World of Coca-Cola

Second part of my 2 day trip to Atlanta.

This city is actually the home of the most popular beverages in the world next to water: The Coca Cola. If you go to a museum that is already labeled “The World of Coca Cola” and fidgets with words like “happification” “happiness factory “you know that you will encounter the concentrated power of big corporate sponsored advertising.

In this respect the museum is really amazing. Instead they start their program with a masterpiece of emotional advertising, a movie called “Moments of happiness”. It tells several different stories of people in their most happy moments and it was so cleverly done that it didn´t need any spoken language. It is so well made and touching I actually saw people cry in the theater. And Coke as a product only turns up at the very end of it. Very clever! The suggestive character is obvious, but I must confess that I admire the director for his techniques.So when you leave the cinema you are super hyped on endorphins and just in a good mood that it really makes you question your sanity (or judgement). Filming was strictly prohibited and there is NO version online available but it won some prizes and here is a trailer

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ybRXPWdZHxw#action=share

You then enter the museum part. You learn barely anything about cola itself. Instead it creates a deep mystery about its basic ingredients that are never revealed in the whole museum  If you want to know something about Coke, read the Wikipedia article because the museum is all about “the magic”, the “mystery” and “the spirit”.

So did they invent Santa Clause or not :D

The most interesting part was probably the tasting room. Coca-Cola commercializes more than 100 incredible unhealthy soft drinks around the world. Most of them I have never heard of. They were sorted according to continents. Africa and Asia were the most weird ones. Apart from being far to sweet, they featured tastes that I can barely describe (somewhat bitter, spicy, thus herbal for Africa; straight forward artificial for Asia). But I also got my first (German) Mezzo Mix in years :D

the tasting room

a new brand, coming out soon

the ultimate test: zero vs original vs light

of cause, tons of merchandise

Obviously there is much more to do in Atlanta. The World of Coca-Cola lies right within the Centennial Olympic Park, where the 1996 Olympic Games took place.

From there you can walk through Downtown to Sweet Auburn, an African-American neighborhood where Martin Luther King was bon, raised and started his movement. My

birth house of Martin Luther King

The next “typical Atlanta” culinary experience: The Waffle house. They are part of a fast food chain that covers the whole downtown area. They are actually specialized to breakfast, but since they are open 24/7 is also popular for late night snacks. I decided to the the classic breakfast menu: Coffee, Waffles with butter and marble syrup, bacon stripes, fried eggs and potato grits. Everything for 8$. I am impressed. Though probably even more unhealthy than the Varsity the food here actually tastes delicious (in a sugary, fried high-calorie way)

A big waffle with syrup and butter, 2 eggs, 4 toasts, bacon and hash (potatoes) + coffee for very little money. Probably not healthier but defiantly more tasty than my meal at The Varsity.