INTERESTING Facts About Popular Brands You Didn't Know

There are some genuinely good companies out there, but when you do just a little research, you begin to find that they are few and far between. We found a lot of good, bad, ugly, and fascinating things while prodding a little bit. Welcome to our list of Interesting Facts About Popular Brands You Didn’t Know Subscribe to Talltanic http://goo.gl/wgfvrr 2. Coca Cola This massive soft drink company has provided millions with refreshing, tasty drinks since 1886 but we think there are some little-known facts about the company that you might be interested in. In 1888, following the death of Coca-Cola creator John Pemberton, a man named Asa Griggs Candler took over and, to raise awareness for the drink, handed out coupons offering a free serving of Coke. Of course, this was a great marketing ploy as when people wanted more they were more than willing to pay the five cents it cost for a glass. In the late 1800’s, nobody knew that soda was bad for you and they even gave babies drops of Coca-Cola in hopes of calming them down but probably actually made things worse. Did you know that canned Coke was invented for soldiers overseas? The soldiers they were designed for never actually saw the coke as the materials needed in manufacturing were scarce during World War II, so when the war ended they distributed them to civilians, sticking with the cans because they were so convenient and easy to ship. The best Coke around is more than likely found at McDonald’s. The two companies formed a partnership in 1955 and Coca-Cola ships their products to McDonald’s in stainless steel containers, not the plastic bags that it uses for other restaurants, and it’s said to be the best Coca-Cola available. Not everything Coke classifies as good, though. “Water Wars” have been going on in India for years, where locals believe that Coca-Cola plants in the area are sucking dry the water supply, and some of the population think that the Coke in the area is contaminated by pesticides. They condoned testing on animals and even directly funded laboratories to do so until 2007. They stopped the practice after PETA got involved because of a study where scientists cut open the faces of chimpanzees to see how their nerves reacted while encountering the taste of something sweet. 1. Walmart If you don’t know what Walmart is you’re probably Paris Hilton. But seriously, basically everyone on Earth knows about this giant corporation, and whether you love them or hate them, there are some seriously interesting facts to be found about them out there. In 2012, the company registered roughly $444 billion in sales, and if Walmart were a country, it would be the 26th largest economy in the world. Walmart employs 1.4 million people in the U.S. and more than 2.2 million worldwide. All of its employees in one place would look like the entire population of a city as it employs more people than the total number found living in Houston. If those employees were an army, they’d be the second largest military force in the world. If all of the lands that Walmart owns were laid out side-by-side, it would be about 1.5 times the size of Manhattan, covering 34 square miles. It’s no wonder that approximately 90 percent of all Americans live within 15 miles of a Walmart. The parking lots of the stores alone take up around as much ground as Tampa, Florida. Here’s the dark side of Walmart. They’re known to use foreign labor to be able to pay less for the products they sell in stores, and it’s been noted that most of the overseas labor is done by children. The children working in factories that provide Walmart with the products report being beaten, and work 12 to 14-hour shifts at 6.5 cents an hour, seven days a week. They’ve been sued for wage theft and in 2002 had to pay $151 million to workers claiming to have been robbed of their pay. On a scale of generosity Walmart falls a little short. Bill Gates, the co-founder of Microsoft, gives away around half of his net worth, whereas the entire Walton family has only given away about two percent.