We decided to check out the World of Coca Cola over the holidays. We figured it might be crowded, but decided to give it a shot.
While things started out okay — a brief welcome led by a person, then an intro from another employee and a brief film to set the tone.
From there, it got chaotic. We started in the Lab with a taste of New Coke and a weird cotton candy tasting sample. Then got in line to create our own soda we could sample later in the visit. This took awhile because 2 of the 3 touchscreens weren’t working. While it seemed a little corny in the end — creating a soda is tapping a few buttons to learn your code is like “Spicy 2” or “Fruity 4.”
The museum and vault had some historical context but it was difficult to get a lot of context with the crowds. A guided tour like the first two segments would have gone a long way.
Finally we entered the tasting room, a lawless, chaotic room with a number of tasting kiosks, each with several sides of fountain spigots. Without instruction, some people hovered closely sampling each one at leisure, blocking others. Some took a squirt and stepped back. Some held a cup with their hand over the nozzle itself. We saw someone try one they didn’t like and spit-take sprayed back on the nozzles. Our tasting ended here.
Meanwhile, it turns out the Lab creations were broken, so you could not taste anything “created” in the Lab. And the AI solution suggested, to scan the QR code and make one by phone? I got an oops we’re out of ingredients error.
All told, this was disjointed, disorganized disappointment. I’d expected something more magical from Coke and instead it felt very commercial and a money grab.