A Brief History of North America, in Coca-Cola Ads

It's an anniversary of sorts for Coca-Cola. 25 years ago today the soft drink giant launched New Coke, a product that the company hoped would help them win the Cola Wars. It was an unmitigated disaster. People hated it, and quickly began hoarding cases of the original Coke. They staged protests, filed lawsuits, and thousands called a number set up by the company for people to call (800-GET-COKE) to get The Real Thing. That July, Coca-Cola pulled the new product off the market. What this says about the perils of marketing or our addiction to the stuff we'll leave for somebody else, maybe Mark Bittman or Marion Nestle, to debate. But it seemed a good time to reflect back on a short history of the company's soft drink commercials. Check out what 70 years says about our appetite for sugar in a bottle. Oh, and the production values get a whole lot better too.

1. "Thirst Asks Nothing More,"1938.

2. With Sandra Dee, 1956