If the silence from the official sponsor of the Sochi Olympic Games concerning the Russian anti-gay law has some up-in-arms, its latest sales initative is unlikely to improve the situation. The "Share a Coke" marketing campaign organised in different countries has taken a new turn in South Africa. In addition to the list of more than 400 first names that can replace the brand's logo on the can, the South African version of the dedicated "Share a Coke" website allowed a virtual bottle to be customised with the inscription of your choice. However, some words such as "gay", "lesbian" or "homo" are refused by the platform and produce a strange error message. "Oops, let's pretend you didn't just type that. Please try another name".
This could lead you to think that only proper nouns or ones with no sexual connotation can be validated. However, the word "straight" ("heterosexual") comes up with no problem at all on the red and white label of the drink. Whilst the brand has since closed its virtual customisation service, it has still not explained these discriminatory restrictions. For their part, homosexual rights defence associations are calling for a boycott of the brand.
*Illustration from the Coca-Cola Facebook page : https://shareacoke.co.za
News in the same category
Last July, the artist, Nickolay Lamm, demonstrated that Barbie wouldn't stand up if she was real. He then imagined a doll with realistic measurements, now financed by the Crowdtilt Open site under the name, Lammily.
Announced at the end of 2013 by the internet giant, the Amazon Prime Air service should soon start in the United States. This delivery service was temporarily authorised by the American authorities, under certain conditions.
The cake chain, Sprinkles Cupcakes, has just opened its sixth cupcake vending machine in New York. Having introduced the concept in 2005, the brand offers smaller queues and cakes any time of day.
For any Irish person living in London and missing their favourite foods, the Irish Centre recently opened it new Irish Shop 'An Siopa' - which means that you don't have to wait until your next trip to the Emerald Isle to get specific brands that you love.
