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SALT LAKE CITY -- It won't be a white Christmas for Coke cans that had many customers seeing red this holiday season.
Coke and Diet Coke should be polar opposites, according to many consumers, but that did not stop Coca-Cola Co. from issuing a holiday can that featured a line of polar bears on a white backdrop that some consumers said resembles the Diet Coke can a little too closely.
Coca-Cola has a history of implementing winter-themed designs on Coke cans every year, but this year the design was meant to support a cause: the polar bears that to so many consumers mean holidays with Coke.
The company partnered with World Wildlife Fund this holiday season in an effort to draw attention to the impact of global warming on polar bear habitats and to raise money for their conservation.
I hope they can reintroduce them next year with this confusion resolved. I always think it's great when corporations give back to the environment.
–Alex Orton
An initial $2 million donation was made to the WWF, with an additional $1 million available for a dollar-for-dollar match campaign to encourage consumers to donate to the cause. This marked the first time in its 125-year history that the company changed the color of its iconic red can to support a cause.
"The polar bear has always been Coke's holiday symbol, and I think it's great they are trying to help save the species while preserving their brand," consumer Alex Orton said. "I thought it was a great promotional, holiday marketing strategy that potentially could have had a large impact on sales generation."
Despite the cause, some consumers could not bear the thought of traditional Coke going white for the holidays. The response was nothing short of virulent on Twitter, where consumers tweeted that the new cans were "radical," "a nightmare" and even "blasphemy."
Many commenters felt the can looked too similar to Diet Coke, which is packaged in a silver can and features snowflakes this holiday season.
"I passed on a white can of Coke because I thought it was Diet, what gives?" tweeted one user.
In addition to individual consumers, the white cans have proved to be problematic for some area businesses.
#poll
"Our vendor has delivered the wrong soda cans because of the color," said Heather Coker, catering coordinator at Cafe Zupas in West Jordan. "Employees have accidentally told customers we were out of classic Coke when, in fact, we had plenty."
Coker said she thought it would be in the best interest of Coca-Cola Co. to rethink the white design.
"It's in the best interest of customer service," she said. "No one likes going back to a store for a $1 can of soda, so instead many will settle for a product they had no intention of purchasing."
"Designs are intended to separate products and make them stand out from one another -- the new cans are just too similar to Coke's second top-selling product."
The white cans were originally supposed to remain in stores through February, Coca-Cola announced Oct. 25 in a press release. The company said Dec. 1, though, that the cans would only be sold "while supplies last," and that red holiday-themed cans would be produced beginning in early December.
- Coca-Cola cans "have an all-white background" that "features silver images of polar bears."
- Diet Coke cans "have all silver background ... with "Diet" written in black script."
"People have told us they love the limited-edition white "Arctic Home" Coca-Cola cans, and we know they love our iconic red cans," the company said in a statement.
The company said the change had nothing to do with consumer complaints, but the red cans were never mentioned in the original press release, and the current stock of white cans will not last until February. The change is a triumph for vocal consumers who were dissatisfied with the original product, but it is one that some find disappointing.
"It's unfortunate that they pulled the white cans because of the confusion with Diet Coke," Orton said. "I actually didn't even notice the two products looked similar."
"I hope they can reintroduce them next year with this confusion resolved," he continued. "I always think it's great when corporations give back to the environment."
The environmental campaign will continue despite the white cans getting the cold shoulder from consumers, according to Coca-Cola.
"(The red can) continues to advance our campaign efforts to protect the polar bear's Arctic home," the company said in a statement.
