Paper short abstract:

In this talk, I will address the mobilization of brand narratives in the context of world expos by focusing on the case of Coca-Cola. Unlike traditional brands that insist on the singularity of their historical roots or cultural heritage, Coca Cola promotes different versions of its globality.

Paper long abstract:

Since the end of the nineteenth century, brands have been promoted at world's fairs through the construction of narratives that highlight the singularity of the commodities they represent. In this talk, I will explore these practices of producing and mobilizing narratives for commercial purposes by focusing on the specific case of Coca-Cola. I will address both the evolution of narratives associated with the promotion of the brand and the participation of Coca-Cola in past and present world's fairs. On one hand, I will show how brand narratives of Coca-Cola insist on different versions of a purportedly global history, by highlighting the company's role in mass production and the development of international consumption in 1939, international tourism and intercultural exchange in 1964/65, and sustainable development at the 2010 and 2015 World Expos. On the other hand, I will to insist on the role and the development of new technologies of mediation for the production and consumption of historical narratives through "transmedia storytelling," "experiential marketing" and "branded entertainment". If the brand has become a salient market cultural form in the 21st century, an intangible object that 'mediates the supply and demand of products through the organization, coordination and integration of the use of information' (Lury 2004), in the case of Coca-Cola, the varieties of its existence also reveal transformations in notions of the "global," the "public" and the "common." The paper will draw on historical research on 20th century world expos and ethnographic fieldwork at the 2010 and 2015 expos.