Obituary: Tony Tortorici, Former Coca-Cola PR Chief

(MENAFN- PRovoke) CANTON, GA-Tony Tortorici, formerly vice president of public relations for Coca-Cola North America and later executive vice president of marketing and Head of European operations at Ogllvy Public Relations, passed away on March 26, 2026 at the age of 83.

Anthony Joseph Tortorici was born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio, and started his work life as young journalist working simultaneously at ABC-TV Cleveland and United Press International while attending college full-time.

Transferring into public relations, he served as nanager of the Cleveland News Bureau for General Electric, abd then director of public relations at Cleveland-Cliffs, and director of public relations at KFC/Heublein.

He spent 13 years, from 1977 to 1990, as vice president of public relations for Coca-Cola North America, leading a team that included more than 40 staffers and three outside agencies focused on external communications, investor communications, issues and crisis management, employee and bottler communications and publications, community relations, archives, licensing and consumer affairs.

During that time, he was recognized by the Public Relations Society of America with a Silver Anvil Award.

In 1990, he joined Ogilvy PR Worldwide as executive vice president of marketing and head of European operations. Two years later, he founded Tortorici & Randolph (later TortoriciPR). His philosophy was simple and enduring: public relations is about“influencing attitudes to affect action.”

In 2013, Tony bought Cupcakelicious, a beloved sweet shop in historic downtown Woodstock, GA. In recent years, he wrote and published a song,“Another Brand New Christmas,” and published a book with his daughter,“Find Your Light! Theater is Life. Life is Theater.”

He is survived by his wife of 60 years, Antoinette, his daughter Angela and son-in-law Frank Mantero-VP of marketing at Groome Industrial Service Group-and his son Anthony Joseph Jr.

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