Coke’s Logo Is Iconic. The Brand Just Demolished It In A New Ad
Source: Fast Company, Hunter Schwarz
Photo: Courtesy of Ogilvy
Coke crushed its logo to encourage recycling, but the company’s efforts to reduce plastic pollution are still falling flat.
Coca-Cola’s breaking one of the cardinal rules of logo usage for a good cause.
Brand guides warn against stretching or otherwise manipulating a logo’s shape, but for a new campaign to encourage recycling in Latin America called “Recycle Me,” Coke crunched its logo like one of its cans.
In a promotional video from Ogilvy New York, Coke’s iconic red can is crushed by an invisible force, drawing attention to its new crunched-up logo in white. (The ad makers used techniques like mechanical presses and vacuums to crush the cans without hands.) Meanwhile, the song overlay alludes to the cans getting a second life: “this isn’t goodbye ’cause I know that we’ll be together again.”
“This telegraphic and impactful visual, with the ‘Recycle Me’ call to action taken right from the side of the can, is designed to put recycling front of mind and encourage the consumer to take positive action after consuming a can of Coke,” the agency wrote in its case study. “Each execution features a unique logo, mimicking the different ways people crush their cans before recycling them.”
This clever campaign is yet another example of how Coke doesn’t always need to adhere to strict brand guidelines. A fun interpretation of its logo, as experienced in the wild, is just as identifiable. (Coke’s recent campaign using unauthorized logos painted on the sides of bodegas and shops executes this conceit well, too.)
Both campaigns are proof of Coca-Cola’s deep brand equity. You can easily recognize the script logo against a red background even when manipulated.
The campaign is just one piece of a larger effort by the beverage maker to clean up its image. Last month the company announced new bottles that are lighter, thinner, and use less plastic. It started phasing out plastic six-pack rings with cardboard in 2019. It still has a long way to go, though.
In a market where experience rules, organizations that let operations languish do so at their own risk. Here’s why a ‘strategic’ approach is required.
While it’s important to recycle, the onus for reducing plastic pollution lies not just with consumers but producers. And at least on the production side, Coca-Cola isn’t exactly crushing it just yet.