In the 1970’s, Coke’s famous slogan was,“I’d like to buy the world a

Coke.”They needn’t have bothered: the world was more than ready to buy its own.

　　在1970年代，可口可乐的著名口号是“我想为这个世界买一瓶可乐”。他们根本不用这么做：这个世界已经等不及要自己去买了。

　　Every second, 7,000 people drink a Coke. The brand is recognized by 94% of the world’s population. If every Coke ever sold were lined up in a row, the line of bottles would stretch around the world nearly 12,000 times. Given this kind of success, it’s hard to believe that Coke started out as a medicine that sold barely nine bottles a day.

　　每1秒钟就有7,000人喝掉一瓶可口可乐。全世界94%的人口都认识这个品牌。如果把曾经卖出去的可口可乐排成一排，瓶子排成的队伍可以环绕地球将近12,000次。在这样成功的情况下，很难相信可口可乐原来是一天几乎卖不到九瓶的药品。

　　Back in 1886, a pharmacist in Atlanta, Georgia cooked up a thick, sweet syrup made from coca leaves and kola nuts. He sold it for five cents a glass out of a neighboring soda fountain where someone had the bright idea of mixing it with carbonated water. A new name was created based on the two primary ingredients, and Coca-Cola was born.

　　在1886年，亚特兰大的一位药剂师乔治亚用古柯叶和可乐果烹煮出一种又稠又甜的糖浆。他通过附近的汽水吧台以5分钱1杯出售这种饮料，但在那里有人想出了一个聪明的点子，把它和苏打水混在一起。根据这两种主要的成分，一个新名字被创造出来，可口可乐也因此诞生。

　　But the real value in Coca-Cola isn’t so much the product as the marketing. The sales know-how was supplied by Asa Candler, who bought the company for $2,300 when the founder died. Candler also turned Coke’s ingredients into one of the world’s biggest secrets: the exact makeup of the“7X”formula stayed secret until 1985 when the company finally let the cat out of the bag.

　　但是可口可乐的真正价值并不在产品本身，而是在营销上。阿萨·坎德勒提供了销售的技巧，他在创办人过世后以2,300美元买下了该公司。坎德勒也将可口可乐的成分转变成全球最大的秘密：“7X”配方的真正结构一直到1985年才由该公司不小心泄露出去。

　　Of course, it’s not easy being number one. Rivals like Pepsi accuse Coke of underhanded business practices, and soft drinks are seen as being a major cause of obesity. In recent years, the company has been paying schools for the right to place Coke machines on campus, expanding school budgets and students’waistlines.

　　当然了，要当第一名并不容易。像百事可乐这样的对手指控可口可乐的经商方式很卑鄙，而且软饮料也被视为造成肥胖的主要原因。最近几年，该公司一直在付款给学校，以取得让可口可乐机器进驻校园的权利，这就会增加学校的预算和学生的腰围。

　　Still, things are looking sweet for Coke–with over $4 billion in revenue on sales of $21 billion in 2003, it is by far the largest soft drink maker in the world. Not bad for a little bottle of sugar water.

　　尽管如此，可口可乐的情况依旧乐观，在2003年，销售额高达210亿美元，获利也超过40亿，它显然是全球最大的软饮料制造商。对一小瓶糖水来说，这样的结果还真是不错。