Coca-Cola

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Coca-Cola was popularised by American servicemen in New Zealand during World War Two. It was imported ready-made from 1939, and made locally from imported concentrate after 1944.

These three radio commercials from the 1950s advertise a new range of bottle sizes – available in Auckland only it seems. The locally-voiced content of the commercials has been enhanced with an American agency-produced jingle, "Bring home the Coke."

The fact that this commercial was Auckland-specific reflects that distribution of the product was not nationwide in the 1950s, and in some regions local soft drink brands and bottlers still held out against the larger international brands like Coca-Cola.

Image: Australian Women's Weekly, 7 October 1959 (courtesy of Trove).