Updated: Coca-Cola tower turned into giant projection screen

By Jeremiah McWilliams

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Coca-Cola Co. lit up its headquarters tower on North Avenue on Friday night, turning the 26-story building into a giant projection screen showing contour bottles and scenes from the company's advertising.

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Michael Pugh, Coca-Cola Coca-Cola's Atlanta headquarters is illuminated Friday night to celebrate the company's 125th anniversary.

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Hundreds of invited guests held smart phones to the sky as the building lit up at 9:00. The structure looked for a moment like a giant cup of ice being filled with Coca-Cola, and then like a four-sided bottle.

Coca-Cola Co. is celebrating the 125th anniversary of its namesake brand this year. The illumination will be on display every Thursday, Friday and Saturday evening in May.

The building is 402 feet tall and is entirely covered in "scrim," or white sheeting. The projection surface area from all four sides of the building is more than 210,000 square feet. Coca-Cola said it will be the world’s largest single building illumination, using 45 industrial-strength projectors for a total of 1 million lumens of light.

The show featured photos posted by Coca-Cola's Facebook fans, as well as images from a library of Coca-Cola advertising.

Coca-Cola CEO Muhtar Kent rang in the festivities using a gavel that dated back to the company's 100th anniversary back in 1986. He praised bottlers and employees for their contributions to the Coca-Cola brand. "Tonight we pay tribute to all of you, who have done so much," he said. "Thank you for joining us for this historic occasion."