Thursday, December 1, 2011
CAN IT: Sensitive to consumer concerns, Coca-Cola will be dumping the white holiday cans which it had created for its primary soda because they were confusing too many people who thought they were being served Diet Coke -- so much so that the company had to issue a fact sheet to help folks tell them apart.
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In my defense, the interior soda fridge light is dead, and I have grabbed a Diet Coke instead of a Coke more than a few times.
ReplyDeleteI would say that I just want my kosher/Mexican coke, but I've given up Coke for the rest of the year.
ReplyDeleteI feel a little less stupid as a result of this news - I came home from the market last weekend thinking I'd scored a deal on a case of Diet Coke, only to realize that it was the regular stuff. Luckily I caught myself when I almost did it AGAIN a couple days ago.
ReplyDeleteI saw a shelf of these cans at the Mexican restaurant by my place and immediately thought that it was going to be way confusing for people.
ReplyDeleteI was covering a (Division II) college football playoff game last weekend, and the college has long, long, long had a deal with Pepsi, so all their machines, sodas, etc., are Pepsi-labeled. However, because it was the playoffs, the NCAA has an exclusive rights deal with Coke. All the Coke products, by NCAA rules, had to be on display. So all the Pepsi machines were filled with Coke products, which was a little weird. Then, with the white cans, I saw a lot of the press avoiding them (thinking they were Diet Cokes) and picking up Mr. Pibb or something else instead. It was just a mess of confusion at the soda area.
ReplyDeleteAwww. I liked the polar bear cans.
ReplyDeleteMe too. And besides, the typography of Diet Coke and regular Coke is so different, how could you get that confused?
ReplyDeleteMe too. And besides, the typography of Diet Coke and regular Coke is so different, how could you get that confused?
ReplyDeleteI liked them, too. Also, if you're confused, READ THE CAN.
ReplyDeleteThere's a reason color can be protected as a trademark (cf. http://www.ipbrief.net/2011/11/22/find-another-color-nestle-purple-belongs-to-cadbury/): it's a quick and easy way to recognize a specific product. I'm shocked a company as branding-savvy as Coca-Cola made this mistake.
ReplyDeleteThere's a reason color can be protected as a trademark (cf. http://www.ipbrief.net/2011/11/22/find-another-color-nestle-purple-belongs-to-cadbury/): it's a quick and easy way to recognize a specific product. I'm shocked a company as branding-savvy as Coca-Cola made this mistake.
ReplyDeleteCoke is belatedly realizing that while confused customers can READ THE CAN, a smart company doesn't confuse its customers in the first place!
ReplyDeleteGood riddance, say I. I'm already sick of doing a double-take every time I reach for a can of Coke. As one with a rather nasty aspartame allergy, I've learned to treat white cans like poison.