Coca-Cola became one of the world’s most powerful brands by equating its soft drinks with happiness. Now, for the first time, it’s addressing a growing cloud over the industry: obesity.
The US-based company has started airing a two-minute ad during the highest-rated shows on CNN, Fox News and MSNBC in hopes of becoming a stronger voice in the debate over sodas and their impact on public health. The ad lays out Coca-Cola’s record of providing drinks with fewer calories over the years and notes that weight gain is the result of consuming too many calories of any kind, not just soda.
Coca-Cola says the campaign will kick off a variety of moves that help address obesity in the year ahead, such as providing more diet options at soda fountains.
For the world’s No. 1 beverage company, the ads reflect the mounting pressures on the broader industry. Later this year, New York City is set to put into effect a first-in-the-nation cap on the size of soft drinks sold at restaurants, movie theatres, sports arenas and other venues.
And when PepsiCo Inc., the No. 2 soda maker, recently signed a wide-ranging endorsement deal with pop singer Beyonce, critics called for the singer to drop the contract or donate the funds to groups that fund health initiatives.
Diana Garza Ciarlante, a spokeswoman for Coca-Cola Co., said the new ads aren’t a reaction to any negative public sentiment but that the company felt it needed to address “the issue of the times.”
“We have not done a good enough job in telling our story and being consistent in telling our story,” she said, noting the company had to be careful to remain consistent with its brand voice and avoid sounding “preachy.”
In the ad, a narrator notes that obesity is an issue that “concerns all of us” but that people can make a difference when they “come together.”
Another ad, which will run later this week during “American Idol” and before the Super Bowl football championship, is much more reminiscent of catchy, upbeat advertising people have come to expect from Coca-Cola. It features a montage of activities that add up to burning off the “140 happy calories” in a can of Coke: walking a dog, dancing, laughing with friends and doing a victory dance after bowling a strike.
Garza Ciarlante said the 30-second ad, a version of which ran in Brazil last month, is intended to address confusion about the number of calories in soda. She said the company’s consumer research showed people thought there were as many as 900 calories in one can.