We'll call you: Coca-Cola

marketingmagazine.co.uk, Wednesday, 14 November 2012 09:00AM

Mole is losing a healthy-eating war with our offspring, and reckons the addition of a calorie-to-exercise counter on Coke's site sends an unhelpful message.

Mktg Hi, I read in the paper about the calorie-counter thing on your site, that tells you how many calories are in a drink and how much exercise it would take to burn them off. I've been having a play with it, and I'm a bit baffled as to why Coca-Cola has done this, as it seems to promote Coke as a healthy drink.

Coke I'm sorry, so the calorie counter, you think is promoting a healthy drink?

Mktg Yeah, because it's saying you can do 28 minutes of Pilates and it's the same as having a Coca-Cola.

Coke Well we've done this on the website as a response to people's concerns about their calorie intake. It is probably something our public affairs and communications team would have managed. I can send your feedback to them and get a response for you.

Mktg Yeah, I just think it's misleading, because it makes it look like it's OK to have these drinks. But they're not just bad for your weight, they're bad for your teeth. It says Diet Coke doesn't have any calories and you don't have to do any exercise to burn it off, but what about the enamel that it burns off your teeth?

Coke Well we would recommend that you drink our drinks as part of a balanced and healthy lifestyle. This is an attempt to help people do that.

Mktg I see what you're saying, but from my point of view, if my teenage daughter went on that, when I try to stop her having these drinks, she might say: 'It's OK to have a can of Coke, I walk to school every day.' It makes Coca-Cola seem like a healthy drink, when it's not.

Coke As I've explained, we recommend people drink our drinks as part of a healthy lifestyle and we have several drinks that don't contain any sugar. I will certainly share your feedback with our brand team.

Mktg Yeah, that would be really good if you could. I feel sometimes I'm fighting a losing battle. I know Coke is targeting young people, and I just don't want my daughter drinking these drinks.

Coke Well, I'm sorry to hear that, and I will share your feedback with our pack team.

Mktg I really appreciate that.

Coke Thanks, bye.

 

VERDICT: 6/10

The call-handler kept her cool while handling the complaint. She did not take contact details, however, which might leave the caller uncertain as to whether the comments will be passed on.

This article was first published on marketingmagazine.co.uk