Todo va mejor con Coca-Cola, ¿o no?

¿Es buena la Coca-Cola o no lo es tanto como dice la publicidad? Si quieres saber más sobre el asunto, lee este fragmento, tomado de Elizabeth Laird, Faces of the U.S.A., New York, Longman, 1987, p. 62.

Delicious and Refreshing?

     “On May 8, 1886, Dr. John Styth Pemberton, a chemist, carried a bottle down the street in Atlanta, Georgia, to Jacob's Pharmacy on the corner. There, soda water was added to it, and the new drink was put on sale for five cents a bottle. The drink contained sugar, water, the leaves of the coca plant, and the juice of the kola nut. Dr. Pemberton's partner, Frank Robinson, thought of a name for it.

     "Coca-Cola," he said. "The two Cs would look well in advertising."

     For the first year of its life, Coca-Cola sold only thirteen drinks a day. By its hundredth birthday, in 1986, it was selling 7.9 billion dollars' worth a year. Not much of the money went into John Pemberton's pocket. He died two years after he had invented Coca-Cola, and Asa G. Candler, a clever businessman, bought the business for $2,300.

     From then on, Coca-Cola's success was all due to advertising. The words Coca-Cola, delicious and refreshing, in flowing, graceful writing, were soon to be seen everywhere: on calendars, clocks, trays, and walls. The more people heard of it, the more people wanted it, and by 1895, Candler could say, "Coca-Cola is now sold and drunk in every state in the United States."

     But the great days of Coca-Cola were still to come. In World War II, the company made a promise that every American soldier, sailor, and airman could have a Coke for five cents a bottle, anywhere in the world. The company knew they would lose money, but it was worth it. In one smart move they made sure that five billion bottles of Coke would find their way around the world, creating new demand in more countries. They also knew that the idea of Coca-Cola as something truly, especially American would be strengthened.In the years that followed the war, Coca-Cola managed to make itself one of the most powerful symbols of America both inside and outside the States. "Drink Coca-Cola, and you will share in the American dream," the advertisements seem to say.

     So what is in this magic drink that has become the most successful product in world history? That secret is locked up in a bank in Atlanta, and only a few people alive know the exact recipe.

     One very important question remains: Is Coca-Cola good for you? Dentists say that sugary drinks like Coca-Cola harm your teeth. Doctors say they add to problems of fatness that lead to heart disease. Delicious and refreshing? Maybe.”

Marchando una de rascacielos

La palabra española rascacielos se creó como un calco del inglés skyscraper, -s. Es de esas palabras que, por acabar en -s, no varían en plural: la tesis, las tesis, el rascacielos, los rascacielos, la síntesis, las síntesis...

Y ¿cuál es la ciudad de los rascacielos? Pues sí, Nueva York. Pero ¿se inventaron allí los rascacielos? Pues no. Al menos eso nos dice el libro de Elizabeth Laird, Faces of the U.S.A., New York, Longman, 1987.

      “In 1871, Mrs. O'Leary's cow kicked over a lantern and set fire to Chicago. Eighteen thousand buildings burned down, and three hundred people died. It was the end of the old Chicago, but it was also a new beginning. Out of the ashes grew a whole new style of building. The architects who rebuilt Chicago used steel to make strong frames that climbed so high they "scraped the sky." The skyscraper was invented.

     The idea soon spread to other cities. Manhattan, in New York, became a forest of skyscrapers. All over the country, city skylines changed, as banks, big companies, and hotels pushed concrete, glass, and steel higher and higher. In "downtown" areas, where the stores and offices were found, earlier buildings disappeared to make way for the new style.

     But while the downtown areas of many American cities become more modern, other parts are falling into ruin. In the inner-city areas, poorer people are crowded into old, badly cared-for buildings. There are too few jobs, and there is too much crime, and too little hope.”