Fanta and the Nazis
Our favorite, bright orange drink has a dark past
Today, Fanta is one of the most popular, globally recognized soft drinks and certainly represents one of Coca Cola’s most successful products. However, most people may be shocked to hear about the beverages murky, historical origins around the time of the Second World War.
According to Mark Pendergrast in his book, “For God, Country and Coca-Cola,” (1993) the story of modern day Fanta began in 1923 when Robert Woodruff had just been elected president of The Coca-Cola Company. He had big ambitions for finding a global market for the company and dreams of expanding the brand and building success overseas. As hard as it is to believe, at the time, Coca Cola was far from the universally recognized international brand that we know today.
Coca-Cola rapidly expanded throughout Europe and the future success of the German branch was originally under the responsibility of Ray Rivington Powers.
Under Power’s guidance Coca Cola sales skyrocketed in Germany but after his untimely death he was replaced by Max Keith, a 30-year-old German. He too had big plans for the success of the product in his home country. Hitler’s ascendancy ushered in a new dawn for Coca Cola under the reign of the Third Reich. Little did he know that he would later become the founder of Fanta.
