Complain & Bid Up
New White Coke can fizzles out — then becomes an eBay sensation
Once again, the country is facing a crisis of biblical proportions. It's not about the record deficit, or class warfare. This catastrophe involves the new white Coca-Cola can.
The white cans were to be part of the company's partnership with the World Wildlife Fund to help raise awareness to save the snow-white Polar Bear. What could possibly go wrong?
Others insist the Coke in the white can taste different (although admittedly, these are the same people who swear they saw Elvis Presley working at a Valero gas station in Tennessee).
It appears that the white cans are causing much confusion and angst among the die-hard soda drinkers. Some think it looks too much like the silver canned Diet Coke and borders on sacrilege! There have even been reports of Diet Coke drinkers being fooled and tragically putting real Coke into their systems.
Others insist the Coke in the white can taste different (although admittedly, these are the same people who swear they saw Elvis Presley working at a Valero gas station in Henderson, Tennessee).
The fine folks at Coke say the people complaining represent a "small" minority and that the campaign has generated a lot of interest and excitement. Yet, the company plans on replacing the white cans with the traditional red ones faster than your 401(k) tanks after another riot in Greece. The line's already been discounted — and people are now selling them on eBay. Some bids for a whole pack are up to $300.
You would have thought Coke had learned its lesson when it introduced "New" Coke back in 1985. That became one of the most expensive and disastrous marketing fiascos of all time. While the new white can is not causing the same level of rage, it still has many Coke fans seeing red.
