The trademark “Coca-Cola,” which had been used in the marketplace since 1886, was registered in the United States Patent Office on January 31, 1893 so it seems only appropriate to tell a story about that American institution this week. 

The President, Liz Taylor,  and the bum …& Andy Warhol 

One of Andy Warhol’s most famous pictures is of Campbell’s soup, but clearly he was almost as good with words about brands as he was in depicting them. 

In his 1975 book, “The Philosophy of Andy Warhol” he described part of the appeal of Coca-Cola in the following way.

“What’s great about this country is that America started the tradition where the richest consumers buy essentially the same things as the poorest. 

You can be watching TV and see Coca-Cola, and you know that the President drinks Coke, Liz Taylor drinks Coke, and just think, you can drink Coke, too.

 A Coke is a Coke and no amount of money can get you a better Coke than the one the bum on the corner is drinking. All the Cokes are the same and all the Cokes are good. 

Liz Taylor knows it, the President knows it, the bum knows it, and you know it”

And the moral is a strong brand is a unit of social currency.

What does your brand mean to and for people?