how Coca-Cola became Lord of the Rings

And, finally, official supporters (46), such as La Poste or the Westfield shopping centers which mainly provide services but can also affix the Paris 2024 logo.

But, at the top, apart from the galaxy of Olympic patrons, its majesty Coca-Cola. No need to present the brand, whose destiny is closely linked to that of the Olympic Games. It is in the top 5 of the best known with Apple, Amazon, Microsoft and Google. Every second in the world, around 17,360 of its bottles are sold, or 1.5 billion bottles per day and 547.5 billion per year.

7.3 billion euros in net profit for a turnover of 42.5 billion euros

In a year, a French person drinks on average 22.7 liters of Coca-Cola, while an American drinks 99.5 liters. On the business side, the company, created in 1886 by pharmacist John Pemberton, remains an extraordinary cash machine: 7.3 billion euros in net profit for a turnover of 42.5 billion euros. “75% of French people buy at least one of its products once a month. Their trust is the best advertisement,” assures Claire Revenu, who supervises the company’s Olympic program in Paris.

Despite controversies over the high sugar content of its products (the American multinational is regularly accused of being co-responsible for the growing problems of obesity and type 2 diabetes) or its extensive use of plastics (the brand is stigmatized as the ” world’s leading plastic polluter, according to the ranking of the NGO Break Free From Plastic), Coca-Cola, which claims to have invested a lot to improve its impact in these areas, remains very popular.

According to the Brand Footprint benchmark study, the firm remains the most chosen food brand in the world. The one that we invariably find in the baskets or trolleys of consumers from Armentières to Ulaanbaatar. To be precise, out of the 416 billion purchasing actions recorded worldwide by Brand Footprint and millions of brands, Coca-Cola was chosen 6.6 billion times (+3%).

Partner of the Olympic Games since 1928

It must be said that the Atlanta giant does not skimp on the means to maintain its image. Every year, the soda emperor spends nearly 4 billion euros worldwide on advertising. It’s quite simply the biggest advertiser on the planet. Almost double that of Apple. Alongside classic space purchases and advertisements with uncomplicated but effective slogans (“Coca-Cola is that”, “Take life on the Coca-Cola side” “Savor the moment”), the American giant is also investing very much in sport. First and foremost, football, of course. Coca began advertising in stadiums during the 1950 World Cup in Brazil, and became a top FIFA sponsor in 1978.

But between the Olympic Games and Coca-Cola the link is even stronger, since the history has lasted for almost a hundred years. The soda brand, in fact, began its partnership with the Games during the 1928 edition, in Amsterdam, where a freighter delivered 1,000 cases of soda for the Yankee delegation. It has since been used continuously during all the Olympic Games, summer and winter, for 35 editions.

And was also the first to sponsor an Olympic champion: Johnny Weissmuller, gold medalist in swimming in 1924 and 1928. The future Tarzan in the cinema became the first athlete to promote the product with Maureen O’Sullivan, his Jane in ” Tarzan “. In 2019, the International Olympic Committee signed a record sponsorship deal, the largest ever, with the Atlanta giant and Chinese dairy group China Mengniu Dairy, worth a combined €3 billion. , according to the “Financial Times”. This unprecedented tripartite partnership runs until the 2032 Games.

Sponsor of the torch relay

During the Paris 2024 Games, the American company will be the exclusive supplier of non-alcoholic drinks and will distribute 18 million drinks for the 15,000 athletes, 45,000 volunteers, officials and the public in the stadiums and the various competition sites. Classic Coca-Cola or Zero but also, among others, Fanta, Sprite, Fuze Tea, Minute Maid, Costa or Powerade.

The multinational will not wait until July 26 and the opening ceremony to activate its Olympic program. Coca-Cola is, in fact, the sponsor, like every leap year since 1992, of the torch relay which has just started in Marseille with the BPCE. “For this event before the event which will last sixty-five days, we will organize six free 100% French concerts, entertainment with a space of 300 square meters which will offer the public a musical and festive atmosphere in the stopover towns,” explains Claire Income. Around thirty employees will be mobilized with activities in each city. »

Correct your image as a big consumer of plastic

The group also selected 1,500 flame bearers out of the 15,000 lucky ones who will experience their minute of fame (a 200-meter relay). Among them, ambassadors like Gabriella Papadakis, Olympic ice dancing champion, who symbolically carried the torch into the Panathenaic stadium in Athens on April 26, or Tony Parker, who will provide a relay in Marseille on May 9.

“But also anonymous people selected from 15,000 candidates who all went before a jury. We chose the best profiles and the best motivations,” continues Claire Revenu. Thus, Jean-Pierre, an 81-year-old former parachutist from Var, or Pierre, 54, who is extremely involved in the disabled sports community in his city of Brest.

Concerning ticketing, the group won, in France alone, 8,000 tickets for the Olympics and the Paralympic Games through a treasure hunt deployed physically and digitally. You had to find one of 300 million QR Codes to try to win places.

The amounts invested are considerable but secret

These Games are also an opportunity to correct its image as a major consumer of plastic. The group plans a service in reusable returnable cups with containers collected, recycled or reused. Nearly 700 fountains will be deployed, both in the athletes’ village and in various general public points of sale. From June 2, Coca-Cola will also open a “food court” with chefs from around the world, including Frenchman Julien Dumas.

The amounts invested are considerable but Coca-Cola, like a good multinational, never reveals any figures. The Olympic effort will, as always, be accompanied by an advertising campaign (as if the brand lacked notoriety) with the slogan “Celebrate Everyday Greatness”. To embody the brand, champions from around the world, including the American footballer Alex Morgan, or the cyclist Mathilde Gros and the French paracyclist Florian Jouanny.

The Atlanta firm will also communicate on its other drinks, such as Powerade, whose ambassador is none other than the most anticipated athlete of the Olympics, American gymnast Simone Biles. As soon as the curtain has come down on the Paralympics, Coca-Cola will hand over the baton to its Italian teams for Milan 2026. While waiting for the big bang in Los Angeles in 2028, where the company will celebrate its centenary of Olympic partnership. Warning the eyes !