Creation of the Coca-Cola Empire is Topic of Speaker at UK

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Sept. 30, 2015) — Have you ever wondered how Coca-Cola grew into the multi-billion dollar industry it is today?

As part of the Patterson School of Diplomacy and International Commerce’s speaker series, professor Bartow J. Elmore will speak to the University of Kentucky campus community about the history and influence of Coca-Cola.  Elmore, the author of “Citizen Coke: The Making of Coca-Cola Capitalism,” is an environmental historian at the University of Alabama.  He will speak from 7-8:30 p.m. Monday, Oct. 5, in the William T. Young Library's UK Athletics Auditorium. 

How did Coca-Cola build a global empire on marketing a combination of tap water, sugar and caffeine, plus a few secret ingredients?  What are those secret ingredients?  What was the connection between cocaine and Coca-Cola?  How has this company’s remarkable success impacted the health of individuals and the planet itself? 

The answers to these questions and more will be revealed by Elmore as he recounts the history and phenomenal growth of this iconic American corporation.  In 2012, Coca-Cola was the world’s most valuable brand, selling 1.8 billion beverage servings every single day.

Elmore’s thought-provoking book explores the history of this corporation and its ubiquitous products through a lively examination of ingredients — tap water, sugar, tea and coca leaves, coffee beans, and high-fructose corn syrup — as well as the glass, aluminum and plastic used to contain the beverage.  He details Coca-Cola’s unique form of capitalism and traces how the tremendous growth in consumption of these beverages was matched by a corresponding corporate appetite that consumes vast natural resources around the planet.

Copies of “Citizen Coke" will be available for purchase at the event, and the author will be available to sign books following his talk.

Elmore was born and raised in the heartland of Coke country, Atlanta, Georgia.  His interest in environmental history grew out of his experiences wandering through the American South.  He received his bachelor’s degree from Dartmouth and his doctorate from the University of Virginia.

Elmore’s appearance on campus is sponsored by UK’s Patterson School of Diplomacy and International Commerce, which tries to expose students and the local community to key leaders and experts in international affairs, business and trade.  The next speaker in the series will be the Ambassador of Qatar to the United States, his Excellency Mohamed Jaham Al Kuwari on Oct. 15.

MEDIA CONTACT: Gail Hairston, 859-257-3302; gail.hairston@uky.edu