Always Coca-Cola: Coca, Kola, and the *Real* Secret Formula

Coca-Cola's red and white logo is so iconic that supposedly nine
out of every ten people on Earth know it on sight. Nearly
two billion servings of Coke are sold a day, enough for
one out of every four people on the planet. Yet while a glimpse of
a billboard or bottle might start you humming one of their catchy
jingles, this legendary brand was actually created by a
morphine-addicted, down-on-his-luck pharmacist desperate for a big
break. In fact, the first Coca-Cola product was actually a knockoff
of the Pope's favorite drink, a concoction featuring red wine and
cocaine. So how did Coke transcend its dubious origins to become
one of the world’s biggest companies, not to mention a globally
recognized symbol of all things American? It’s a story that
involves Sigmund Freud, US military assistance, international drug
treaty loopholes, and a New Jersey facility that extracts and burns
piles of cocaine (yes, really, cocaine!) just miles from Manhattan.
Gastropod’s here with Coca-Cola’s real secret formula for success,
and we didn’t even need to break into their vault to get it. Learn
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