Why were Coca Cola shirts so popular in the 80s?

It never made sense to me.

Why that, among all options.

It was a snarky wink for love of that real cocoa.

If I recall, they were sold at mildly upscale department stores too.. I may be wrong. I think they had them at Jordan Marsh in New England.

I never knew they were popular OP I was in high school and college during the 80s and don't remember people wearing them

Agree with R1. It was letting people know you were into blow. Was there a code to differentiate between dealers and customers, though?

Never had one. And Coca-Cola would have to pay me to wear one. I'm not there fucking advertising vehicle.

The cola wars were an 80s thing.

Actually I think it had something to do with Coke being threatened as a part of American life. It was in the 80s that they fucked around with the taste of coke, and found out people were not pleased at all.

I was in elementary school and remember that several kids had them and when I went to the mall the teens were all wearing the shirts as well.

They did sell them at department stores like Burdines here in Florida.

I was a kid in the 80s and had one like the one in the picture. They were fashionable and slightly upscale, as someone else said.

It's the most famous brand on earth

[quote]I was in high school and college during the 80s and don't remember people wearing them

Someone call a nurse for R3! She escaped the retirement home!

sorry R13 but in NYC New York City no one I knew shopped at Kmart nor would they have worn ads for that sugar water. and people would ask if you wanted a bump no shirt necessary.

Was it inspired by the Benetton rugby shirt? I remember seeing that more often.

Obviously because of the cocaine connection.

'Things Go Better with Coke' is the T-Shirt I remember

[Quote]She escaped the retirement home!

R13 is that what they called nursing homes back in the day?

There were a lot of fads in the 80s, like Swatch watches. By the time I bought one, after the peak, friends were like why are you wearing that now?

I think it was a wink to the Enjoy Cocaine shirt a decade before (sold at Spencer Gift at the local mall).

Stop acting like you know what you're talking about, r14.

Coca-Cola in the 1980s enjoyed a kind of pop art popularity, which is why Warhol ended up on the commercials, and why Keith Haring did the New Coke "Andy Mouse" painting, and Basquiat did a few Coke paintings. This was early in the 1980s and there was a bit of a drug pun involved, as others suggested.

Later in the decade, the Cola Wars. From that point on, at least in my experience, most kids by the late 1980s who wore soda (or beer) shirts got them for free when they were at Six Flags or something.

"The story is ultimately a short one. Starting in 1985, Coca-Cola produced a line of clothing with the Murijani Corporation. This company had created the Gloria Vanderbilt jean craze of the 1970s, so they knew what it takes to create a cultural craze. Murijani tapped up-and-coming designer Tommy Hilfiger to design the line, just before Hilfiger hit it big with his own brand."

"Although Coca-Cola apparel was nearly everywhere for a couple of years, any trend that burned as hot as the Coke clothing trend will eventually burn itself out. By the end of the decade, buyers had mostly moved on to other looks and other fashions."

[Quote]Stop acting like you know what you're talking about, [R14].

I know what I know and maybe for the Bowling for Dollars crowd Coca Cola shirts were in fashion, but they were not a fashion trend where I lived.

You implied that Coca-Cola was out of fashion in NYC, r23, when the opposite was true. It was the subject of several major works from the young new NYC artists of the day, back in the early 1980s. It was briefly trendy.

And I made it clear that the earlier 1980s Coke trend was different from the late 80s fashion trend, and r22's link is a great explainer on that. It went from being hip and interesting to played out very quickly.

[Quote]You implied that Coca-Cola was out of fashion in NYC,

Never said or implied any such thing. I preferred Pepsi anyway

What am I, chopped liver?

It was the beginning of "brand awareness" where people became cult-like obsessed with labels.

I thought it was ironic, like wearing a D.A.R.E shirt

They used to give them away free with a minimum purchase of around $50.00 at Belk's. Bomber jackets and bears too. Every kid was walking around in one or the other in NC when I was growing up in the 80's. Probably because every mom/grandmother/etc. shopped at Belk, esp. during the holidays. Good promo on their part, but no one actually bought the items- They were freebies.

I bought a "Coke Is It" shirt in 2004 off eBay, but I was in college and a dealer sooooo.....

I think R22 did a great job explaining the appeal.

It was a short-lived fad (not too long after the Jams fad, at least where I grew up).

A fad I jumped on — it’s embarrassing to think that I made Coke my identity in high school.

They were big when I was in 7th grade in 1987, they sold in Chicago at Marshall Field's and Carson Pirie Scott, which were moderately upscale department stores. Better than Penneys, Sears, and Wards, but below Nieman Marcus.

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