The Coca-Cola Co. launched 1.4 billion special edition white…
The Coca-Cola Co. launched 1.4 billion special edition white cans onto the market (in December 2011) as part of its Arctic Home campaign to raise funds for, and awareness of, attempts to protect the endangered species. It was the first time in 125 years that the regular product had been switched from its trademark red cans. The cans featured the company’s iconic logo in red, set against an all-white background, and a picture of three polar bears plodding through the snow, in what the company described as a “bold, attention-grabbing” move to publicize conservation efforts by the World Wildlife Fund. “We’re turning our cans white because turning our backs wasn’t an option,” read the campaign logo, with the company urging buyers to make $1 donations to the cause, which it pledged to match up to the value of $1 million, to help protect polar bear habitats. – The Telegraph, Dec 3, 2011 The campaign failed miserably. Just one month after launching the white cans, which Coca-Cola had intended to keep churning out until March 2012, it halted further production. Each section (a-b) has a 50-word limit (a) (1.5 points) Why might the campaign have failed? (c) (1.5 points) What could Cola-Cola have done differently?