Coca-Cola Celebrates 100 Years Of Its Iconic Contour Bottle

The 100th birthday of Coca-Cola’s bottle isn’t just a celebration – this year, the icon has a lot of work to do.

Coca-Cola is making its famous bottle the cornerstone of a global campaign that’s aimed at continuing a global growth trend for brand Coke.

Felix Gomis, Managing Director of Coca-Cola Bottling Ghana announced that the company will launch a special birthday price for the 300mi bottle - “This year, this beautiful bottle turns 100 years young,”

The bottle – which was patented in 1915 – stands as one of the most famous packages ever invented. But Coca-Cola’s anniversary celebration is aimed at being far more than an exercise in nostalgia.
Felix said the company intends to use the bottle to increase trial of brand Coke, to drive sales and to build deeper connections with consumers. The plan has four major elements.

The famous contour shape of the original bottle is still inspiring new designs. In 2005, Coca-Cola introduced an aluminum version.

Coca-Cola bottle in history

Created in 1915 and commercialized in 1916, the contour bottle was born out of a need to differentiate Coca-Cola from numerous copy-cat brands. A national competition was launched among bottle
manufacturers to design a distinctive bottle – a bottle which a person could recognize even if they felt in the dark, and shaped in such a way that, even if broken, a person could tell at a glance what it was.

The bottle manufacturer that won the competition was Root Glass Company of Terre Haute, Indian. Inspired by a picture of a cocoa pod, engineer Earl R. Dean designed the contour bottle prototype which evolved into the current iconic bottle.

One of the most famous shapes in the world is the Coca-Cola bottle – its classic design has been used globally to describe several objects of beauty.

In Ghana, a shapely woman is referred to as – “having a Coca-Cola shape”