What inspired the iconic contour bottle design of Coca-Cola?

Funnily enough, many people assume the Coca-Cola bottle's design was inspired by the curves of a woman's body, but that's not the case.

The real story goes like this: Over 100 years ago, the market was flooded with counterfeit Coca-Cola products. To distinguish itself from these imitations, the Coca-Cola company decided to design a highly recognizable bottle. The requirement was that it should be identifiable by touch in the dark, and even when broken, it should still be instantly recognizable.

In 1915, a designer from a glass company in Indiana took on this task. He wanted to draw inspiration from the name "Coca-Cola," so he went to the library to research what coca leaves and kola nuts actually looked like.

As it turned out, he accidentally looked up the wrong thing, stumbling upon cocoa pods (cacao/cocoa pod), which are used to make chocolate. When he saw images of cocoa pods, he was immediately captivated by their plump, distinctively ribbed pod shape, and inspiration struck him instantly.

So, the inspiration for this classic bottle design actually came from a beautiful misunderstanding – mistaking "coca" for "cocoa pod." The initial design was actually a bit plumper than the bottle we see today; it was later slimmed down for easier transport on the production line, becoming the iconic shape we recognize.