Coca Cola pulling white cans from shelf

[jrodsep]

I bought a 12-pack of these last month. And like many others, after popping open the bow, had to do a double-take to make sure it wasn't a Diet. But I really don't mind/could care less about the cans being white. Plus, they're for a good cause right?

Coke is Coke. Get over it, people.

Hey you stole that line (pun intended) from Ron Washington.....

[BrandMooreArt]

one thing to add, i know Coke and Turner Duckworth fully understand the power of color and how the familiarity of coke/diet coke is ingrained into the American (and others) mind. they know they can take the bare essentiel elements of an identity (color and shape, the first 2 things our mind reads) and still make it "read" as the intended product. see below

i still stand that this was a beautiful, smart design ruined by non-aware buyers. i know the power of color and brand recognition and understand the "at first glance" arguments completely, but i like Andrew, just cant justify someone being upset at this because they pulled it off the shelf, made the purchase, then discover its Coca Cola when they got home.

[Viper]

I bought a 12-pack of these last month. And like many others, after popping open the bow, had to do a double-take to make sure it wasn't a Diet. But I really don't mind/could care less about the cans being white. Plus, they're for a good cause right?

Coke is Coke. Get over it, people.

Hey you stole that line (pun intended) from Ron Washington.....

Of course, there was once a time when Coke really was, well, coke.

[oddball]

Again, I don't buy this argument. It's not about me needing to analyze the contents of the product I am buying at EACH purchase. It is that we have been conditioned to expect a certain result when we consume a liquid in a light colored can. To say the average person analyzes the everyday common purchases they make is far fetched to me.

You realize this is identical to the theory behind operant conditioning, correct? Laboratories use mice and rats to prove the effectiveness of operant conditioning. It's far fetched to expect an average human to behave at a level more advanced than a lab mouse? I hope you don't need me to read that aloud for you to understand how ridiculous it is.

Why are there any words at all on the can? Lets just sell the Coca-Cola in plain red cans, and we'll sell the Diet Coke in plain silver cans. If people want to really know what's in those cans, they can call up Coke HQ or send a letter with an S.A.S.E.

Cans have words so that we, as humans, can use the skills and knowledge we've developed over centuries and read them.

So you are saying that you are all high and mighty and don't fall into this condition of operant conditioning? Don't give us the high and mighty line about operant conditioning, when every human being falls into this category. If they say they don't they just lie to themselves. As far as reading labels, why? "Healthy" people are going to die, so why waste your time worrying about this and that. The fact of the matter is that if you believe all these "healthy" alternatives then you have fallen into one of the biggest scams ever. Unless you are growing your own food, raising your own cattle, and drinking water, you aren't eating healthy, you just think you are. Oh wait, that would be 100% operant conditioning.

[andrewharrington]

Again, I don't buy this argument. It's not about me needing to analyze the contents of the product I am buying at EACH purchase. It is that we have been conditioned to expect a certain result when we consume a liquid in a light colored can. To say the average person analyzes the everyday common purchases they make is far fetched to me.

You realize this is identical to the theory behind operant conditioning, correct? Laboratories use mice and rats to prove the effectiveness of operant conditioning. It's far fetched to expect an average human to behave at a level more advanced than a lab mouse? I hope you don't need me to read that aloud for you to understand how ridiculous it is.

Why are there any words at all on the can? Lets just sell the Coca-Cola in plain red cans, and we'll sell the Diet Coke in plain silver cans. If people want to really know what's in those cans, they can call up Coke HQ or send a letter with an S.A.S.E.

Cans have words so that we, as humans, can use the skills and knowledge we've developed over centuries and read them.

So you are saying that you are all high and mighty and don't fall into this condition of operant conditioning? Don't give us the high and mighty line about operant conditioning, when every human being falls into this category. If they say they don't they just lie to themselves. As far as reading labels, why? "Healthy" people are going to die, so why waste your time worrying about this and that. The fact of the matter is that if you believe all these "healthy" alternatives then you have fallen into one of the biggest scams ever. Unless you are growing your own food, raising your own cattle, and drinking water, you aren't eating healthy, you just think you are. Oh wait, that would be 100% operant conditioning.

This is pretty off base. If you're buying soda (or generally trying to find anything remotely healthy in a can) then you're not looking in the right place for healthy things. And no, I don't generally consider myself high and mighty, unless of course claiming to be smarter than a lab mouse makes me high and mighty, then you got me; guilty as charged, brother. I do claim to be literate, however, and I do not routinely fall victim to health food scams (because I generally do not eat healthy food and am quite aware of much of the food industry's unethical tactics).

Conversely, I do make damn sure I'm buying what I want before I buy it. I simply don't think it's unreasonable to expect a human to read the label on whatever he or she is purchasing. I wouldn't go down the cereal aisle and pick up the first orange-yellow box I see, then freak out when I get home because I accidentally bought regular Cheerios instead of Honey Nut Cheerios. I wouldn't pick up the first white carton of orange juice and then go ballistic because I got Florida's Natural instead of Tropicana. I would read the f---ing box and make the correct choice at the supermarket. Hypothetically, if I screwed up and bought the wrong item, well, you're damn right it would be my fault, and there's no way in hell I would be complaining to Cheerios that the colors of their boxes are too similar. I'd simply learn from my mistake and read the label next time. To put it in other terms, I would be an adult about it instead of blaming my incompetence on someone else, but hey, that's The American Way™ after all, isn't it?

[DG_ThenNowForever]

What if Budweiser was in blue cans and Bud Light in red? Same thing -- Coke has spent decades driving home that Coke is red, Diet is gray. They switched it up unexpectedly and people are confused. I think it' reasonable confusion. It doesn't have to be a great indicator of a decaying society (whereas how much Coke we drink actually is a pretty good indicator of a decaying society, natch).

[GFB]

"... I do know that if the can says regular Coca Cola, then regular Coca Cola is in that can regardless of the color."

"Well, I never seen no Regular Coca Cola come in no white can before..."

[Cola]

What if Budweiser was in blue cans and Bud Light in red? Same thing -- Coke has spent decades driving home that Coke is red, Diet is gray. They switched it up unexpectedly and people are confused. I think it' reasonable confusion. It doesn't have to be a great indicator of a decaying society (whereas how much Coke we drink actually is a pretty good indicator of a decaying society, natch).

Great comparison.

Drew is oversimplifying this as "smart people read the label of what they buy and idiots don't." I could have scanned the label and still believed it was Diet Coke. It said Coca-Cola on it in some variant, which does make Diet Coke, and it was also silver/white...that is about as far as I feel I need to go in reaching for what I think is a Diet Coke.

[BlueSky]

I'm just glad they didn't put it in gold cans. Then you'd have a bunch of caffeine-deprived people arguing this.

[Morgan33]

Doesn't surprise me one bit that Pop drinkers would get this upset about something as silly and arbitrary... must be all that High Fructose Corn Syrup addling their brains. Fact is anyone who purchased a can or pack of White Coca Cola thinking it was diet has nobody to blame but themselves. And maybe that neurotoxin Aspartame for reducing their intelligence to the level of lab rats.

As for the design itself, the white can looks great. Too bad whats inside is complete garbage.

[Milo Meningocele]

I'm getting a kick out of everyone who's so vehemently resisting the bottom line of just reading the farking can. It's not an 800 page tome, it's a couple of words. It's almost literally effortless. I'm enjoying that people are so helpless about something so mind-numbingly simple as picking out the right pop.

[BlueSky]

Doesn't surprise me one bit that Pop drinkers would get this upset about something as silly and arbitrary... must be all that High Fructose Corn Syrup addling their brains. Fact is anyone who purchased a can or pack of White Coca Cola thinking it was diet has nobody to blame but themselves. And maybe that neurotoxin Aspartame for reducing their intelligence to the level of lab rats.

As for the design itself, the white can looks great. Too bad whats inside is complete garbage.

Please share your insight on any other foods we should be avoiding.

[sc49erfan15]

Bah, life is hard, eh? I don't ever buy pop at the stores, but I thought everybody knew that the full name Coca-Cola, coupled with that particular script always meant regular--and that diet used the shortened word Coke, and appeared in print rather than cursive. Doesn't everyone know that? I think that's a more distinctive indicator than can base color.

Usually, but not always.

Not the best picture, but "Diet Coca-Cola" (albeit small) is there on the cans, as well as the bottles.

FWIW, I saw some of my students drinking Coke from the white cans. I had to do a double-take to check to see if it was Diet or a special can. Took me less than 10 seconds to figure it out, but there was some ambiguity at first.

It's also ridiculous how holier-than-thau a discussion about Diet-friggin'-Coke has become. Jesus tapdancing Christ.

[Milo Meningocele]

Bah, life is hard, eh? I don't ever buy pop at the stores, but I thought everybody knew that the full name Coca-Cola, coupled with that particular script always meant regular--and that diet used the shortened word Coke, and appeared in print rather than cursive. Doesn't everyone know that? I think that's a more distinctive indicator than can base color.

Usually, but not always.

Not the best picture, but "Diet Coca-Cola" (albeit small) is there on the cans, as well as the bottles.

Technically true, but we all know that the tiny wordmark on the side bottom, below the recycling logo isn't what we're talking about. Barely anyone notices that, and what I said holds true when we're talking about the large, main wordmarks.

[winghaz]

As one who works for Pepsi, I sure got a laugh about this.

[BrandMooreArt]

What if Budweiser was in blue cans and Bud Light in red? Same thing -- Coke has spent decades driving home that Coke is red, Diet is gray. They switched it up unexpectedly and people are confused. I think it' reasonable confusion. It doesn't have to be a great indicator of a decaying society (whereas how much Coke we drink actually is a pretty good indicator of a decaying society, natch).

i imagine it would look like this

[sc49erfan15]

Bah, life is hard, eh? I don't ever buy pop at the stores, but I thought everybody knew that the full name Coca-Cola, coupled with that particular script always meant regular--and that diet used the shortened word Coke, and appeared in print rather than cursive. Doesn't everyone know that? I think that's a more distinctive indicator than can base color.

Usually, but not always.

Not the best picture, but "Diet Coca-Cola" (albeit small) is there on the cans, as well as the bottles.

Technically true, but we all know that the tiny wordmark on the side bottom, below the recycling logo isn't what we're talking about. Barely anyone notices that, and what I said holds true when we're talking about the large, main wordmarks.

Always = always. No buts, whens, barelys, or technicallies.

We recognize Coke as coming in a red can. That's okay. When it's not in a red can, we get a little confused.

For the elitist anti-operant conditioners, what if tomorrow, the United States mandates that we drive on the left side of the road? Or that we stop at green lights and go at red ones? I'm sure you'd be perfectly fine with that.

[DeFrank]

lol "pop"

[mfoster]

Not really. People thought Crystal Pepsi tasted like rancid cinnamon Sprite because they didn't expect a clear soda to taste like cola.

Right now, history is repeating itself.

No, Crystal Pepsi tasted like battery acid.

That said, I remember reading a story about Mexican Coke - in those old bottles with the pure cane sugar. Turns out that if you put regular Coke in a bottle that's been "aged" by rolling it around in parking lot, an overwhelming majority of people will believe it's Mexican Coke.

[The_Admiral]

You can get cane sugar Coke around Passover. I guess it tastes better, but that's probably because I'm already telling myself going in that it will taste better. Sort of like the Crystal Pepsi thing. Soda exists largely in our minds.