Peter Sealey, the former global chief marketing officer of The Coca-Cola Company who spent six years working with Columbia Pictures, died Dec. 15 in Palm Springs, Calif. due to complications after a fall, according to his family. He was 82.
Sealey worked at The Coca-Cola Company for over two decades, during which the beverage company purchased Columbia Pictures. After the acquisition, Sealey was promoted to president of global marketing for Columbia Picture Studios and provided marketing expertise to films like “Tootsie,” “Ghostbusters,” “The Karate Kid,” “Stand By Me” and “La Bamba” throughout the 1980s.
Over the course of his career at Coke, Sealey famously produced the “Always Coca-Cola” campaign, which iconized the brand’s polar bear mascot.
“People would call our offices and ask when that commercial would air again so they could see it,” Sealey previously said in a 2021 interview. “I’m proud of the impact of that campaign.”
Sealey remained with the company until 1993, when he left to pursue alternative career paths as a global speaker, a consultant and an expert witness. He also went on to advise other businesses like Sony Corporation and the United Parcel Service.
Simultaneously, Sealey shared his knowledge in a university setting as a professor at Stanford University and the University of California at Berkeley. He also returned to teach at the Drucker School of Management at Claremont Graduate University, where he formerly received his PhD in information technology.
Outside of the classroom, Sealey’s philanthropic efforts include donations to Palm Spring’s Eisenhower Hospital and the International Program on Negotation at the Harvard-affiliated McLean Hospital. He also endowed the Peter S. Sealey Marketing Professorship at the University of Florida, where he received his undergraduate degree, as well as the Peter and Elizabeth Sealey Adoption Center at the Palm Springs Animal Shelter.
Sealey is survived by his wife, Elizabeth Sealey; his daughters, Caran Fisher and Rainey Temkin; his step-daughters, Katharine Rue and Jane Rue-Ionita; his son-in-laws, Mike Fisher, Andrew Temkin and Sergiu Rue-Ionita; his five grandchildren; and his cherished dogs, Megan and Franky.