Did anyone else know that Coca Cola gives Disneyland its products for free?

It's not FREE, but it probably was put up to a bid... which coke won. I'm sure Disney's price is quite cheap due to volume they use. Like it was said before, the CO2, Ice, cups and water are usually the "expensive" part of a soda. There's probably some "B2B" go marketing deal going on, but if coke "gave away" the product, I'm sure quite a few lawsuits would be filed by the other mfr's (Pepsi, 7UP/Dr.Pepper), due to them giving it away would be unfair competition... considered to be "predatory" to harm the competition.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Trevor

Its simply not true. Coke syrup is extremely cheap. On average a 21oz Coke costs around 5-8 cents to produce (most of that cost being the cup) but there is no way that all of the Coke at the resort is given to them for free.

---

Let's see here, so Coke might provide 3 cents of syrup for each drink served at Disneyland, 40,000 guests a day, each drink on average two drinks, that would be 120,000 cents a day! Which works out to $1,200 dollars a day, or maybe a cool $400,000 a year. (Using your numbers). BTW, if Disney makes $3.00 off of each Coke after you factor in labor and such costs, that would be about $40 million American dollars a year.

Probably wouldn't even cover the cost of having Coke corner named in their honor, to say nothing of guests who want Pepsi and are . . . inconvenienced.

It is more likely that Coke pays for the syrup (trivial?), and also writes Mickey a check each year too . . . or so to speak.

---------- Post added 10-15-2012 at 02:37 AM ----------

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by pinkertonfloyd

It's not FREE, but it probably was put up to a bid... which coke won. I'm sure Disney's price is quite cheap due to volume they use. Like it was said before, the CO2, Ice, cups and water are usually the "expensive" part of a soda. There's probably some "B2B" go marketing deal going on, but if coke "gave away" the product, I'm sure quite a few lawsuits would be filed by the other mfr's (Pepsi, 7UP/Dr.Pepper), due to them giving it away would be unfair competition... considered to be "predatory" to harm the competition.

---

Or Coke could "make" Disney pay $400,000 a year for the syrup, and then pay them $1 million for "advertising" in the park (great deal associating with the Disney brand), such as Coke corner and exclusivity. The deal is very, very old and obviously both companies are happy with it, and Coke has *alot* of power when deciding how their image is used.

Decades ago when they were going to put talking water fountains in Toontown, Coke nixed the project because they don't want to compete with tap water (part of the H2-No! campaign). You don't get that sort of power for free.

.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by chesirecat

Interestingly, Doritos were invented at Disneyland, and this snack food is now owned by Pepsi.

---------- Post added 10-15-2012 at 02:21 AM ----------



Whether it is through free syrup, or a yearly check, you don't get a special place in Disneyland with your name on it for free (unless you're a Disney legend), i.e. Coke Corner.

---

Interestingly enough, Disneyland started out selling Pepsi. I've heard 5 versions of why it switched, I will not share any since at least 4 if not all 5 are untrue. Pepsi Cola, bought Frito Lay.

This place is officially known as Refreshment Corner, not Coke Corner. The area in front of it was called Cafe Corner, although that sign is now gone.
http://dlr1.wdpromedia.com/media/dlr...rner_thumb.jpg

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by pinkertonfloyd

It's not FREE, but it probably was put up to a bid... which coke won. I'm sure Disney's price is quite cheap due to volume they use. Like it was said before, the CO2, Ice, cups and water are usually the "expensive" part of a soda. There's probably some "B2B" go marketing deal going on, but if coke "gave away" the product, I'm sure quite a few lawsuits would be filed by the other mfr's (Pepsi, 7UP/Dr.Pepper), due to them giving it away would be unfair competition... considered to be "predatory" to harm the competition.

---

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by chesirecat

Let's see here, so Coke might provide 3 cents of syrup for each drink served at Disneyland, 40,000 guests a day, each drink on average two drinks, that would be 120,000 cents a day! Which works out to $1,200 dollars a day, or maybe a cool $400,000 a year. (Using your numbers). BTW, if Disney makes $3.00 off of each Coke after you factor in labor and such costs, that would be about $40 million American dollars a year.

Probably wouldn't even cover the cost of having Coke corner named in their honor, to say nothing of guests who want Pepsi and are . . . inconvenienced.

It is more likely that Coke pays for the syrup (trivial?), and also writes Mickey a check each year too . . . or so to speak.

---------- Post added 10-15-2012 at 02:37 AM ----------



Or Coke could "make" Disney pay $400,000 a year for the syrup, and then pay them $1 million for "advertising" in the park (great deal associating with the Disney brand), such as Coke corner and exclusivity. The deal is very, very old and obviously both companies are happy with it, and Coke has *alot* of power when deciding how their image is used.

Decades ago when they were going to put talking water fountains in Toontown, Coke nixed the project because they don't want to compete with tap water (part of the H2-No! campaign). You don't get that sort of power for free.

---

It's already in this thread but I think people aren't reading it.


For a simple example.

Soda Fountains mix, syrup, CO2 gas and water. Coke syrup well say cost 1 cent per glass. Disney may pay some of or no amount of that 1 cent or even more, this is not uncommon, it's how the rest of the world works. When the price is subisdized you must use Coke branded cups, which you buy from coke for we'll say 25cents each. If you don't use Coke branded cups you can get them for 15cents, but coke will charge 15 cents for the syrup needed for a glass of soda. Then you use 10 cents of ice, and a 1 cent straw. Cups of soda are very cheap to produce. Sell it for whatever, they make a lot of profit.

Bottles of Soda. These cost roughly $1. This cuts way into profit compared to cups of soda made from syrup.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by evergreen

This "urban legend" is simply not true. Coca-Cola is one of the most profitable businesses in the world. They didn't accomplish this by giving away millions of Coke products at Disney theme parks.

Obviously, Disney must get big price breaks on syrup, cups and lids. But Coke is not in business to give away its products for free.

---

You do know that Coca-Cola is the official beverage sponsor of the Disneyland Resort? They also fork over a lot of cash for Club 33 membership, that alone is a good chunk of what the syrup costs. We're maybe $400,000 a year in syrup. Big deal as you do know that Coca-Cola write Disney a check for the privilege of being an official sponsor and having Coke Corner?

Coke is actually quite happy with not making much money on Coke products at Disneyland. High-fructose beverages are a villain these days . . . advertising to the 15 million, or whatever guests, for free at Disneyland by associating themselves with the Disney brand is a big positive. The *vast* majority of Coke products are bought and consumed outside of Disney parks.

Forget about cups and lids, Disney could easily gross $40 million a year in one park based on just the soft drink sales, after accounting for cups and lids. Selling soda has a huge profit margin, sort of like selling pizza.

---------- Post added 10-15-2012 at 03:14 AM ----------

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by swampymarsh

Interestingly enough, Disneyland started out selling Pepsi. I've heard 5 versions of why it switched, I will not share any since at least 4 if not all 5 are untrue. Pepsi Cola, bought Frito Lay.

This place is officially known as Refreshment Corner, not Coke Corner. The area in front of it was called Cafe Corner, although that sign is now gone.
http://dlr1.wdpromedia.com/media/dlr...rner_thumb.jpg

---

Coke was first sold at Disneyland on opening day. They've been there ever since though I heard Pepsi got squeezed out ;)

http://disney.wikia.com/wiki/The_Coca-Cola_Company

---------- Post added 10-15-2012 at 03:17 AM ----------

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by swampymarsh

For a simple example.

Soda Fountains mix, syrup, CO2 gas and water. Coke syrup well say cost 1 cent per glass. Disney may pay some of or no amount of that 1 cent or even more, this is not uncommon, it's how the rest of the world works. When the price is subisdized you must use Coke branded cups, which you buy from coke for we'll say 25cents each. If you don't use Coke branded cups you can get them for 15cents, but coke will charge 15 cents for the syrup needed for a glass of soda. Then you use 10 cents of ice, and a 1 cent straw. Cups of soda are very cheap to produce. Sell it for whatever, they make a lot of profit.

Bottles of Soda. These cost roughly $1. This cuts way into profit compared to cups of soda made from syrup.

---

You're talking about concessions stands at movie theatre, Disneyland is a much more high quality and unique experience and has gotten great deals from sponsors for a long time . . . just to be associated with the Disney name.

McDonalds basically gave away fries and McNuggets for free. Do you think they needed the extra bit of cash?

---------- Post added 10-15-2012 at 03:28 AM ----------

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by swampymarsh

Bottles of Soda. These cost roughly $1. This cuts way into profit compared to cups of soda made from syrup.

---

A plastic bottle of Coke doesn't cost anywhere near $1 for the Coke corporation to make.

Is there any chance that it's a deal where some products are free and not others? I was always under the impression that the free Coca-Cola products DLR received were the bottled products, NOT the fountain syrup. With the bottles, Disney still has to pay for the CM who sells it, and there's refrigeration to keep the bottles cold--but if the CM sells four Cokes an hour, they are covering their salary.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by lazyboy97O

The Coca-Cola Company never gave away syrup. That is just an urban legend. The whole reason Coca-Cola uses corn syrup instead of cane sugar in the United States and Canada is directly related to the deal made with the original bottlers in regards to syrup and sugar over 100 years ago.

---

It's not an urban legend, irregardless, Coca-Cola is an official sponsor of Disneyland, they get free advertising, Coke Corner, and in return, they write Disney a check. If all they had to do was provide free syrup, then that would be a very sweet deal for them.

Coke started adding HFCS around 1980, and phased out cane sugar in 1984 due to subsidies for corn farmers and that cane sugar is much more expensive in the U.S.. Sodas used to use cane sugar, just take a swig of Pepsi throw-back or Mexican Coke to see what it tasted like.

---------- Post added 10-15-2012 at 03:49 AM ----------

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Malina

Is there any chance that it's a deal where some products are free and not others? I was always under the impression that the free Coca-Cola products DLR received were the bottled products, NOT the fountain syrup. With the bottles, Disney still has to pay for the CM who sells it, and there's ice and refrigeration--but if the CM sells four Cokes an hour, they are covering their salary.

---

The fountain syrup is much cheaper than the bottles, per drink, but Coke could provide the bottles for free as well. It all depends on how the sponsorship deal is worked out . . . Coke doesn't go to Disneyland to make money, but to associate their brand with the Disney brand. If everyday there are 40,000 people in Disneyland . . . it is really just a small town when you look at Coke production consumption just in this country. Plus, the thing is that Coke makes huge margins off of their drinks, meaning that it doesn't cost them much to give the product away strategically for advertising and brand purposes.

Coke is very aggressive in terms of maintaing their special relationship with Disney. They obviously have a big brand problem these days with obesity and diabetes, and associating themselves with something wholesome such as Disneyland is important to them.

It is no secret that the ODV carts make *a lot* more money that the counter service locations. One CM selling Cokes from a cart can make Disney a lot of money in one day as it is just one person, whereas the counter service places have tons of employees. McDonalds makes most of their money off of selling Coke products, not the food which has a much lower profit margin.

Your average refrigerator costs about $70 a year to run . . . I'm think refrigeration is not a big deal here.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by swampymarsh

Interestingly enough, Disneyland started out selling Pepsi. I've heard 5 versions of why it switched, I will not share any since at least 4 if not all 5 are untrue. Pepsi Cola, bought Frito Lay.

---

Pepsi was not offered exclusively. One could order Coke or Pepsi depending on the location.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by chesirecat

Coke started adding HFCS around 1980, and phased out cane sugar in 1984 due to subsidies for corn farmers and that cane sugar is much more expensive in the U.S.. Sodas used to use cane sugar, just take a swig of Pepsi throw-back or Mexican Coke to see what it tasted like.

---

The price of sugar became an issue because the bottling contracts had The Coca-Cola Company providing sugar with the price set in perpetuity. The rise in sugar prices since the late 19th century meant that in order to make money on The Coca-Cola Company had to get all of the US and Canadian bottlers to voluntarily agree to price increases every time sugar prices rose. The switch to corn syrup was a means to ends this process and bottlers even sued over whether or not the formula could be changed. There was even some hope that the purchase of Coca-Cola Enterprises North American operations by The Coca-Cola Company would result in a return sugar as most of the bottling rights issues are now internal.

A while back, someone posted a very old photo on this forum, showing some place in Tomorrowland, possibly the Space Bar or Yacht Bar. On the menu sign, both Coke and Pepsi are listed. I can't find that photo now though.

I've been looking at the menus and it seems like Dr. Pepper is not sold at Disneyland? That is a crime.

I have serious doubts about the validity of the website linked as "proof" of this rumor.

Despite that, assuming the syrup is free, that does not mean that 100% of the drink price goes to pure profit. Disney still has to supply the water to mix with the syrup, carbonation (Co2), ice, stations to sell the product, and the the staff in place at the stations to sell it. Do they still make a big profit from a high mark up? Yes, but it is not 100% even if the syrup is free.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by ohmyjustin

Someone is a Redditor. ;)

I'd heard this a long, long time ago and I'd assumed it to be true. I'm very skeptical of this, but I wouldn't doubt that Coke provides an extremely subsidized price to the Disney Parks just to have exclusive rights to selling beverages there. It's great advertising and it is a great selling point for Coke if they ever had to pitch their drink.

Besides, Coke is better. ;D

---

HAHA how can you tell, got to love reddit!

Since there are at least two other complete fabrications that have been posted as "fact" at Blonde episode's website, I'd also have to take this one with a massive grain of salt.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Malina

Is there any chance that it's a deal where some products are free and not others? I was always under the impression that the free Coca-Cola products DLR received were the bottled products, NOT the fountain syrup. With the bottles, Disney still has to pay for the CM who sells it, and there's refrigeration to keep the bottles cold--but if the CM sells four Cokes an hour, they are covering their salary.

---

Not really. And Coke does not provide the bottles free, only the syrup. And when you count labor, the front line CM is only the beginning of the labor, you also need to include the lead, the supervisor, the people in warehousing, the folks who bring the product to the ODV carts, etc... in the labor count.

Lol.

But those cups, and manufacturing all that ice.... ;)