What better way would there be to celebrate Cinco de Mayo than to pop the top off of a tall, cold, refreshing...Coca-Cola? Well let's do just that as we travel back to 1978 Mexico for this latest look at vintage Star Wars food promotions.
Coca-Cola was the licensee on almost all of the worldwide cola beverage promotions for the original trilogy. Sometimes they would team up with a fast food restaurant such as Burger King or a convenience store for a fountain drink promotion, and sometimes they would have the promotion as part of their bottled or canned soft drinks. In Mexico, shortly after the release of A New Hope, Coca-Cola promoted the movie with a set of 32 bottle caps. Thirsty Mexican fans could buy a bottle of Coca-Cola or Fanta Orange and on the underside of the bottle cap they would find a photo scene from Star Wars. Each one was numbered and there was even a brief description (obviously) in Spanish. It is interesting to note that R2-D2 and C-3PO were always spelled out ("Artoo-Detoo" and "See-Threepio" or just "Threepio") which seems like a lot of extra characters used for such a tiny writing area.
The best part of the promotion (and most difficult to find today) is the cardboard tray on which you could display your set of bottle caps. Unlike the plastic tray available in Japan for a similar promotion, there was no way to hold the caps to the display. You had to glue the caps down! Collector's everywhere just gave a horrified gasp! So needless to say, finding one in good shape today is quite a challenge. The artwork is completely unique to this sign and features Darth Vader's helmet and a space battle scene.
So let's all raise our Coke bottles high in salute to one of the earliest Star Wars drink promotions. Salud! (Check out our previous coverage on a similar Coke cap promotion taking place in Japan here)
Make sure to check out Gus and Duncan's Comprehensive Guide to Star Wars Collectibles, available exclusively online and now shipping!
