Bids for the 1996 Summer Olympics for the Games (a promise that was not carried out eventually, as Athens went on to host the 2004 Summer Olympics). Coca-Cola executives, however, had feared that a successful Atlanta bid would hurt their business. While they produced commemorative pins of the six candidate cities, with the intent of handing out the winning city's pins to IOC delegates, this backfired as others alleged that Coca-Cola had predicted which city had won; indeed sales of the beverage in Greece dropped for the next few years. A year later, an article appeared in the German periodical "Der Spiegel" accusing the Atlanta Committee
Coca-Cola Bottling Company United Coca-Cola Bottling Company United Coca-Cola Bottling Company UNITED, Inc. is a private Coca-Cola bottling company headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama, USA. Coca-Cola UNITED is the largest privately held Coca-Cola bottler in the United States and the second largest in which The Coca-Cola Company does not own an interest. Coca-Cola UNITED is a direct store delivery bottler. Finished product is delivered to customers within a geographic area. Therefore, they are considered the brand's local Coca-Cola bottler distributors. Coca-Cola Bottling Company UNITED, Inc., founded in 1902 and headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama, is the third largest bottler of Coca-Cola products in the United States