Coca-Cola Marking Its 100th Birthday On Six Continents

ATLANTA (AP) _ The Coca-Cola Co. soft drink empire will use the ''domino theory'' on six continents next month to celebrate its 100th birthday.

Aided by satellites and expert domino ''topplers'' in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; London; Nairobi, Kenya; Tokyo; Sydney, Australia; and Atlanta, 650,000 dominoes will fall in celebration of Coke's centennial and the growing impact and business potential of satellite communications.

The 42-minute domino toppling will start and end at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta on May 9. The final domino of the first leg in Atlanta will collapse on a trigger that will signal a satellite to begin tumbling dominoes in Rio Janeiro.

The domino road will then continue to London, Nairobi, Tokyo and Sydney, and finally back in Atlanta.

Other switches triggered along the route will inflate balloons, light birthday candles and toss confetti.

''We are celebrating our 100th birthday, and part of what we want to demonstrate to our guests from around the world is that the world is growing ever smaller through satellite communications, and that the Coca-Cola family is also growing closer together because of satellite communications,'' said Coca-Cola spokesman Randy Donaldson.

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