The Real Thing

As I was saying in a recent email to M's, "...it's a fizzy drink, loaded with caffeine, and makes you burp - and it's an icon - go figure".


But, like CNN, and Martin Luther King, Coke also has its origins in Atlanta, so it makes sense to drop into the World of Coca-Cola Museum if you get the chance. So last week, we headed over to Atlanta's downtown area to see what all the fuss is about. Last time I'd ventured this far into the equivalent of Atlanta's CBD, was back in September on a warm autumn evening, and at the time, all I was interested in was navigating my way to a gig unscathed. Downtown streets are narrow and congested - both with human and vehicular traffic. Although it's not the most picturesque city when compared with others, and even though Roy & HG have gone so far as to describe Atlanta as "a toilet", if you're wily, there are spots around town that still afford some great views, as we found on our way home later in the evening. It doesn't matter where I am, I'm a total sucker for a skyline that's punctuated with lots of tall buildings.






Visiting the Coca-Cola Museum is the only really touristy thing that I've done since arriving here. When you're in a new place, visiting, you feel compelled to do everything and capture everything on camera, as rapidly as you possibly can - you devour it. One thing I've noticed is that when you're living and working in a place, no matter how new and fresh it seems, you view it differently to if you were only staying more transiently. Which probably explains how you can live somewhere for a while, and still not have gotten around to seeing lots and lots of different things - even those things that are so distinct and characteristic to where you're located. The Coke Museum is shamelessly cheesy and kitsch, but at the same time, it's pretty amazing how so much Coke-related memorabilia has been so lovingly maintained and looked after. By the same token, it's also faintly disconcerting how instantly recognisable the red and white signature swirl is - after all, it's just a drink. Right?

The thing I liked best about the museum (well, apart from the very big fuzzy Coca-Cola Bear who I've gotta say was a pretty good sport, and posed for pictures with anyone, being taken by anyone, not necessarily by the museum's own photographers) was the vast range of Coke ads from way way back. Many of these were on display and there's also a large theatre where you can sit down for a bit and watch more current TV ads from all over the world for the sacred product, which air continuously. You can't beat the old-school poster ads though, with their vivid colours and quirky slogans...






Funnily enough, I've never been that partial to fizzy drinks, and was never offered them by my parents when I was small. Hence, I guess I'll go easy on the fizzy stuff for my own kids. But to anyone out there who might be concerned about what goes into Coke, there's really no need to be...




Maybe?