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

[WildForMrToad]

I guess coke gives there products for free to make sure no other products are sold in the park. That means Disneyland makes pure profit off of all coke sales. How do you feel about paying $5 per coke now?

Blonde Episodes: Disneyland Secrets

[DannyLand]

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

yes, i did know.

[Pirate Lover 68]

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

Large coke at most counter service places is $3.49. I don't know how much it is at the restaurants... but at those I get free refills. It's a business.

[MaloCS]

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

This pisses me off! Not because the product is free but because it's Coke. I hate Coke. I'm a Pepsi guy.

[Kat95242]

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

That's an interesting bit of information. So is there no Pepsi at all anywhere at DLR? I find that at many malls I have to hunt far and wide to find a Pepsi. Coke seems to dominate everywhere.

[4th Gen Disney Fan]

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

I had thought this was pretty well known...

[Guest]

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

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.

There is also no such thing as pure profit. Disney has to at least pay for the cups, the wages of the Cast Members who sell the items, the maintenance and operation of the dispensing machines (surprisingly costly), ice production, etc... Sure, each of these costs will dilute fairly quickly over the number of drinks sold but it does all factor into the cost.

Very cheap? Absolutely... But there is no reason to believe that it is free.

[bee1000]

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

Does anyone have more information on this? This site explains it this way, but I can't find a more reputable source (even with Bing!):

Behind the Legend: This is true, but highly misleading. For years, Coke has had an advantage over rival Pepsi because it provides its products free of charge to all of its customers. The company makes up the loss by requiring that beverages only be sold in official cups or containers -- and charging an enormous amount for those containers. The container charge is based on a sliding scale depending on the customer. Individual consumers, purchasing beverages at a grocery or convenience store, pay only a few cents for the can or bottle in which their beverage comes. At the other end of the scale, movie theaters and theme parks like Disneyland pay as much as $2.00 for a single drink cup, making the exorbitant prices charged for drinks at those locations completely understandable.

Disneyland uses its own cups these days, so that part of the explanation doesn't fit. I guess the product is just a marketing expense for Coca-Cola.

[Giant Panda]

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

Ice, I believe, is the most expensive element in a typical soda.

I do not begrudge Disney a few "extra" pennies of profit on my soda.

[lazyboy97O]

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

For a small business with a fountain I once calculated our total cost for a 20 oz soda to be around 35 cents after syrup, cup and water. The huge margin between cost and sale price are often used to subsidize the costs of food which are sold at a much smaller margin. This money then contributes to staff, maintenance, etc. and then profit.

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.

[calsig31]

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

When a reputable source comes along that proves otherwise, I may believe this, but the site linked to in the original post is only serving to perpetuate an urban legend.

[greenalfonzo]

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

Coke is kind of famous for giving away their product at or below cost in order to increase product familiarity and increase market share.

A couple years ago Pepsi's contract with Subway ran out, and they opened it up to bids, which Coke won. Subway's comment on the change was that they "were given an offer that they couldn't refuse". Pepsi's only comment on losing the contract was that they always had to price their product in a way that they would make at least some profit on them.

[ohmyjustin]

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

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

[swampymarsh]

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

When a reputable source comes along that proves otherwise, I may believe this, but the sight linked to in the original post is only serving to perpetuate an urban legend.

I could tear a bunch of holes in what that site has to say.


If you believe it, then send me a PM because I have some ocean front property to sell in Arizona.

[chesirecat]

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

Disney doubtlessly gets a substantial discount on the Coke products sold in the park, and in return only Coke products are sold, and there are usually negotiations regarding how the Coke imagery is used in the parks, and on the cups and such. A lot of the Coke sold is in those hideous plastic bottles . . . which don't have a Disney logo on them.

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

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

Very cheap? Absolutely... But there is no reason to believe that it is free.

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.

[pinkertonfloyd]

Re: 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.

[chesirecat]

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

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 ----------

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.

[evergreen]

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

.

[swampymarsh]

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

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.

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.

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.

[chesirecat]

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

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 ----------

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.

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 ----------

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 ----------

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.