By Bob Zurn

People wear logo clothing in general because they like being associated with the company or product that the logo represents for one reason or another. Recently I was curious as to the different reasons that people would wear Coca-Cola clothing in particular. If the clothing we wear is an expression of our personality, just what are you saying when you wear Coca-Cola clothing?

The Coke brand is certainly known worldwide and has in fact even made it to the moon, but something told me that is not the reason that people have Coca-Cola clothing in their wardrobe. So I set about to find out.

It reminds me of when'
The first young lady that I questioned was looking at a display of miscellaneous Coca-Cola collectible merchandise including Coke clothing items. She told me the following story when I asked her why she was considering the purchase:
'Some of my most vivid childhood memories include Coca-Cola. There was a little roadside shack in New York where I grew up that served some of the best steamed clams and grilled hamburgers and hot dogs around and my parents used to take me there in the summers as far back as I can remember. I couldn't have been more than 5 or 6 when I was allowed to go inside by myself and open the cooler and get my own Coke in a bottle, the real glass bottle, and open it on the bottle cap opener mounted to the door that I could just about reach. I was even allowed to drink it right out of the bottle. It made me feel like a big girl and I've loved Coke, especially in a glass bottle, ever since. Afterwards we would go to the beach and walk by the water. I still go back and visit that shack whenever I go to NYhow could I not love Coca-Cola with those kind of memories? So I guess that's why I'd wear a Coca-Cola sweatshirt or tank top, because it reminds me of special times.'

Coca-Cola says America
The next people I talked to were an older couple visiting from England. 'We wanted something absolutely American to take back as gifts, and to us, Coca-Cola clothing is the perfect thing, to me a Coke t-shirt really says USA. I remember back during the war when I was a child seeing the American troops drinking Coke, one of them even gave me one once and I kept the bottle for a long time. I was fascinated by the American soldiers and everything American that I could learn about, so Coca-Cola and America go hand in hand for me.'

It's always been there
A young man was eyeing a Coca-Cola jacket and told me that he doesn't even really drink a lot of Coke these days but that it's almost a comfort to him when he does and that just seeing the logo will make him smile. 'It's always been there as far back as I can remember, Coke, that is. We outgrow so many of the things from our youth, but Coca-Cola is a brand that seems to carry through our lives, even if we're not drinking it ourselves, it's all around us, part of our culture in a way. Things change, that's one thing that you come to learn in life, so it's nice to have things that for the most part stay the same.'

And so it seems that although the reasons vary widely and the stories span many generations as to why these folks are drawn to Coca-Cola clothing, one common theme is that Coca-Cola was and continues to be a part of people's lives in subtle, yet emotionally powerful ways. It seems that the marketing folks who coined the phrase 'Have a Coke and a Smile' definitely knew what they were talking about.