Dive Brief:
- Coca-Cola is the latest brand to hop on the patriotic bandwagon in a year that features both the Olympic games and a U.S. presidential election.
- To tap into the sentiment, the soft drink bottling company is releasing cans with a U.S. flag motif that will be available on a limited basis through July 4.
- Coke's cans will also display the "I'm Proud to Be an American" lyric.
Dive Insight:
Earlier in May, AB InBev announced it would be renaming its signature Budweiser beer as “America” through the election season in November. Tosh Hall, creative director at JKR (the agency behind Budweiser's name change), told Fast Co. Design, "We thought nothing was more iconic than Budweiser and nothing was more iconic than America."
Other brands taking a similar approach this year include Burnett’s Vodka “USA Party” edition; Smirnoff’s Red, White & Berry; MillerCoors’ Keystone Light’s “Stone Spangled Summer” campaign with patriotic packaging; Skittles' “America Mix” with red, white and blue candy; and Hershey changing the silver lettering on its chocolate bars to red, white and blue – the first change of its kind in 122 years, according to Ad Age.
As for Coke's campaign, Ad Age reports that the redesign is part of its "Share a Coke and a Song" initiative that has popular songs appearing on cans and bottles, and featuring the flag is meant to honor the 75th anniversary of its partnership with United Service Organizations (USO).
