What Killed Coca-Cola's White Coke Can

Coca Cola
Alexander Abad-Santos 10,373 Views Dec 1, 2011

Coca Cola's white holiday coke can is dead, dead two months before their run-through date, and it's your fault.  "Coca-Cola Co. is switching back to its time-honored red just one month after rolling out its flagship cola in a snow-white can for the holidays," reports the Wall Street Journal.  Adding: "New seasonal cans in red will start shipping by next week, as white cans—initially expected to be in stores through February—make an exit."  And here's why the white can died:

  • Your Diet Coke Addiction Makes You BlindThe Journal reports that a deli owner in an Atlanta food court, said about half a dozen customers have returned opened white cans in recent days after realizing, too late, that they weren't drinking Diet Coke. and he let them take unopened diet cans without charging a second time.  Adding, "Most of the confusion seems to arise at small stores, where consumers grab single-serve cans from coolers."
  • You Believe Urban Myths:  The story mentions a YouTube video (this one with a meager 30 views) of a blind taste test and someone pointing out "funky" tasting coke from a white can, and they report that consumers "felt that regular Coke tasted different in the white cans." Coke officials deny tweaking the taste, and say they only changed the can.
  • You Might Not Be Able to tell the Difference Between Silver and White: So much so that Coca Cola added a "fact sheet'' on its website pointing out the differences between how polar bear-peppered white Coke cans don't look a thing like silver, snow-flake laden Diet Coke cans.

The Journal mentions a few more cranks and complaints--about polar bears, about being Coke traditionalists wanting to keep the red color--but notes that "Atlanta-based Coke says that it's happy with the campaign and that critics of the white can represent a minority." And they add that Coke's marketing executives wanted a "disruptive" campaign to get consumers' attention. "Disrupted consumers"--it looks like Coke got exactly what it asked for.

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