From the 8,000 glasses of Coke quaffed every second to Samsung’s foray into dried fish – we bring you some eye-opening facts about the world’s best-loved brands…
They’re the names of the most famous brands in the world, but behind each famous branding face lies a fascinating brand story. Here’s a round-up of the snippets you might not be so familiar with…
A New Direction…
1. Forget your Big Macs and double quarterpounders with cheese –McDonald’s originally sold hot dogs not burgers.
2. Action-packed ice-creams are its thing now, but Ben & Jerry’s was originally going to be a bagel company.
3. Lamborghini is synonymous with sexy supercars yet it started out making farm equipment.
4. Samsung soared to fame after it swapped dried fish and groceries for smartphones and supersized TVs.
Meet The Super Sellers…
5. Seems everyone’s nuts on Nutella – one jar of the sweet spread from this famous brand is sold every 2.5 seconds.
6. Technology may have moved on but the Rubik’s Cube remains the best-selling toy of all time.
7. More than 8,000 glasses of Coca-Cola are knocked back every second.
8. Holy cow – Starbucks uses over 93 million gallons of milk per year, the equivalent of 155 Olympic-sized swimming pools.
A Question Of Cost…
9. Nike’s famous swoosh logo cost them a measly $35 dollars. Years later, the design student behind it was given a diamond-encrusted ring in the shape of the world-renowned emblem.
10. It’s enough to make your eyes water – BP once forked out a whopping $211,000,000 on their logo redesign.
11. Coca-Cola gets a second nod in our fascinating facts about the world’s most famous brands. The drinks giant spends an average of $4 billion on branding each year. It pays off, though – 94% of the world’s population recognise the red and white logo.
The Secrets Behind The Logos…
12. Ever noticed the Amazon logo has an arrow that points from A to Z? It’s to represent that the online giant sells exactly that – everything from A to Z.
13. Take a closer look at Toblerone’s logo and you’ll see a hidden bear, a nod to its home of Bern, otherwise known as The City of Bears.
What’s In A Name?
14. Twitter’s famous blue bird goes by the name of Larry.
15. If you want to address Barbie by her full name, it’s Barbara Millicent Roberts.
16. Ever wondered what the letters in M&M’s chocolate stand for? They’re the initials of the inventors, Mars and Murrie.
17. Yahoo is an acronym of ‘Yet Another Hierarchical Officious Oracle’.
We’ll Drink To That…
18. Jack Daniel’s employees get a bottle of whiskey every month to coincide with payday.
19. Pulling the perfect pint of Guinness takes time and skill – 119.5 seconds while pouring at an inclination of 45 degrees, to be exact.
20. John Walker, the man behind the world-famous Johnnie Walker whisky, was teetotal.
Spicing Things Up…
21. Baskin Robbins once made ketchup-flavoured ice-cream.
22. Nestle wowed its Japanese market when it launched green tea-flavoured Kit Kats.
23. Raspberry bellini crisp, anyone? That was the bizarre offering from British crisp company, Tyrrells.
Brotherly Love…
24. Puma and Adidas were founded by brothers who originally ran a shoe company together but went their separate ways.
25. Another one originally set up by brothers is Domino’s Pizza. After 8 months in the trade, one of the siblings decided to swap his slice of the action for a used Volkswagen Beetle. Ouch.
Enjoyed our fascinating facts about famous brands? Read more: Famous brands that changed their names.
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