WIN COKE FOR A YEAR

MANY say there is nothing that quenches one’s thirst better than a glass of Coke, which has become a staple in many a home.

This year is the 100th anniversary of the iconic Coke bottle, and to celebrate this milestone ABI will be giving a lucky entrant at the POST Heritage Day Walk on September 24 the opportunity of winning Coke for a year.

The prize is for 365 one-litre plastic bottles (PET), which will be awarded to the winner monthly over a year.

The bottle is one of the most famous shapes in the world for its fluted contour lines. Renowned as a design classic and described by noted industrial designer Raymond Loewy as the “perfect liquid wrapper”, the bottle has been celebrated in art, music and advertising.

When Andy Warhol wanted a shape to represent mass culture, he drew the bottle, and when Volkswagen wanted to celebrate the shape of the Beetle, they compared the car to the bottle.

On April 26, 1915, the trustees of the Coca-Cola Bottling Association voted to spend up to $500 (R7 000) to develop a distinctive bottle for Coca-Cola. Eight to 10 glass companies across the US subsequently received a challenge to develop a “bottle so distinct that you would recognise if by feel in the dark or lying broken on the ground”.

With that simple creative brief, the competition was on.

In Terre Haute, Indiana, the Root Glass Company team came across an illustration of cocoa bean that had an elongated shape and distinct ribs, and they had their shape.

They developed the bottle idea and team member Earl Dean carefully sketched the now iconic shape.