Coca-Cola has change of heart on packaging
Coca-Cola will stop making multipack boxes showing cans of Coke labelled ‘‘mum’’ and ‘‘bub’’ side-by-side after dentists slammed the packaging.
The New Zealand Dental Association (NZDA) wrote to Coca-Cola last week, saying the packaging encouraged mothers to give the sugary drink to their babies.
NZDA spokesman Rob Beaglehole said he was outraged and saddened the company would ‘‘sink to such lows’’.
The association asked the drinks maker to remove the 18-can boxes from supermarket shelves immediately.
Earlier last week, a spokeswoman for Coca-Cola Oceania said the use of the names ‘‘mum’’ and ‘‘bub’’ for the Share A Coke campaign came from a survey popular nicknames, terms of endearment and pet names among Kiwis.
‘‘These included popular names we call each other such as babe, beau, lover, hun, bub, honeybun, sweetheart and sweetie-pie.’’
She did not say then if CocaCola would remove the product, or stop selling it.
However, the company has since acknowledged the confusion that came with having the two words next to each other and said it would stop production of the boxes.
‘‘We are disappointed that this oversight was made as we have a long-standing commitment to responsible marketing,’’ a spokesperson told Newshub.
‘‘As of [Thursday], we will stop the production of all multipack cans which have ‘‘bub’’ next to ‘‘mum’’ on the cardboard wrap packaging.
‘‘To ensure this doesn’t happen again we will do a deep dive on our approvals process and identify where this has fallen down.’’