You Probably Didn't Know About The Phone Coca-Cola Used To Make

You may have seen a cheeseburger phone or two in your day (perhaps from its iconic appearance in the movie Juno, according to Thrillist), but have you ever stopped to wonder about its beverage counterpart: the soft drink? Coca-Cola, to be exact. It's hard to think of anything that hasn't been branded with this beverage giant's iconic logo with products like fishing rods and even motor-homes donning the red and white branding, so a phone isn't that far out of the realm of possibility. And a cell phone was what Coca-Cola gave us, but with a catch.

In 2000, the year of Y2K doomsdayers and Destiny's Child domination, phone maker Ericsson came out with the A1018s in a special Coca-Cola edition for the UK, according to GSM Arena. You could have one, but only for the price of 60 ring-pulls from Coke cans or paper tokens from Coke bottles. The phone actually came with a Coke-emblazoned front panel, "Coca-Cola" instead of the carrier logo on the (now ancient-looking) digital screen, and, perhaps best of all, a Coca-Cola ringtone built right in. Vintage Nokia lovers, take note.

If this type of phone sounds right up your alley, there are a few of these A1018s still floating around the internet, although you have to pay real money for them. You can also snag one of several other Coca-Cola branded phones, including one shaped like an actual Coke can, to a Coke bottle, and even an old school one made to look like a rotary phone straight from the living room of your kooky, collectible-loving aunt (via Etsy).

While the days of collecting bottle tops or comparable tiny items may have passed us by, there were some branded promotions promising a sweet, kitschy branded item at the end as recently as 2020. One was Monster's "Unlock the Vault" tab collection program from only last year, where you could win a Monster hat for enough pull-rings — or even a car — if that's your thing (via Monster). Fortunately, or unfortunately, if you were still holding out for a cigarette-branded inflatable kayak, Marlboro's take on this, known as Marlboro Miles, was phased out in 2006, according to Our Pastimes. Probably for the best, anyway.