Discuss the coca-cola bottles original functions and meaning

Perhaps a description of the artefact in question, the ‘classic’ Coke bottle is unnecessary. This is testament to the fact that it has become an American icon, a corporate totem and a national export to symbolise American prosperity world-wide. The Coke bottle is the most widely recognised commercial product in the world. Craig Gilborn, an American writer, maintains that the Coca-Cola bottle deserves “classic” status because of its form, durability, powerful sculptural and optical aesthetic, and its ubiquity. In his judgement it also merits the title of an American cultural symbol par excellence. The bottle symbolises so much about America both good and bad. It is their own drink and the pride of a nation, its far reaching influence is viewed as a symbol of the prosperity of their nation and the power it exerts throughout the world. However one could also claim that the bottle has also had a hand in the erosion of other nations cultures. Through this essay I will outline the extent to which the C

The evolution of the Coca-Cola bottle and the Coca-Cola brand is important to its cultural significance in the U.S.A. Perhaps the humble beginnings of the brand, leading to the status that it has held throughout much of the twentieth century, is the ultimate embodiment of the American dream. The beverage Coca-Cola was invented and first sold in Atlanta, Georgia in 1886 but it wasn’t until 1916 that the company adopted and patented a design by Alexander Samuelson, the form that we now know and recognise. A form that has essentially remained unaltered ever since. The product and the package have become inseparable in Coca-Colas brand identity.

His art, and others like Rauschenberg’s ‘Coca-Cola Plan’, only served to reinforce the bottles existing status as a symbol of American life. Other use of the bottle in art sees it being used by Salvador Dali in his painting, Poetry of America’. It seems to me that it is a universal truth that both inside and outside of America the Coca-Cola bottle represents the cultural and economic attributes of the nation. But whereas outsiders such as Dali view this as something to be ridiculed , the society of America are proud of their ‘corporate totem’ and proud of their country.

Although it is not, it is easy to view the Coca-Cola bottle as a piece of traditional American ‘folk art’ that caries with it folk traditions. For instance to take a ‘coke break’ from work or other activities has become a common-place term in America, much as we would say take a ‘tea break’ in England. Perhaps most startling is the way it has affected the most important established folk tradition in America; Christmas. The Coca-Cola company shaped the American ideal of how Santa Claus should be depicted. We see a jolly, red and white clad Santa Claus who pauses for a ‘Coke-break’, holding the bottle high and near his lips. It is now viewed as a given in much of the western world that Santa should appear in Red and White. In America the ideal traditional festive dining table should not only include a Christmas pudding and a turkey but also the Classic Coca-Cola bottle. This seems even more remarkable when one takes into account the relatively modern invention of Coke. I feel that because America was, and still is, a young nation they have been searching for their own tradition rather than those imposed on them by the countries that colonised the United States. These new traditions have come in the way of commercial culture and the American Dream. This may be why the Coke bottle is looked upon with such affection, as it symbolises a new and independent tradition for the nation.

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