At
the beginning of May, Coca Cola replaced its normal labels with 150
of the most popular first names and called it the Share a Coke
campaign. By the sounds of it we're all loving it. Just one little
thing – are we completely insane?
When I first heard about Cola Cola's most recent brainwave, I had a little chuckle to myself and thought, we're never
going to fall for that, and now I feel about as stupid as the idiots
who sat around a table and said, 'let's put people's names on the
bottle, that'll make them buy a bottle of coke'.
If
you're someone who likes to feel personally addressed by everything you drink,
why not just get a black marker pen? And as for everyone else –
what is the novelty? Coca
Cola say:
We
have got off to a good start this year and we think this campaign
will build momentum on the first quarter. We are still cycling some
of the crummy weather from last summer but this is going to be a
really strong campaign for the brand – it’s quite unusual and
arresting to see your name replace a brand as iconic as Coke.
Anyone who knows me will know that the typo in the above quote certainly does not help matters.
Am I the only person who mindlessly buys a bottle of something fizzy and doesn't really mind that it isn't personally addressed to me? When I was little I wore a velvet headband with my name written across it. At the time, it was a novelty. It made me happy. I repeat: at the time. Of being a child.
As
with anything in the entire world, Twitter always manages to lend
some perspective. Here's what I found when I searched Share a
Coke:
So
disappointing how i have to buy the one that says "share
a coke
with friends" bc there isn't one with my name on it
IF
SOMEONE FINDS A COKE BOTTLE WOTH "SHARE
A COKE
WITH ROSIE" SOMEONE SEND IT TO ME???
Apparently,
coke don't want you to share
a coke
with Beth so fuck them, I'm switching to pepsi.
Found
my name on a coke bottle again today in tesco so I brought it
Soooo
Coca Cola has "Share
a Coke
with... Manpreet" and I still can't find Lesley there
So
Coca Cola wanna share
a coke
with Sandeep but not with Kiera ? that hurts
We didn't only fall for a campaign that had us pegged for the
idiots we are, but we missed the point. No-one's bothered about
getting one for their friend, they just want to know if there's a
one with their own name on it. You overestimated us there, Cola.
I got a bottle saying Kerry to give to my friend who I haven't seen in *ages*, but then I lost it in the car on the way to her house :(
ReplyDeleteAm I the only one sensing some racist sentiments in the way people are reacting to some of the names? Like the two last tweets that you have posted, with people expressing some sort of shock that the bottles bear the names Manpreet and Sandeep. And I heard someone in a shop jeering at the bottle that said share a Coke with Abdul. These names are not funny or strange, they are normal names and clearly some of the most popular. To have a reaction that boils down to LOL THAT NAMES SOUNDS ASIAN AND SILLY is really quite ignorant.
Oh I know, there was so many of that kind of reaction I found just scrolling through Twitter - it was unbelievable! It was a disgrace they couldn't find their name, but even more so when they saw names that aren't traditionally British. Amazing!
DeleteHa!
ReplyDeleteI agree with this totally - half the my office (James x 2, Kelly, Tom, Jon and Richard...we're a common bunch!) has bought Coke for themselves with their name on. I just want a sodding Coke (and I have no intention of sharing. Fuckers can buy their own fizz.)
Re the traditional Asian names, I can see why people who don't have a strong Asian presence in their community might find it odd than Manpreet is in there but not seemingly common British names like Douglas. I went to an all-girls school in Bucks where the overwhelming majority of students were white. We weren't racist, but names like that would have been unusual to us. In our whole Sixth Form I don't believe we had a single black student, and just a handful of Asian kids. Now that I live in London, which of course is much more multicultural, Sandeep is as regular to me as Robert, but I don't think many of the people complaining their names aren't on the bottle are being intentionally racist. A Lizzy may well complain her name isn't on a bottle but Amber, Lorna and Faisal got on, as her name seems more common (at least to her).
Admittedly, some people are just dicks though.
Great post!