Coca-Cola celebrates "the good old days" of Nazi Germany

As a kid I didn't much care for drinking Coke.  But I loved the orange-flavored carbonated Fanta.  I wasn't aware that Fanta was a product of Coca=Cola - or that it originated in Germany.

Coca-Cola is celebrating 75 years of Fanta.  Unfortunately, the company made references in a promotional video to "die guten alten Zeiten" -  the good old days - when Fanta was created - in Nazi Germany.

Was geschah wirklich im Jahr 1940? Aufgrund von Einfuhrbeschränkungen waren in Deutschland die Originalzutaten für Coca-Cola knapp geworden. Da mischte ein findiger Mitarbeiter aus dem, was er gerade bekommen konnte, ein neues Getränk, die Hauptbestandteile waren Molke und Apfelfasern. Die Mixtur wurde Fanta genannt, sie war die einzige Brause, welche die Firma Coca-Cola zwischen 1942 und 1949 in Deutschland verkaufte. Erst später wurde die Marke auf eine Limo mit Orangengeschmack übertragen.

("What really happened in 1940? Due to import restrictions the ingredients to make Coca-Cola in Germany were scarce.  So an inventive employee mixed a new beverage from whatever was available, the main components were whey and apple fiber. The mixture was called Fanta, it was the only fizz drink that Coca-Cola sold in Germany between 1942 and 1949. Only later was the brand converted over to a soda drink with orange flavor.")

So was the Coca-Cola company an indirect supporter of the Third Reich?  History is never black and white.  The Web site Snopes has the best explanation:

Fanta sold well enough to keep the plants operating and Coca-Cola people employed. In 1943, 3 million cases of Fanta were vended, but not all were imbibed — some were used to flavor soups and stews. (Sugar rationing inspired many a housewife to look to unusual sources for that which could no longer be bought outright in large enough quantities to satisfy.)

Until the end of the war, Coca-Cola executives in Atlanta did not know if Keith was working for the company or for the Nazis, because communication with him was impossible. Their misgivings aside, Keith was safeguarding Coca-Cola interests and people during that period of no contact. It was thanks largely to his efforts that Coca-Cola was able to re-establish production in Germany virtually immediately after World War II.

In any event, Coca-Cola's reference to "the good old days" was a marketing faux pas and the company immediately removed the video.  But here, for your viewing pleasure, is the original video celebrating 75 years of Fanta: