Coca-Cola rebrands products in Germany amid US image crisis

a year ago by Severus_Snape to c/europe

As the global reputation of US brands slips, some US firms are turning to unusual marketing strategies. Coca-Cola, for instance, is now promoting itself as a "German product."
kami 64 points a year ago

This should be illegal

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duhlieluh 59 points a year ago

too bad the corporations control their own regulation.

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colourlessidea 28 points a year ago

Not a Coca Cola fan, but why? If it’s made in Germany, it should be okay to say that

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trollercoaster 30 points a year ago

Not so much, if the money goes to the US. And at very least some licensing fees will go to the US with an originally US brand.

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errer 16 points a year ago

Got a news flash for you: lots of German made products send plenty of money to the US

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trollercoaster 10 points a year ago

Unfortunately.

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markovs_gun 9 points a year ago

Would you take issue with Nike having advertisements saying "made in Indonesia" on them?

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rumschlumpel 15 points a year ago

It's kinda hard to find out where Coca Cola is actually made. Coke for the German market is for sure bottled in Germany, but the Coke syrup which is the base for it (which Coca Cola is very cagey about) isn't necessarily made there. I assume it's made somewhere in Europe because according to a brief web search it's made in about 4 places in the world and Europe is a big market, but there isn't really a reason to assume that the European syrup plant is in Germany, insted of Spain, Netherlands etc. - certainly possible, but not at all certain.

But TBH, even if it was all made in Germany, it's still kinda bullshit. Maybe not in a legally actionable way, but Coke is not that popular in Germany and the inventors and standard ingredients (other than water and beet sugar) have no connection to Germany whatsoever. The Coca Cola product that deserves to be called "the German drink" is Fanta, and I assume Coca Cola isn't quite ready yet to use Fanta's Nazi heritage as a selling point.

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kami 10 points a year ago

Simply because people should know exactly what they are buying and from who, without having to make a web search at the supermarket for every single product they want to buy (which sometimes is not even that easy because corporations are allowed to be pretty shady and you have to dig further than a simple search of the product/brand name)

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remon 1 point a year ago

So what are you proposing exactly? Should the be forced to put a "invented in USA" after the "made in Germany"? I really don't see the point.

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jenesaisquoi 7 points a year ago

Just because there isn't an obvious single-sentence solution to a problem doesn't mean there isn't a problem

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kami 2 points a year ago

I wonder why you are so triggered, but ok.

In my country they are, for example, allowed to state that their product is made here even if it is ONLY processed and packaged here.

Assuming this is the same situation (and I'd be very surprised if it isn't), "product of Germany" is false and should not be allowed.

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Kissaki 1 point a year ago

Standardized product labeling:

  • Brand: coca cola, US
  • Recipe market: Europe
  • Material source: x and Germany
  • Packaged (bottled): Germany

🤔

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nymnympseudonym 6 points a year ago

Only if it's from the official Koka region

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verdi 10 points a year ago

The amount of sugar they put on it is what should be illegal. Motherfuckers are co-responsible for an entire generation of obesity and we're left holding the bag as tax payers.

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chris 52 points a year ago

I switched to Vita Cola and now I don't even like Coca cola anymore. Just doesn't feel refreshing anymore. And it's cheaper.

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JetpackJackson 23 points a year ago

From Wikipedia:

Vita Cola is a cola beverage produced in Germany. Vita Cola's flavor is described as cola-like with a strong note of lemon and fruit flavoring.

Do I have the right one? It sounds interesting

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Wrufieotnak 16 points a year ago

Yes, it's from east Germany and survived the reunification. I also like its lemony flavour more than pure cola.

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JetpackJackson 3 points a year ago

Oh nice, TIL! Thanks!

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Venus_Ziegenfalle 7 points a year ago

That's the one

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JetpackJackson 1 point a year ago

Alright thanks!

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BigShammy80 15 points a year ago

Try Afri-Cola, it's delicious 😇

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chris 3 points a year ago

I know it. Not my fave.

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TanteRegenbogen 1 point a year ago

Too sweet. And the sugar free one has an aftertaste I don't like. Still better than Cocacola though.

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kugel7c 3 points a year ago

I'm a mio mio cola junge but vita and afri are both also better than coke.

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CosmoNova 33 points a year ago

i’ve noticed Coke, fanta and monster have been on sale in stores at least twice as often as any other beverage brand this summer. Often at a 50% discount and they had a huge Star Wars collaboration out of nowhere. I still didn‘t buy any of it. I bought European brands. Coke posing as „the german drink“ does bring back some memories though. Mostly bad memories.

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rumschlumpel 22 points a year ago

Coke posing as „the german drink“ does bring back some memories though. Mostly bad memories.

Would have been even worse, a lot more truthful and also funnier if they did that with Fanta.

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TanteRegenbogen 2 points a year ago

I only buy monster for my younger brother and only when it is on sale. I wished he'd drink a European brand energy drink such as Gönrgy.

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TanteRegenbogen 29 points a year ago

We have a word for that in German: "Etikettenschwindel"

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coronach 10 points a year ago

I appreciate German's endless supply of terms 🙂

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Valmond 2 points a year ago

That's just etikett and schwindle together!

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Kissaki 5 points a year ago

Roughly translates to misleading or con labeling

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RunawayFixer 8 points a year ago

"Label swindle" is the closest literal translation I think.

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germanatlas 22 points a year ago

I’ve been drinking Fritz Cola for about 7 years now, cheap tricks won’t win me back

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RichieRich 10 points a year ago

Same here but with "Afri Cola". German drinks do taste better than Coca Cola. 💪

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Trail 2 points a year ago

Yeah, I have also switched to a local one here in greece, tastes better and does not have an aftertaste.

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Venus_Ziegenfalle 20 points a year ago

They could try naming it Koker Koler and offering it in 1 liter mugs. I'd still prefer cheaper regional alternatives but it would be funny.

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Melchior 8 points a year ago path: 0 19779455 19780853, hotness: undefined, score: 8, children: 0
MrNesser 4 points a year ago

Too close to Kofola a legit EU brand cola Tastes awful to me

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mapu 3 points a year ago

Can't agree, Kofola out of the tap is glorious. Can't wait to be in Czechia/Slovakia again

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MrNesser 2 points a year ago

Prefer Radegast myself

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imetators 1 point a year ago

I still have no idea why would anyone drink branded cola when your average grocery store cheap cola tastes exactly the same.

But again, maybe it is me. I don't even feel much difference between normal cola, zero and light.

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Cliff 6 points a year ago

That is clearly you then. There is a massive difference between normal coke vs. light or zero.

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DasAlbatross 1 point a year ago

I looked this take up on WebMD and it said your taste buds are wack.

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jenesaisquoi 19 points a year ago

superior water drinking noises

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Pofski 16 points a year ago

It looks like they’re emphasizing local sourcing to distance themselves from U.S. associations, but that misses the real issue. The problem is not whether the ingredients are local, it is that Coca-Cola is still a U.S. company. The same applies to brands like Heinz, Tesla, and others. Their identity is tied to their origin, not where they source materials.

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mcange 14 points a year ago

Who needs Coca Cola?

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RichieRich 3 points a year ago

😍 SUPER-SEXY AFRI-COLA!

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rockmeat 12 points a year ago

in other words, the boycott is working! Keep it up, lads!

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Ooops 11 points a year ago

I thought it's a UK (headquarter of CCEP) or Spanish (by far biggest share owner is Coca-Cola Iberian Partners) product...

(for reference: less than 20% of that "US brand" is owned by the original US company)

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Kissaki 1 point a year ago

The internationalization of corporations really doesn't make it easy.

Local remains local though. Not every other is multinational or liquidated across investors.

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SaveTheTuaHawk 9 points a year ago

Maybe they should try adding back the cocaine.

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AnUnusualRelic 9 points a year ago

I'm pretty sure they're doing this in most if not all, of Europe.

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notsosure 6 points a year ago

It turns out to be quite hard to boycott USA products, but our household is getting there.

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Duke_Nukem_1990 1 point a year ago

What are you struggling with?

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otter 2 points a year ago

How long do you have?

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AnUnusualRelic 1 point a year ago

CPUs, GPUs...

Drinks have never even been an issue.

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Lachs 4 points a year ago

Pfanner 2L Grüner Tee Tetrapack Meisterklasse representiert

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Lushed_Lungfish 4 points a year ago

How about Fanta?

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Railcar8095 7 points a year ago

They need to show how fanta is a 100% German brand, born of the will of Coca-cola to circumventing the embargos placed on Germany during the 40's due to, you know, being Nazis and such.

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AnUnusualRelic 1 point a year ago

"We make it from whatever comes out of the camps! It's a nationalistic drink, please buy it!"

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Railcar8095 1 point a year ago

from whatever comes out of the camps!

"Camps? Surely you mean 'fields'... Right?"

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AnUnusualRelic 1 point a year ago

Sure, so much space for empty fields beyond the wired...

Sorry, fields? Yes, sure, That's what I meant. We have those grey mice (that's what my mother always called them) working the felds. They're always so quiet and diligent.

There's one that dropped, once. A girl. I think it was a girl. They were all running back to the trucks. She must have tripped.

The trucks had departed, we found her at the edge of the field. She was so thin in her mouse suit. She had fallen, and she stayed down. There was my uncle and I. We looked at her. She was lying down. She was alsmost shaking. She slowly lifted her head. She looked at us. She had eyes thay were so green, you could have sold them for gems. But once the dazzle of her eyes passed me, I saw that she was but a spectre.

The moment lasted a second, and vanished. But it felt so much longer. I saw that girl like she might have been, like she should have been... Like the spectacular beauty she could one day be, although she probably wouldn't be. Because her piercing eyes wouldn't let anyone think of her as just a beauty.

Anyway, I took a step back. Because she felt too impressive to me, even in her condition. So I turned to my uncle, and felt all the muck on my cheek, and heard the detonation. I didn't dare to look at her. So I just turned away. I saw soldiers running towards us. Fuckers. I had to greet them. How was I going to do that?

[My first attempt at minifiction out of nowhere in a while, not in my language, sorry, I don't know what prompted me]

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peetabix 3 points a year ago

Didn't they do this during WWII as well?

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Duamerthrax 3 points a year ago

They created Fanta because they couldn't import the ingredients to make Coke because of embargoes.

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AnUnusualRelic 3 points a year ago

Fanta is "we found this in the trashcan and made soda out of it because the show must go on (or something, but with bubbles)".

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Duamerthrax 1 point a year ago

I'll be honest though, Mexican Fanta is pretty good.

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festkoerper 3 points a year ago

Wie Pepsi dann: Schmeckt nicht mehr.

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Kissaki 1 point a year ago

I think that's a very good thing, going beyond original brand source location.

It goes beyond global brand, and actually finally labels differences of the brands between markets as well as better indicating differences in sourcing and production.

Like with any labeling there's a danger of white washing. Let's hope lies get identified and prosecuted, if and when they occur.

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Tryenjer 1 point a year ago

Guaraná is better anyway.

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otter 1 point a year ago

Again? Hunh. Sounds like Faygo 2.0 🤷🏼‍♂️

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zehnkirchen -9 points a year ago

NOBODY likes americans. Think of it like this: who are those "americans"? From what i understand the scum of europe. Instead of working on change where they were, those btards chose to run away from the problems, enslave the native americans and bring doom to the world. every american is just what was too crap for europe. ZERO quality people.

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Fusselwurm 7 points a year ago

Keep your illusions… and don't ever read about European history. :>

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TanteRegenbogen 5 points a year ago

Saying migrants are just the crappier people leaving their home is a right wing dog whistle.

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zehnkirchen 0 points a year ago

no. i am not saying migrants are the problem. please read. i am saying the europeans that fled the continent back than were mostlikely the worst humans at that time and I have not seen the slightest argument saying something else. i mean europeans were murderous fucks all the time, but the worst went to murder the native americans. so i am sure for generations there were children in america being told they did anything good or whatever romanticising of the USA they do there. But that time is over as we can wee from the numbers of americans coming to europe. they finally opened their eyes to see a shit world be their home. no democracy, no basic human rights... a hell hole for the scum of the earth.

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agent_nycto 0 points a year ago

I wish you'd come over here and say that!

So I can give you an apple pie and introduce you to some of my immigrant and minority friends and take you to some cool restaurants and museums and native American heritage sights and support groups and hopefully change your mind.

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Miaou 3 points a year ago

If your answer to "americans suck" is "not only americans live here!" you may have missed the point

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agent_nycto 1 point a year ago

Nah I was just trying to be nice and stuff. Funny and wholesome for a laugh.

Edit: it was also because that person said that immigrants were all bastards and so forth

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