Coca-Cola has more than 50 million Facebook-fans now

Coca-Cola passed 50 million fans on Facebook shortly after 9 a.m. Tuesday, according to a spokesperson for the company.

Several celebrities like Rihanna and Lady Gaga have more more than 50 million Facebook fans, as do services like YouTube and Facebook, but Coca-Cola is the first retail brand to hit this milestone. Disney, Converse and Starbucks, three of the other most popular retail brands, each have fewer than 40 million fans on Facebook at the moment.

To celebrate crossing such a major threshold, Coca-Cola launched a new application on its Facebook page. The app encourages fans to submit ideas for inventions and causes that this online community of 50 million can turn its energy towards to improve the world. Coca-Cola will ultimately provide support for one of these ideas and unveil the finished result sometime next year.