24. Even Evil Nazis Enjoyed a Soft Drink
Fanta got its name when Max Keith brainstormed with subordinates for a catchy name. Keith urged his employees to use their imaginations (fantasie in German), and one of them piped up with “Fanta!“ Fanta proved popular with Germans during the war – even evil Nazis enjoy a soft drink. Over three million cases were sold in 1943, for example – enough to keep the company’s plants operational and its employees busy. However, contra the myth that Coca-Cola directed operations during the war, the parent company’s executives in Atlanta had lost contact with Coca-Cola Deutschland.
Still, although HQ neither controlled nor directed Keith during the war, his actions safeguarded the parent company’s interests in Germany. After the war, an investigation into Keith’s unsupervised actions during the conflict concluded that he had not been a Nazi. Despite pressure to join the party, he refused. An honorable man, he refrained from taking over the company’s operations for his own profits, when he easily could have. Instead, he kept meticulous accounts, and turned the profits, as well as the new drink, Fanta, over to Coca-Cola after the war.
