Coke Zero, a sugar-free version of the classic Coca Cola drink, was launched in 2006, probably to compete with rival sugar-free product, Pepsi Max. Instead of sugar, the drink contains artificial sweeteners, some of which are considered to be possible carcinogens, which has given fuel to those who campaign against the Coca Cola company and their activities.
Although a variety of advertising techniques were used to promote the product’s launch, an unusual and drastically unsuccessful approach was taken in Australia, where the company used graffiti, spam and fly posting to advertise a fake social movement, ‘the Zero Movement’, leading people to a blog with which Coca Cola claimed they had no connection. When they were exposed as the organization behind the campaign, anger quickly spread among members of the community at what they saw as the intrusion of mass marketing into their personal space, and several blogs were set up to attack and criticise the company, its methods and the aforementioned ingredients.
Other, more conventional advertising also failed, to some extent, as a costly television advert was banned for showing a man riding on top of a bus (‘unsafe behavior’). In response to the secondary wave of promotion, featuring action sequences with highly sexualized images of women and aimed directly at young men, complaints of sexist content were received, in one case leading to the withdrawal of the advert.
Despite its initial setbacks, which included a total recall of all stock in Venezuela due to illegal levels of a chemical sweetener and enforced ingredient changes in other countries, Coke Zero has become a popular product and a great market success around the world.
