Coca-Cola Life

Coca-Cola Life is a product of Coca Cola launched in Argentina in June 2013, in Chile in November of that year, in Sweden in June 2014 and in the UK in September 2014. It was created in Argentina and Chile after five years of research together in these countries.^[1] It has subsequently been launched in many other countries.

It is the first version of the soft drink to be produced with stevia and sugar as sweeteners.

It is a lower calorie version of Coca-Cola, having 27kcal/100mL, containing 60% of the calories of regular Coca-Cola.^[2] Coca-Cola Life tried to co-exist with Diet Coke and Coca-Cola Zero^[3] in the Argentine and Chilean market, but it has been slowly removed from those markets due to its low reception from customers.

It can be compared with Pepsi True, which also uses Sugar and Stevia as a sweetener. Over 45 products distributed by Coca-Cola use stevia extract.^[4]

United States

The roll-out of Coca-Cola Life in the United States began in the summer of 2014, with the product being sold at a number of locations of The Fresh Market grocery store.^[5] Nationwide distribution began on November 4, 2014.^[6] The release of Coca-Cola Life is the first Coca-Cola product launch in the U.S. since 2006.^[7]

Prior to the full-scale national launch, the market research firm Haynes & Co. said that early research findings showed a positive view by consumers toward the drink.^[6] The company plans to host 4,000 events at stores where people can sample the drink for free.^[5] To help with its advertising and public marketing campaign, the company hired Fitzgerald and Company to develop strategy and promote the product on social media.^[8]

United Kingdom

Coca-Cola began offering the drink to U.K. customers in September 2014.^[9] The offering was the first new Coca-Cola product introduced in the U.K. in eight years.^[10]

To promote the drink, at one event the company hired British model and actress Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, who promoted the drink at a launch party in London in September.^[11]

In August, The Telegraph sent a correspondent, Harry Wallop, and a film crew onto the streets of Victoria to conduct a taste test of random people. In a video news segment produced from the taste test, Wallop says that most people could tell the difference in taste between Coca-Cola classic and Coca-Cola Life, although many people told him they preferred the taste of Life.^[12]

In the United Kingdom, the Coca-Cola company has led several health initiatives, and it considers the introduction of Coca-Cola Life as a vital component to its initiatives. Specifically, the company promoted lower obesity rates and more active lifestyles among British people. The company insisted in connecting the roll-out of Life with its stance on promoting health.^[9][13]

The Grocer, a 150-year-old magazine in the U.K.,^[14] conducted a blind taste test among seven of its staff members in June. According to The Grocer, all seven tasters preferred the taste of Life to the other products. (The article in The Grocer did not specify which products Life was tested against.) However, all seven tasters said that they thought they had been tasting Coca-Cola Classic.^[15]

Argentina

In Argentina, the launch of Coca-Cola Life placed an emphasis on the recyclable bottle. The drink is distributed in Coca-Cola's "PlantBottle", which is made up of recyclable petroleum-based material plus around 30 percent plant-based material.

Coca-Cola released a television ad in Argentina called "Parents" to promote Coca-Cola Life.^[16] Marketing in Argentina was focused, much like in the U.K, around healthy lifestyles.^[7] "Parents" is a humorous commercial featuring a young married couple receiving news about their first pregnancy. The commercial shows the parents going through common hardships of young parenthood, such as getting little sleep, having a toddler make a mess in the house, etc. Toward the end of the commercial, the father closes his eyes and takes a long drink from a Coca-Cola Life bottle. He opens his eyes, and while still drinking, his wife shows him a "positive" pregnancy test result. What appears to be a look of horror on the father's face (his eyes widen) turns into a look of joy and excitement.^[17]

In December 2014, the advertising magazine AdWeek gave the commercial an award in the "Best Ads of 2014" category.^[16]

Ingredients

The drink contains Truvia, a branded form of stevia extract. Stevia has no calories. Truvia is currently an $80 million product, as of 2014.^[18]

Coca-Cola Life is the first branded Coke product to use stevia leaf extract.^[10] However, it is not the first product owned by the Coca-Cola company to use stevia. Vitamin Water and Seagram's Ginger Ale both use it.^[19]

Coca-Cola Life contains sugar, but uses less sugar than traditional Coca-Cola. An 8 US fluid ounces (240 ml) serving contains around 60 calories, 17 grams of carbohydrates of which 17 grams is sugar (equals only 1/3 less sugar than traditional Coca-Cola). The list of ingredients is carbonated water, cane sugar, caramel color, caffeine, phosphoric acid, and stevia.^[6][20]

Packaging

The drink comes in glass bottles, plastic bottles, or aluminum cans. The logo is a small green leaf.^[12] The plastic bottle is fully recyclable (like normal PET bottles) and 30 percent plant-based, with fossil-fuel plastic accounting for the remaining 70 percent of the bottle.^[21]

Distribution

Coca-Cola Life is currently sold in:

• Argentina ^[22]
• Australia ^[23]
• Belgium^[24]
• Chile ^[25]
• Denmark^[26]
• France^[24][27]
• Germany^{[28] [29] [21]}
• Ireland^[30]
• Italy ^[31]
• Japan^[5]
• Latvia^[5]
• Luxembourg^[5]
• Mexico^[5]
• Netherlands ^[24]
• New Zealand ^[23]
• Norway ^[32]
• Poland^[5]
• Romania
• South Africa
• Sweden^[33][34]
• Switzerland^[35]
• United Kingdom^[5]
• United States^[5]

Critics

Critics warn Coca-Cola Life is simply a marketing gimmick or 'greenwashing' of its outdated image with the Original Coca-Cola drink.^[36][37]

References

External links

• Media related to Coca-Cola Life at Wikimedia Commons

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