The World’s Most Popular Brands

Coca-Cola isn't just a drink, just as a Mercedes isn't just a car... nowadays you have to be a brand. Here are six of the world's biggest brands and the stories behind them.

Coca-Cola

It is the world's number one brand and it is recognised by 94% of the world's population! For many years now, Coca-Cola has been a symbol of American culture. It is also the best-selling soft drink in the world. More than 60,000 products from the Coca-Cola company are drunk around the world every minute.

Rolex

One hundred years ago, few men wore wristwatches: but the Rolex company – based in Switzerland since 1908 – changed all that. They gave us the first wristwatches to show the date, the first diving watches, the first sports watch, the first watch to show different time zones ... and now Rolex watches (with prices that range from $3,000 to $20,000) are worn as a status symbol all over the world.

Nokia

Although most people in consumer surveys guess that Nокіа is a Japanese company, it’s actually from northern Europe! Originally a paper factory on the banks of the river Nokia in Finland, it became the world’s leading mobile phone company in the late 1990s. Their first commercial mobile, the Mobira Talkman, which appeared in 1984, weighed 5 kg. The latest models are a bit lighter, however!

Samsung

Samsung (the name means 'three stars') began as a company in 1938. It originally produced noodles and dried fish! However, the company has come a long way since then. Mobile phones, digital cameras, flat-screen TVs, DVD players ... you name it, are all manufactured by this electronics giant from South Korea.

Mercedes

The makers of cars driven by the rich and famous, the Mercedes company, has its base in Germany. Emil Jallinek, a wealthy banker who bought and loved cars, named the car Mercedes after his nine-year-old daughter. And the famous three-point Mercedes star was designed to symbolise the growth of the business into transport on land, sea and air.

KFC

The famous face which is seen at more than 9,000 KFC restaurants worldwide actually belonged to a real person: Colonel Harland Sanders. At different times he was a soldier, an insurance agent, a tyre salesman and worked in his parents’ petrol station. When he saw that people were more interested in his home-made food than the petrol he was selling, he decided to open his first restaurant in Utah, USA, in the early 1950s. Colonel Sanders is also remembered for organising the biggest party in history – about 35,000 people attended his seventy-ninth birthday in 1970.

/Cutting Edge /

wristwatch ['ristˌwɔʧ] - наручные часы

range [reɪnʤ] - ряд, диапазон

to be worn [wɛə] wore , worn - носить

consumer survey [kən'sjuːmə 'sɜːveɪ] - опрос потребителей

on the bank of the river - на берегу реки

to appear[ə'pɪə] - показываться, появляться, выпускаться

flat-screen[flæt skriːn] - с плоским экраном

wealthy['welθɪ] - богатый; состоятельный

tyre ['taɪə] - шина; покрышка

3. Answer these questions:

1. What is the world’s number one brand?

2. How many products from the Coca-Cola company are drunk around the world every year?

3. Why are Rolex watches worn as a status symbol all over the world?

4. When did Nokia become the world’s leading mobile phone company?

5. How much does Nokia’s first commercial mobile weigh? When did it appear?

6. When did Samsung begin as a company?

7. What did it originally produce?

8. What products are manufactured by Samsung?

9. Where does the Mercedes company have its base?

10. Who called the company Mercedes?

11. What does the famous three-point Mercedes star symbolize?

12. Why did Colonel Harland Sanders decide to open his first restaurant? When did it happen?

4. Choose one of the passages from the text and retell it.

Text 2

1. Read the article: