While the boys have ventured into the world of soda, they very rarely get caffeinated soda so they have limited exposure to Coke. Maybe that is why they were fascinated with the idea of going to the World of Coca-Cola. I was interested because I love both the drink and its advertising so I thought it would be a cool museum to explore. It did live up to the boys caffeinated dreams and there were a few cool features, but overall we found it a little underwhelming.
Located across the street from Centennial Park and across the lawn from the Georgia Aquarium, the World of Coca-Cola building has a cool exterior. From a giant bottle cap and opener that create a shady area to a topiary Coke bottle, the way they feature the brand through the exterior (and interior) of the building is exactly as impressive as you would expect from the world’s most popular beverage.
After purchasing your ticket or using your CitiPASS, you enter into the main lobby where there is a bar area set up to hand out mini Coke cans (or a mini can of your Coca-Cola beverage of choice). You can enjoy your ice cold Coke while waiting on line to enter the theater. There were a few artistic bottle displays in the lobby but the Coca-Cola Loft on your way to the theater is your first real dose of Coke advertising. A combination of old timey and foreign coke signs hung from the ceilings and walls.
We walked through the Loft and down into the “Happiness Factory Theater”. After a brief introduction from a super enthusiastic coke tour guide, we watched a short video called Moments of Happiness that successfully tugs at your heart strings and inspires you to live your best life (with a Coke in hand of course). Imagine Dragons and Coke definitely made us feel “On Top of the World”. The video is a 6 minute triumph of advertising.
Leaving the theater feeling energized, we went out into “The Hub”, a two-story circular lobby where you are surrounded by all the different attractions. We headed upstairs to the Pop Culture Gallery, briefly stopping to test our knowledge at the Coca-Cola challenge machines. The gallery featured an exhibit on the history of Sprite Boy, a slightly creepy elfish boy who was not, surprisingly, created to sell Sprite beverages. He appeared in Coke ads in the 1940s, long before Sprite was introduced.
There was a surprisingly disappointing display of Christmas paraphernalia (their Christmas ads are so good this exhibit should have been a home run) but the boys each found an activity to entertain them. RB loved designing his own Coke bottle and JB wrote a (hysterical) note about why he loves Coke.
We skipped the super long line into the vault where they store the secret formula and the equally long line to meet the Coca-Cola Polar Bear. We walked through Bottle Works, a mini bottling factory. It was really interesting to watch the slowed-down version of how the beverages are bottled. Next we headed through the Milestones of Refreshment exhibit, which provided a history of Coca-Cola and its major milestones. An interesting comparison to the bottling factory, they had an old manual capping machine, which required a whopping 750 pounds of (manual) pressure to cap a single bottle. We tested it out… and were not strong enough. The boys also loved getting to hold the Olympic torch. Coke has been a sponsor of 13 Olympic torch relays since 1992 and all were on display, including one that was available to hold. (It was heavy!)
And finally… the moment the boys had been waiting for. We ended our tour in the Tasting Room. Everyone was handed a cup and released into the wilds of the self-serve tasting room. There were 5 stations representing the different continents where Coke products are sold. I wasn’t super brave in my sampling but the rest of my family tried a lot of them and loved every minute (if not every sip) of it.
After the boys were sufficiently hopped up on sugar and caffeine, we made our way to the exit, which was, of course, through a gift shop. This felt like another museum in and of itself. The amount of Coke memorabilia for sale was staggering and the boys spent too long wandering the store before making their less-than-thrilling purchases of magnets and pens.
While I was disappointed in some of the exhibits, overall we had a fun time. There were plenty of areas that we breezed through or skipped entirely, but there were also plenty that engaged and entertained the kids. I don’t know that we would ever go again but it is definitely worth a visit once.
