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
Several consumer associations met to launch an awareness campaign about the origin of meat in transformed products, with the hope of changing European legislation.
Bob & Berts is an independent coffee shop chain situated in Northern Ireland. Bob & Berts chain recently received £2 million from investors to help expand their business.
Belfast, like any other major city, will have plenty of coffee shops to choose from. However, some will be better than others.
Starting this week, Sainsbury's offers to its deaf customers using British Sign Language a new way to contact its call centres. The SignVideo service will be tested in a one year long trial to deliver an immediate communication with the retailer.
