Coke and McDonald’s, Growing Together Since 1955

Authored by nytimes.com and submitted by openletter8

It was early 1955 when Ray Kroc, an ambitious milkshake equipment salesman who had bought the right to expand McDonald’s throughout the country, was opening his first restaurant, in Des Plaines, Ill.

In search of a beverage supplier, Mr. Kroc called Coca-Cola to ask about selling its sodas and reached an executive named Waddy Pratt, who ran Coke’s fountain division.

“On a Saturday morning sometime after that, Waddy goes to Des Plaines to check out this guy who claims his restaurant is going to take America by storm,” said Dick Starmann, a confidant of Mr. Kroc’s, recalling a story both men had told him many times. “He pulls up to a red-and-white-tiled shop on Lee Avenue with a yellow neon sign over it, where a guy with a hose was washing down the parking lot.”

Mr. Pratt was looking for Ray Kroc, “and the guy says, ‘You’re talking to him,’ ” Mr. Starmann said in an interview.

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A few hours later, Mr. Pratt and Mr. Kroc shook hands. To this day, executives from both companies say, that handshake seals the primary relationship between Coke and the giant fast-food chain.

FattyCorpuscle on April 11st, 2018 at 15:57 UTC »

Waddy Pratt sounds like some British slang insult.

counterslave on April 11st, 2018 at 15:52 UTC »

same thing with Marriott Hotels and Pepsi. Years ago, Marriott needed some serious capital. Pepsi loaned them some serious funds. As a result, Marriott dropped Coke and switched.

seargentcyclops on April 11st, 2018 at 15:47 UTC »

To this day, there are about 3 mcdonalds that don't serve coke products, one is at a university thats got a pepsi sponsorship and sells there exclusivly, and the other 2 are weird and we dont talk about them.