Coca-Cola is marking 80 years since it began making and bottling its famous drinks in Australia by flipping its iconic Kings Cross sign upside down.
The tribute to its “down under” birthday is a first in the brand’s 132‐year global history.
Coca‐Cola was invented by Dr John Pemberton in 1886 in Atlanta, United States, and first began arriving on our shores by ship in the early 1900s before production began locally.
The first Australian-made bottle of Coca-Cola rolled off the bottling lines in 1938, in a small building on the corner of Cresent and Dowling Streets in Waterloo, Sydney.
Billboard used to take a stand on marriage equality
Last year, Coca-Cola South Pacific used the famous King Cross billboard to send a powerful message about marriage equality on the eve of Australia’s postal vote.
One of the two signs featured a giant artwork urging people to vote yes. The adjacent permanent Coke sign had its red logo altered to rainbow colours.
The Coke sign flashed in the rainbow colours until the deadline for people to return their ballots expired in early November.
The company released a statement saying: “Coca-Cola believes in the power of bringing people together. Whether it was the struggle for human rights in the United States in the 1960’s to a group of young people from many nations on a hilltop in Italy in the 1971, around the world we’ve always stood up for diversity, inclusion and equality.
“We proudly strive for these qualities in our own business and support these rights for all in society. Every person has the right to happiness, so we believe it’s time for a change in Australia. No matter who you are or who you love, all couples should be treated equally.
“We understand that not everyone will agree with our stance and we respect people’s right to hold a different view. We hope they’ll respect our right to support our staff, their family and friends, and our customers and consumers so that all can share the simple happiness of being together.”
