Coca-Cola | 1981

Vintage ad for Coca-Cola, 1981

“Una Coca-Cola y una sonrisa” (A Coca-Cola and a smile). Two boys sitting on the kerb, one with a sticker-covered skateboard, the other lacing up roller skates with yellow wheels: this was summer in the early 1980s.

Coca-Cola was created in 1886 in Atlanta by the pharmacist John S. Pemberton. In Spain, the first bottle produced in the country left the Cobega plant in Barcelona on 31 March 1953.

In this ad, published in March 1981 in Selecciones, the Spanish edition of Reader’s Digest, we can see the local version of a worldwide campaign: “Have a Coke and a Smile”, launched in 1979. At the foot, “Coca-Cola da más chispa” (Coca-Cola adds more sparkle) plays on “la chispa de la vida” (the sparkle of life), the slogan Spaniards had known since the 1970s. And next to the name, in small print, sits “marca reg.” (registered trademark).

Glass bottles, striped knee socks and four-wheel skates: anyone who was a child back then will recognise every detail.

Text in the ad

Una Coca-Cola y una sonrisa.
Coca-Cola da más chispa.
Beba Coca-Cola. Marca reg.

Translation:
A Coca-Cola and a smile.
Coca-Cola adds more sparkle.
Drink Coca-Cola. Reg. trademark

Brand: Coca-Cola
Year: 1981
Decade: 1980s
Country: Spain
Medium: Magazine
Themes: Drinks
Original publication: Selecciones, 1981

Coca-Cola | 1981 · Vintage Ad Museum

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