Coca-Cola Arctic Home White Cans: Good Move?
Recently, Coca-Cola has received some backlash from the release of the Arctic Home white cans. It is the first time in the company’s 125-year history that the cans are not mostly red. So, was the decision to produce these limited-edition white cans a good one or was it a poor strategy to raise awareness?
As someone who has worked on Coca-Cola Holiday packaging for a few years, I was pleasantly surprised to see that Coca-Cola was really going to make a statement this year by producing limited-edition white cans. I was especially pleased that Coca-Cola was trying to do some good by partnering with the World Wildlife Fund to help protect the polar bear’s habitat. In years past, I was used to highlighting chances to win a PS3 or XBox360 on holiday packaging. The white cans seemed like a refreshing change that would really force consumers to take notice, and I applaud Coca-Cola for taking this risk.
However, now I am reminded that most people are afraid of change — particularly if the change seems out of their control. People literally freaked out over the fact that their Coca-Cola cans were no longer red. Some people even believed the secret formula tasted different in the white cans. On a recent flight, I overheard a flight attendant complaining to a passenger that she has trouble telling the difference between the white Coca-Cola can and the silver Diet Coke can. It turns out she is not alone in this confusion despite the seemingly obvious differences between the cans.
Because of this, Coca-Cola will be phasing out to red Arctic Home cans (although the company says it was always part of the plan — who knows?). Is this the right decision? Does this mean the white cans were a mistake?
At first I thought the campaign was a great idea, but in hindsight I now think a change in strategy could have made the white cans successful. I believe consumers felt as though the white cans were forced on them and they had no option to drink out of their beloved red cans. So, what if Coca-Cola released both the white and red Arctic Home cans together instead of phasing from one to the other? What if white cans could only be found in select fridge packs? Would they then be desired and sought after instead of rejected?
I remember when Star Wars Episode 1 came out and Pepsi featured the main characters on its cans. I feel like a dork admitting it, but my sister and I kept buying more and more Pepsi (although we were typically Coke drinkers) because we wanted to collect all the characters. Think about it. Different Coca-Cola packaging is usually desired and even sought after by die-hard fans and collectors. People loved the Coca-Cola Holiday orb bottles that were sold the past few years. Maybe the complete change to white was just too much too soon for most consumers.
If fridge packs were the only way to find the white cans, then that would eliminate the confusion for people reaching for single cans at convenience stores. Most people who sell individual cans would be purchasing in larger bulk sizes that would not include the white cans. Even the businesses that do purchase and sell cans from fridge packs would still have a majority of red cans to sell to those who prefer them. The exterior of fridge packs would remain red, so people would have no confusion at grocery stores.
I think this could have been a way to make people excited when they found one or two white cans in with the red cans in their fridge pack. Maybe then people would have paid more attention to the cause than the pure shock of the disappearance of red Coke cans.
What do you think?
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