Dive Brief:

• Coca-Cola has launched Coca-Cola Y3000, a beverage the company said is the first flavor co-created with human and artificial intelligence. 

• Coca-Cola Y3000 is the latest limited-edition flavor to launch under its Coca-Cola Creations platform and the third one to debut this year. Y3000 Zero Sugar and a full-sugar version are being launched in select markets around the world, with both options being sold in the United States.  

• Coca-Cola started the Creations platform in 2022 to highlight the company’s signature beverage while drawing in younger consumers. So far, it has launched seven flavors.

Dive Insight:

As companies incorporate artificial intelligence into more parts of their businesses, the once futuristic technology is increasingly being turned to as a tool to help develop products. AI not only helps companies expedite product development or plan for the future, but it increases the likelihood that whatever they launch resonates with an increasingly fickle consumer.

Earlier this year, Becks rolled out the world’s first beer and full marketing campaign made with artificial intelligence. The AB InBev-owned brand said the beer, called Beck’s Autonomous, was selected by AI as its favorite among millions of different flavor combinations it generated. 

In 2022, Mars entered a multi-year agreement with artificial intelligence-driven life sciences company PIPA to accelerate the discovery of new plant-based ingredients. McCormick & Co. partnered with IBM four years ago to comb through data faster and more effectively by knowing which ingredients work together or which ones can be used as substitutes for each other.

For Coca-Cola Creations, the use of AI is a natural step that positions the drink in a way that could pique the interest of younger consumers who will want to try it, before potentially increasing their consumption of other Coca-Cola products. Similar to other beverages released under the Creations platform, the latest beverage doesn’t promote or reveal a flavor profile, such as cola, cherry or vanilla, but rather a mood or experience.

“Inspired by the timelessness of Coca-Cola, we want to celebrate everyone’s idea of what the future might look like,” Oana Vlad, senior director of global strategy at Coca-Cola, said in a statement. “With the help of AI-powered technology, Coca-Cola Y3000 Zero Sugar imagines how a Coca-Cola from the future could taste and introduces innovative experiences to explore the future.”

Coca-Cola said it created the Y3000 experience by tapping into human and artificial intelligence to understand how people envision the future through emotions, aspirations, colors and flavors, among other factors. It then used consumer perspectives from around the world. and combined them with insights gathered from artificial intelligence, to create Y3000.

The beverage comes with a futuristic packaging design including light and so-called “optimistic tones,” Coca-Cola said, that will only help to make the product stand out among shoppers. It has a Coca-Cola Creations logo composed of effervescent bubbles, and the Coca-Cola Spencerian Script is made with fluid dot clusters that merge to represent the human connections of our future planet.

The design, co-created with artificial intelligence, showcases liquid in a morphing, evolving state, communicated through form and color changes that emphasize a positive future. 

Coca-Cola Y3000 is being paired with an AI-powered experience the company said will give fans “an unexpected and exciting perspective” on what the year 3000 could look like. Apparel and accessories “inspired by the future” are also being sold in collaboration with Ambush. These experiences will help generate additional insight and buzz for the product among consumers, most notably those individuals spending time online playing games and talking to their friends.