Dear Kid,
I was in Atlanta last week, so I did what people who visit Atlanta do.
For lunch, we ate BBQ while we admired the Twin Smokers and photographed staff TShirts.
Then I went to visit The Shrine of My People.
Yes, I went to The World of Coca-Cola, more informally known (to me) as the Home of Diet Coke.
As a museum, World o’ Coke, um, kinda sucks. They happily leave out pieces of the story and stop narratives right when they’re about to get interesting.
As a marketing machine, The World of Coca-Cola is stupendous.
One gets a free sample drink (there are a couple of options—guess what I picked) before being given an into to Coca-Cola Land.
Then one is ushered into a theater where they show a 6 minute movie. Six tiny little minutes. And I kid you not, Child, when I tell you that I cried. Not sobbing hysterically, but real tears running down my cheeks. I was impressed with their ability to pull heartstrings like that.
Then more meh museum, the opportunity to pose with the Polar Bear (introduced into the C-C marketing mix in the US in 1993; personally, I’m more a fan of teaching the World to Sing in Perfect Harmony, but you probably don’t know what that means). I declined the opportunity to look worse than a bear in a photo.
Coke bottle art (very cool stuff, but I’m a fan of things like that), and then into the tasting room. Angels sing in the tasting room. The world is at peace in the tasting room. (Aside from the 4 billion people—and I was there on a very not-crowded day. And the sticky floor.)
The tasting room boasts dispensers offering beverage that Coca-Cola manufactures in different parts of the world. It was great fun.
And then I saw it. In the North America section. Mixed in with the Diet Cokes and Powerades.
My first Love.
My first real long-term commitment.
The reason I woke up in the morning and went into the garage in the afternoon.
TAB.
The first (in my world) diet soda.
I dispensed some TAB into my cup. I drank. Bubbles fizzed and memories rode in on little carbonation scooters. The angels reached a crescendo. The world stopped turning.
It. Was. Awesome.
Then on to the store where people were rapidly parting with coin in order to have Coca-Cola bottle openers, plates, and luggage tags.
I thought of you when I saw the FANTA! shirts (Fluffy!). I did not buy you one. Even though they were scented. Or possibly because they were scented.
It was freezing in Atlanta (wind chill negative everything) but I walked back to the hotel warm and happy.
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