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Coca-Globalization: “Glocalization”
Kelley Omran
About the Author: Robert J. Foster- B.A. in Anthropology from the University of
Chicago in 1979- M.A. in Anthropology at Columbia University in
1982- PhD in Anthropology at the University of Chicago
in 1988- Currently a Professor of Anthropology and Visual
and Cultural Studies at the University of Rochester in New York
- Research interests: Political economy, material culture, globalization, corporations, commercial media, and mobile phones
Coca-Cola’s Globalization- Economic and cultural
globalization: - Makes the world smaller- Corporations have
hypermobility and placelessness and are unanchored to any locality, and have the ability to search the world for cheap labor and raw materials
- Coca-Cola: among the first consumer-oriented, brand-invested multinational symbol of corporate global culture
- While multinational, it is also a nationalistic icon of the United States
Relationship between the global & the local
- Roland Robertson argued that globalization and localization aren’t opposites, but rather we should pay attention to the “way in which homogenizing and heterogenizing tendencies are mutually implicative” (page 34) → glocalization
- Disembedding and reembedding: the consumer item leaves its local context and is inserted into new and different localized contexts, in order to become part of a commodity network
- Global culture: organized diversity, Local culture: diversity through a translocal framework
How did The Coca-Cola Company attempt to localize a distinctively American drink in foreign contexts?
Coca-Cola’s Journey Towards Globalization- 1906: opened a plant in Havana- 1926: Coca-Cola President Robert Woodruff established a foreign
department- Company technicians found a way to condense syrup into a more easily shipped
powdered concentrate without sugar → saved resources and money
- 1927: replaced the foreign department with The Coca-Cola Export Corporation because they were planning to build facilities worldwide to manufacture concentrate
- 1930: more than 60 bottling plants operated in 28 different countries- Period of World War II: operations in South America, Australia, Asia,
Canada, and Europe → war accelerated Coca-Cola’s transition into a multinational business
Utopian Internationalism
The Franchise System- 1950: Coca-Cola Export Company’s goal: make
Coca-Cola an integral part of people’s everyday lives, to weave the product into the “pattern and customs of every land”
- ⅓ of profits came from foreign business- Results:
- Deliberate localization and imperial conquest- Ran campaigns emphasizing that the whole
process, including production and distribution, is done from the country that they are being promoted towards
- Bottling partnerships- 1955 Fanta Orange in Italy
- Transition from glass bottles to cans to plastic bottles
1950s “The Drink of Friendship” ad campaign“If U.S. origin companies can become multi-local, and can integrate around the globe economically without people feeling that they are being culturally assaulted, they will be successful” - Friedman, page 58
More History- By 1972, 75% of Coca-Cola’s
earnings are from abroad- In the end of the 20th century, it
increased to 80%, at $3 billion- → Showed importance of
Coca-Cola’s overseas operations. Moved Export’s headquarters from NY to ATl in 1972
- Changed leadership: Roberto Goizueta
Roberto Goizueta- New CEO of The Coca-Cola Company in May 1980
- Increased control over how products were bottled/marketed around the world- $13 million in Philippine bottler, the San Miguel Brewery → success, huge lead over their
rival, Pepsi- “Coca-colonized” the international bottling system
- “People around the world are today connected to each other by brand-name consumer products as much as by anything else” page 63
- Convergence of consciousness → how Coca-Cola succeeds universally- Global expansion of soft-drink consumption: Places with insufficient/poor
quality drinking water = higher demand → war against tap water, or transformation of tap water from an end product to an ingredient
Trust and Anti-Trust- Trust
- Peru: Inca-Kola was acquired by The Coca-Cola Company
- Germany: Where Fanta Wildberries were conceived, developed, and produced
- Anti-Trust- Belgium: scare about
contaminated cans of Coca-Cola → largest product recall in company history
Discussion QuestionsDoes Coca-Cola have an obligation to be socially ethical considering their globalized platform?
What are the benefits and downfalls of a company utilizing glocalization vs. just localization?
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