White Coke can controversy

December 2, 2011 8:10 PM

Coca-cola's new white holiday cans anger/confuse consumers.
posted by Weeping_angel (29 comments total)

This feels almost like a Pepsi Blue news story, but different somehow.
posted by Homeboy Trouble at 8:13 PM on December 2, 2011 [6 favorites]

Yahoo?
posted by mrducts at 8:14 PM on December 2, 2011

Getting high fructose corn syrup when I was expecting phenylalanine would probably bother me, too. If I were really into phenylalanine. I guess.
posted by koeselitz at 8:15 PM on December 2, 2011 [2 favorites]

In 500 years, some grad student is going to write a wonderful thesis about a strange society from the past where the colour of their junk food packaging qualified as news.
posted by auto-correct at 8:21 PM on December 2, 2011 [2 favorites]

I wish I had never signed up for the Internet. I could be reading a book now. My bad.
posted by kozad at 8:21 PM on December 2, 2011 [6 favorites]

Atlanta-based Coke says that it's happy with the campaign and as such will be immediately ceasing it, several months before it originally intended to do so.

Oh, PR. Is there nothing you can't not fail to not do?
posted by penduluum at 8:22 PM on December 2, 2011 [3 favorites]

Yeah Coke spent how many millions of dollars over three decades to ingrain in people's heads that white=diet, and then are surprised that people get annoyed when you switch it up on them?
posted by empath at 8:24 PM on December 2, 2011 [1 favorite]

> In 500 years, some grad student is going to write a wonderful thesis about a strange society from the past where the colour of their junk food packaging qualified as news.

Hey, that'll be a gem in a sea of Bengilina's Sparkling Vampire School Musical starring Ashton Kutchers many start-ups.
posted by lkc at 8:29 PM on December 2, 2011

I thought it was hilarious that people got so worked up about the color of the can.
posted by Weeping_angel at 8:29 PM on December 2, 2011

I fucking hate these.

Grabbed one at work and drank a few big swigs before realizing that it wasn't diet.

First world problems yo.
posted by Lord_Pall at 8:30 PM on December 2, 2011 [2 favorites]

The white holiday cans mean that my cow-orkers aren't stealing my cokes from the fridge because they think they are diet cokes.
posted by Pogo_Fuzzybutt at 8:32 PM on December 2, 2011 [4 favorites]

Koka Kola Klux Klan.
posted by twoleftfeet at 8:39 PM on December 2, 2011 [1 favorite]

And the whole purpose for the white cans is a "save the polar bears" campaign where they'll be contributing $3million to I-don't-know-what, because the only way to save the polar bears is to stop Global Warming, which Coca-Cola Co. couldn't do with $3BILLION. But, dream on.
posted by oneswellfoop at 8:39 PM on December 2, 2011

I won't lie. Flying over the holiday weekend and asking for Coke from the stewardesses, I always freaked out a bit when they brought out that can before they assured me, "no, it's not diet. Don't worry."

This might not be important news but this was a fairly stupid marketing idea. When you've got major products in iconographic colors, DON'T MIX THOSE COLORS. This is basic.
posted by Navelgazer at 8:39 PM on December 2, 2011

Coke blue white
posted by Greg_Ace at 8:51 PM on December 2, 2011

outraged
posted by mattoxic at 8:53 PM on December 2, 2011

But it's a professional white background, gotta give 'em that.
posted by Kevin Street at 8:54 PM on December 2, 2011 [7 favorites]

Whatever, holiday soda news is all meaningless now because there is no Pepsi Holiday Spice.
posted by Bulgaroktonos at 8:56 PM on December 2, 2011 [2 favorites]

I've got an empty one right next to my empty THOR can of Coke featuring THE DESTROYER.
posted by stinkycheese at 8:58 PM on December 2, 2011

Hmm. Too bad. I thought the cans looked kind of cool. I guess drinking non-diet to diet fans is like Dracula accidentally drinking holy water. Be careful Diet Coke drinkers.
posted by hot_monster at 9:00 PM on December 2, 2011 [2 favorites]

This is why we can't have white cans.
posted by Flashman at 9:01 PM on December 2, 2011

"Related Posts
Knut The Polar Bear Has Died March 19, 2011"

That's... kind of eerie, there, magic related-posts machine.
posted by mendel at 9:09 PM on December 2, 2011

Not news: Consumers don't read packaging, make wrong choices.

News: Company worth over 72 Billion acknowledges the existence of global warming.
posted by sourwookie at 9:11 PM on December 2, 2011

So they spend umpteen thousand dollars changing the cans over to white, and now have to spend that much to change them back to red. Still the same old sugar water at 1000 percent profit. And some shittin' CEO got paid big bucks coming up with this idea.*

Hey, you assholes in advertising, maybe realize the economy is in the toilet and knock off 5 or 10 cents a can. That's how you develop brand loyalty.

*And this is why I pretty much stopped drinking soda.
posted by BlueHorse at 9:16 PM on December 2, 2011

Oddly enough, we just had a conversation about this in the office. Unpacking take out for a late dinner and assumed deli sent three cans of diet because all were white/silver. Colleague who had ordered regular would deal with diet - until we actually looked more closely at the cans. It's too confusing for those who shop by broad sight. Surprised it didn't come out in focus groups.
posted by TravellingCari at 9:26 PM on December 2, 2011

I will say, despite the obvious colour goof, that the cans are nice.

The writing is horizontal! Wow! It only took, what, forty years before they realized Coke cans stand vertically?
posted by Sys Rq at 9:38 PM on December 2, 2011 [1 favorite]

(That said, the writing is WAY TOO BIG. It's not legible in any orientation.)
posted by Sys Rq at 9:40 PM on December 2, 2011 [1 favorite]

I wish I could anger/confuse consumers.
posted by philip-random at 9:42 PM on December 2, 2011 [1 favorite]

This is why we can't have white cans.

That, and the repeal of Jim Crow laws.
posted by ShutterBun at 9:44 PM on December 2, 2011