DEL.ICIO.USCOKE WORLD: A USER'S GUIDE
What works, what's weird and what not to missThe Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 05/26/07
The new World of Coca-Cola isn't satisfied if you just come and visit.
It wants applause.
 Brant Sanderlin/Staff | ||
| Kathie Nario of Key Largo, Fla., captures the scene with her digital camera in the Coca-Cola Loft, also known as the pre-show room. | ||
 Brant Sanderlin/Staff | ||
| At the Happiness Factory Theater, otherworld creatures find Coke the real thing. | ||
 Brant Sanderlin/Staff | ||
| Visitors wait in line for the grand opening of the New World of Coca-Cola on Thursday. Ticket times are staggered, starting every 15 minutes. The new attaction is near the Georgia Aquarium. | ||
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Audience fluffing begins at the pre-show area. Guests get a pep talk from an enthusiastic docent, a four-minute history of "audio clips" (including a snippet from the classic Ray Charles "Things Go Better With Coke" radio ad) and more cheering from a Coke host just before the eerie but clever introductory animated film.
Patrons are then turned loose to explore the museum's most successful elements — the Milestones of Refreshment exhibit that tells the history of Coke, the functioning bottling plant, the Perfect Pauses Theater for those who'd like to teach the world to sing.
The upside of this queuing: It heightens the intensity of the experience when one has to wait for it in a group. But suppose you don't want to wait: Can you skip it?
No.
"All our visitors are going to go into the Happiness Factory Theater," said a spokesman.
The waiting aside, the museum is successful at what it does, which is sell the Coke brand (natch) but also stage an entertaining history lesson. When the selling is subtle, the experience is best.
High points:
• Bottle Works: A slowed-down production line lets visitors watch robots in action and look through the camera that photographs the inside of reusable bottles.
• Milestones of Refreshment: Remarkable memorabilia, from the can that flew on the space shuttle to the original prototype bottle, and a presentation that is organized topically rather than chronologically make this section pop. (Note: Peek at the remedies on the shelves at Dr. Pemberton's replica apothecary to see some of the poisonous correctives that were popular in the late 1800s.)
• Taste It: At the tasting booths, check out spicy Inca Kola, Peru's answer to cream soda. (Not everyone likes the battery-acid aftertaste of Italy's grapefruity Beverly, but we went back for thirds.)
Yes, the museum is a multimillion-dollar ad, but, like most Coke ads, it's a beautiful ad. For the best in gorgeous manipulation, rest awhile in the Perfect Pauses Theater. If the "Grand Theft Auto"-themed spot doesn't amuse you, leave.
Don't forget your free Coke.
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Sweet start
Patty Elwood came all the way from Seattle to see her brother, Ed Logan, then said she'd love to see the new World of Coca-Cola. What's a brother to do? Logan said OK.
Friday morning found the Lawrenceville resident waiting with his sister to get inside the fancy new building near Centennial Olympic Park. They waited all of five minutes before getting tickets.
"So far, so good," said Logan, who looked slightly surprised at how smoothly he got his ticket.
As smooth as a vanilla float, in fact. On Friday, the first full day Atlanta's newest attraction was open, people came, people queued, people cruised right in.
"No problems," said Gary Selden of Woodstock. He and his wife, Patty, rolled into the $10 parking garage adjacent to the Georgia Aquarium, next door to the Coke building. Ten minutes later, they were forking over cash for two tickets. A minute after that, they held two Coke-red tickets.
Parking? No problem, said Selden. Tickets? No big deal Patty Selden said.
No sweat all, Woodie Hendrix said. The Columbus resident and 10 family members followed street signs through downtown Atlanta to the new attraction, no problem there, and motored easily into the parking deck. There, Hendrix confronted an automated parking machine, a robot-looking thing that takes tickets and cash. That slowed him for only a moment or two, then he was heading toward the building celebrating the world's best-known soft drink.
"Everything has been excellent," he said.
— Mark Davis
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What's on-screen
In Hollywood, they call little visual moments of paid advertising in movies "product placement." At the new World of Coke, the product is the whole movie at each of its three mini-theaters. All show short films (six to nine minutes) shilling every aspect of Coca-Cola.
Let's digest them one at a time:
• Happiness Factory Theater — The best new film in the building, it involves a CGI animated mockumentary with otherworld creatures (like furry balls with big red lips or a giant bulbous blob of living tissue manned with helicopter blades). They are shown making and celebrating the you-know-what soft drink deep inside a Coke machine. It's a fun film to look at. What they speak, though, is total mind-control marketing. "Every time I have a Coke," one spouts in all seriousness, "it's like, 'Hello, old friend.'"
• Secret Formula 4-D Theater — What's more important here than the film is that your theater chair lurches slightly forward and backward for effect, special glasses make it look like a long bamboo shoot is about to poke you in the eye, and three times tiny spurts of water will be shot at you. The movie has one great image: A snowboarder racing down a hill leaps in the air to catch a tossed bottle full of Coke.
• Perfect Pauses Theater — Past TV advertisements run in a continuous loop and include icons like the "Hilltop" ad with the "I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing" jingle and another involving the late Ray Charles.
Oh, and one more thing: One film's preshow in the artifacts-filled Coca-Cola Loft includes mentions of a younger Joan Crawford in a Coke ad and in a photo with Clark Gable. No mention's made that later in life, Crawford was a Pepsi executive.
— Bob Longino
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Worldly tastes
Think you're going to get a plate of ribs dripping Coke barbecue sauce or maybe a nice slice of Coca-Cola cake? Think again: the new World of Coca-Cola offers only liquid refreshment (snacks can be brought in; the Far Coast cafe is nearby).
The Taste It! section of the display — that room where you get to try sodas from around the world — has been expanded from the previous version. The fountain dispensers are now grouped according to continent, so you can slurp your way through "Africa," then haul your plastic cup over the "Europe" section.
If these particular drinks are any indication of the continental soda shift, then you can deduce that Africans like really, really sweet pop. Asians are only intermittently interested in carbonation and have a penchant for the occasional freaky ingredient, like carrots. Latin Americans love their tropical fruits, while Europeans mostly go for clean, citrusy flavors. Mostly. As in the old World of Coke, you can sample the Italian beverage called Beverly that tastes of Campari with a shot of earwax.
With noncarbonated drinks on the rise, Coke also has installed a bar where "beverage connoisseurs" hand out tastes of, say, chilled chai latte from one of the beverage giant's ancillary brands.
Just gimme a Coke.
— John Kessler
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Pop and shop
Want more than a Coke and a smile to commemorate your visit to the new World of Coca-Cola? You're sure to find something in the 8,000-square-foot Coca-Cola Store. Of the more than 5,500 products, 80 percent are brand new or redesigned, said general manager Linda Conrad.
Start with standards such as glassware in Coke bottle green priced from $2.50 for a 2.5-ounce glass to $4 for a mug.
Clothing for men, women and children includes pants, T-shirts, hoodies and more with logos and slogans like the $18 Coca-Cola script caps in pastel colors. Plush lovers will appreciate polar bear mascots starting at $10.
Don't miss the Zakee Shariff lifestyle boutique with merchandise such as floor cushions ($60), dinner plates ($8.50) and lamps ($29), specially created by the London-based designer.
Among the most popular items, said Conrad, are recycled products.
Local artist Kathleen Plate of Smart Glass Inc. makes sterling silver jewelry such as pendants and earrings featuring Coke bottle glass ($35 to $100). Escama partners with women in Brazilian cooperatives who crochet aluminum pull tabs into clutches ($40), shoulder bags ($95) and messenger bags ($175).
The whole experience wouldn't be complete without something over-the-top, and artist Lisa Nardone of Rosie NYC delivers. Her chandelier made from 36 red-and-white discs will set you back $5,000.
Still not satisfied? Then create your own keepsake in the "Style My Coke" machine. A bottle is only $3 a pop.
— Nedra Rhone
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Taking the kids
If the new World of Coca-Cola's 4-D movie isn't enough to excite the kids, there's always the sugary soft drinks at the end of the tour. The drinks fountains are a favorite with children — as much for the yucky drinks as the yummy ones.
"All the kids hate the Beverly," the Italian quinine beverage, said "drinks connoisseur" Travis Morrison, who worked behind a counter Friday pouring some of Coke's more healthful beverages. Odwalla's Soy Smart Chai with added Omega-3 was a big hit with 7-year-old Ben Thomas, who came from Easley, S.C., with his parents and four siblings.
Connor Mark, 5, was fascinated by the Bottle Works exhibit, which shows an actual Coke bottling line. But he was restless at the beginning of the tour, where all visitors must listen to an opening presentation in the Coca-Cola Loft, filled with historic Coke ads, said his mother, Elizabeth Wong Mark of Atlanta.
Several parents said their toddlers and preschoolers were scared by the 4-D movie, "In Search of the Secret Formula," which promises a "bumpy ride" via special seats. A sign notes that small kids might feel more comfortable in their parents' laps. Parents and kids also can sit in the back, where the seats don't move.
World of Coca-Cola spokesman Petro Kacur said there is no overall age recommendation for the attraction. "We think there's something for all age ranges," he said. Single strollers are welcome.
— Kirsten Tagami
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