Coca Cola Acquires AHH.com

I was checking out some three letter .com domain names this morning, and I came across an interesting landing page on AHH.com. The landing page says “There are over 34,755 ways to explain how Coca-Cola makes you feel, and one way to describe them: Ahh.” There’s a button below the graphic imploring people to click to “explore the world of AHH,” and clicking that takes visitors to another unique url: ahhhhh.com.

I did a bit of research, and it appears the domain name was acquired just last month, most likely between April 9 – April 24. On April 9, the Whois records showed that the domain name was registered to the previous owner of the domain name, Adams, Harkness & Hill. On April 24, Whois records shows Coca-Cola as the domain name’s registrant.

According to a 2001 Boston Business Journal report, Adams, Harkness & Hill is/was a Boston-based investment banking firm. A Google search for the company didn’t yield a corporate website in the top results. Using the Whois email address for the previous registrant, I was able to see that AHH was acquired in 2006 by a wealth management firm called Canaccord Genuity.

Screenshots.com doesn’t show a website on AHH.com from between 2007 until now, so I don’t know if AHH.com was in use or if it was used as a forwarder to the acquiring company’s website.

Fast Company has an article about Coca-Cola’s usage of the branding, and you’ll want to check it out if you’re interested in the Coca-Cola campaign.

I didn’t see any sales reports for AHH.com, so it was most likely acquired in private for an undisclosed sum. Whatever the cost of the domain name was, I am sure it was worth it for this campaign.