Vocation: a Coca-Cola Calling
Here is an ever so brief history of Coca-Cola’s worldwide distribution as heard on a podcast sometime in the last few months and summarized by your’s truly (aka take it all with a grain of salt and you probably should’t quote me on this without checking!)
Once upon a time in the 1940s there was a great war that engulfed the world (WWII). Coca-Cola was already an icon of the USA at that time and there being a great war and all, the company made a statement saying, “Gosh darn it, Coke is such a representation of the US and it tastes so much like that freedom and liberty that it seems only fair that our boys, no matter where they are in the world, should have access to this freedom and be able to lick the liberty off of their lips as any citizen of the great United States of America can when they take a sip of our delicious beverage!” And that was that. Coke began its worldwide distribution of canned freedom anywhere that there might be our men in uniform.
Skip to the end of that very tangible war and thus begins the war of the two powers; the war of which system could best advertise, propagate, and establish its power on a global scale. So of course, what better way to advertise the intense freedom and vast empire of capitalism and freedom then by continuing to utilize this mass-distributed symbol of the stars and stripes that is Coca-Cola, further establishing Coke as a globally dominating dink which can, now days, be found just as easily as (and sometimes even more easily than) water in most places (except for places that only sell pepsi products).
Fast forward to the year 2013: the beginning of the “Share a Coke” campaign. These are the cans and bottles that are distributed all over the world with names and titles written on them. For example: In Germany, you might get a bottle of Coke to share with “Schätz” (treasure) or “Sophie,” in the USA you might get a Coke to share with “Friend” or “Hallie,” or in Cambodia, you might find “ឣ្នកគ្រូ” (Nek kru or female teacher), or “បង” (bong or brother/sister).
Now we come into my life here in Cambodia, and why Coke is relevant therein. Sometimes it gets hard living in Cambodia and I feel like I don't know what I am doing or why I am here. Those moods can be changed by a lot of different things. Usually it is the amazing people around me getting me involved with the culture and their lives, but it never hurts when I meet somebody new (which happens all the time, by the way) and usually the first thing that they say after hearing my name is that I have a Khmer name. (Okay, it is Sovanna instead of Savannah that is Khmer, but it pretty much sounds the same, plus Sovann means gold, how sweet is that?). Hearing that is a little constant reminder that I must be in the right place - my name tells me so! So today, while practicing reading by sounding out all the words, names, and titles on the Coke cans at dinner (okay there were only two today, but it still feels pretty great when I can say it and say have my coworkers tell me I am doing it right!), I picked up one before we left and low and behold, the can said “សុវណ្ណា” (Sovanna). And now I have a Coke can in my room to remind me that I was called to be in Cambodia for a reason. It is like the Coke is saying, “It IS you vocation to be here, សុវណ្ណា. Now have some delicious freedom juice to remind you!”
Thank you Coke!
Sav
