WHITE CAN, SAVE POLAR BEARS: Coca-Cola partners with WWF for its Arctic Home Campaign

Coca-Cola Polar Bears

Have you seen them yet?

 

I know in my last blog I wrote “it is the holiday season again folks.”  However, it is not truly the holiday season until Coca-Cola launches their annual polar bear campaign.  But this year there is a new twist.




Arctic Home

 

White cans?

Yes. 

On Tuesday, October 25, 2011, CBC news reported that Coca-Cola “unveiled changes to its iconic can” and announced that they “will commit $2 million over five years to a partnership with the World Wildlife Fund in a project called Arctic Home.” 

This is an extreme example of corporate responsibility in action.  Yes, Coca-Cola is the current soft drink leader in the world; however, one mistake in their marketing and advertising strategy and they could drop to #2.

Hmm … now my marketing mind shifts into overdrive and I begin to question the motives of this multi-million dollar corporation.

Why, all of a sudden, is Coca-Cola leading the charge towards conservation?  If our iconic polar bear has been part of their seasonal advertising since 1922, why are they just starting a campaign to save them in November 2011? 

What are the good people of Coca-Cola up to?  Are they trying to deflect our attention away from another important issue?  Could it be their declining sales due to health concerns?  Or the fact that the Ministry of Education in Ontario banned the sale of junk food and pop from our public schools this past September?  Perhaps their audience is shrinking ... then again ... maybe not.    

According to the Toronto Sun, based on data from Statistics Canada, “almost one-quarter of adult Canadians are obese.”  The Canadian Diabetes Association estimates that “more than 9 million Canadians live with diabetes or prediabetes.”



The dangers of soft drinks

I wonder if Coca-Cola is simply trying to win back some of their customers with this heart-warming story of saving our beloved polar bear from extinction?  Could Coca-Cola be so ruthless?

The answer may be found right under our noses... literally.   

Young child drinks Coca-Cola