Shrine to Coca-Cola a non-stop ad for soft drink that swept the globe Shrine, globe, drink, soft, swept

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Shrine to Coca-Cola a non-stop ad for soft drink that swept the globe
The case -- 24 12-ounce cans -- can easily be made that World of Coca-Cola is the top shrine to American consumerism. Nowhere else will you find more than one million people a year forking over $15 to tour a place devoted to a name-brand product consumed in a blink that gives nutritionists nightmares.

Hersheypark, Knotts Berry Farm and Legoland may be directly tied to retail commodities, but their patrons go for the full-tilt theme park experience, not for candy bars, jam or stackable blocks. There are no roller coasters or carousels at Atlanta's World of Coca-Cola.

Coke is it.

People go to the sparkling downtown complex knowing they're in for a century-plus of slogans, jingles and other ads that are part of America's cultural history ... each and every one exulting Coke as the national elixir.

It's the pause that refreshes (1929). It's the real thing (1969). Enjoy (2000).

And come thirsty.

Head through the lobby to what's called the Coca-Cola Loft, a large foyer plastered floor to ceiling with Coca-Cola memorabilia where every 12 minutes a staffer offers a formal welcome, a verbal once-over about the company, the product and World of Coke. Your attention will be directed to some of the interesting artifacts around you, including the 1931 Barefoot Boy -- one of two canvases by Americana painter Norman Rockwell -- and a Depression-era advertisement showing Hollywood icons Joan Crawford and Clark Gable having a Coke.

(The dig here: From 1955 to '59, Crawford was married to the president of Pepsi Cola, and toured to promote that arch-rival.)

At the appointed moment, the doors behind the welcomer swing open to the Happiness Factory Theater, where a brief film "gives a glimpse of the magic that goes into every bottle of Coca-Cola." The animated short is pointless but amazing, a 10-minute romp that uses Wallace & Grommit-style animation to show how creatures inside a vending machine make each serving. It's pretty funny.

At its conclusion, doors down in front open and -- as though you're entering Willie Wonka's secret headquarters -- you pass through into the attraction's two-storey concourse. Where you head now is up to you.

The first floor holds a gallery about the birth and growth of Coca-Cola and a "bottle works" where you walk through a mini-mockup of a bottling plant.

The former, Milestones of Refreshment, is an elaborate walkway framed by behind-glass displays crammed with memorabilia. It starts, of course, with the product's invention by Atlanta pharmacist John Pemberton in 1886. The story quickly moves forward several years to when local businessman Asa Candler acquired the cola's name and secret formula, and began empire building.

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You'll see chamber after chamber of merchandise, each bursting with Coke items both large (a late 1920s Chevy delivery truck from Argentina) and small (Coca-Cola pocket knives).

Coke machines? You'll see all sizes from many decades. One you can touch is now the interactive Sounds of Refreshment kiosk -- where you'll catch an earful of "pour," "ahh" and "burp."

Also covered is the company's business plan -- quite novel in the 1890s -- to sell syrup tanks to franchised regional bottlers. This allowed Coca-Cola to bypass large-scale production, transportation and distribution costs ... and rapidly roll out nationally. An interactive map shows the company's march to carbonated empire. Click "North Carolina" and you'll find out Mr. and Mrs. G.H. Huntaff of Wilmington started bottling in New Bern on June 16, 1904.

(Why is New Bern selected as the North Carolina example? Remember that Pepsi was invented there in 1898.)

The closest to a ride you'll find in this World is the second-floor's In Search of the Secret Formula 4-D movie, in which benignly crazed Professor Rigsby, his assistant and a ferret attempt to discover what goes into the Coke recipe. Put on the 3-D glasses and take a seat that, in 4-D style, sways, tilts and bumps and sprinkles you slightly with water at the appropriate time in the film. It's fast-paced fun.

The small and informal Perfect Pauses Theater loops collections of Coke ads into effective short movies. Magic Moments repackages old TV ads -- a trip down memory lane. Animation Celebration homes in on TV ads that featured cartoons (even the very old ones hold up well). International Festival, the third feature in rotation, showcases cutting-edge TV ads from other countries. You'll want to see all three.

The Pop Culture Gallery next to it has paintings related to you-know-what, including a Warhol, the other Rockwell canvas and folk art of things made from Coke bottles, caps and cans.

The firm wisely positions itself as being responsive to customers and the tried-and-true Coca-Cola as an American original that can't be changed or improved upon.

Which is the perfect lead-in to the Taste It! area where you are free to consume as much as you want of company products that quite often are quite strange.

So, what all did you get for the $15 adult ticket? A pair of short but fun flicks, 30 minutes of great videos, at least an hour looking at Coke collectibles, and all the Vegitabeta you could consume.

You could consider that mildly sweet beverage priceless: It's made in Japan and like the other exotics you sample there, it isn't sold in the next and final room, the Coca-Cola Store.

It's where you'll be given a free 8-ounce bottle of Coke.

Just what you need for the long ride home.


People go to World of Coca-Cola knowing they're in for a century-plus of slogans, jingles and other ads that are part of America's cultural history ... each and every one exulting Coke as the national elixir