Coca-Cola combines marketing, activism in new can design

NEW YORK — Coca-Cola is removing labels from its cans in Middle Eastern Countries to teach tolerance until the end of Ramadan, a Muslim holiday ending July 17. The new design is part of Coca-Cola’s “Let’s take an extra second” campaign, which aims to promote tolerance.

The red cans, which do not display the words “Coca-Cola,” feature only the company’s signature ribbon and the sentence, “Labels are for cans, not people.” 

Citing a statistic that people form prejudices within seven seconds, the company released an accompanying video that features six strangers speaking in a dark room. Throughout the conversation, they make judgments about each other’s appearances, which are all disproved when the lights turn on. Watch the video above to get an idea of what the campaign is trying to do.