New White Coke Cans On Their Way Out, Consumers Lack Common Sense

A lot of people hate change. Change is inevitable, but apparently changing the color of a soda can is taking it too far for many Coca-Cola consumers.

This season Coke rolled out a campaign to sell regular Coca-Cola in white cans adorned with polar bears to help gather donations to save the polar bears. Coke usuallyhas some special holiday designs on their cans, but this was the first time they've ever turned the cans white. And has proven to be too much for many Coke drinkers.

According to the Wall Street Journal,

Consumers complained that [regular Coke] looked confusingly similar to Diet Coke's silver cans. Others felt that regular Coke tasted different in the white cans. Still others argued that messing with red bordered on sacrilege.

Are we as consumers really that stupid? Do we really have the mentality of thinking, "Screw the polar bears.  I'm not buying that, It looks like diet coke!" (Okay, I know the polar bear part of that comment is a bit of a stretch, but that is the reason Coke switched to white cans. That and making more money.)

Sadly, the most compelling argument I can buy into is the 'sacrilege' one.  I can believe there are people so obsessed with the tradition of red-canned Coca-Cola that they're upset over the change. They can complain all they want.

However, if you're too dense to realize the white can that says "Coca-Cola" in big red letters is different than the silver cans that say "Diet Coke," than you really don't deserve a vote in the matter.

Secondly, to those of you that say it tastes different...I'm not even sure what to say to you. It's the same coke inside the same can with a different paint job on the outside. If you believe this do you also believe that  Sour Patch Kids in the little bag taste different than the ones on the big bag? That a McDonald's hamburger in a box tastes different than one wrapped in paper? Or that a blue Hyundai Elantra gets better gas mileage than a silver one?

Get over yourselves and go find something worthwhile to complain about.

The Wall Street Journal said Coke is "happy with the campaign and that critics of the white can represent a minority. " None-the-less, new red holiday cans are on there way to stores and the white one's probably won't be around come February.

Read on to see what the new red cans will look like and to find out more about the effort to save the polar bears with Coca-Cola and the World Wildlife Fund.

Inspired by the threat facing the polar bear and its habitat, Coca-Cola and World Wildlife Fund (WWF) are joining forces to help protect the polar bear’s home. Together we are raising awareness and funds for the creation of an Arctic refuge for the polar bear—a project that will require working with local communities, supporting research and carrying out additional conservation work. As part of the Arctic Home effort, Coca-Cola is committing $2 million and has agreed to match up to $1 million of consumer donations made with a product code.

Coke has agreed to match up to $1 million of consumer donations through Arctic Home. If you would like to make a donation matched by Coca-Cola, find a product code under white Coca-Cola bottle caps or any specially marked Coke products and donate from your mobile phone or from this site.

[Arctic Home]

[Wall Street Journal]