this company and its product easily. I searched this article on the internet and found out that actually we can find Coke easily in North Korea, which is at their capital city, Pyongyang. Well, they bottled it at China and ship it to North Korea. This coke sold in upscale grocery to fulfill the middle to upper class residents’ demand in North Korea. An airline company in North Korea makes their self a coke to serve on their flight named Air Koryo Cola. I think it is possible to banned Coca Cola from their country as they do not have a good relationship with America, which make them do not have an economic relations and make Coca Cola can’t enter the market. But how they make coca cola as symbol of capitalism?
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