With America celebrating its 250th birthday this year, Coca-Cola is marking the moment with
The soft drink giant is producing mini-cans for each state 鈥� plus Puerto Rico and D.C. 鈥� and the cans feature something unique about that state.
In artwork shared with WTOP, the cans show off notable icons.
Virginia鈥檚 can embraces the famous “Virginia is for Lovers” slogan. Maryland鈥檚 can features the state鈥檚 famous crustacean. And D.C.鈥檚 can promotes one of the District鈥檚 most notable landmarks, the Washington Monument.
Coke also plans special commemorative packaging for Vitaminwater, Smartwater, BodyArmor and Gold Peak 鈥� and custom bottles are in the works.
A Coke spokesperson told WTOP the collectible mini-cans will start appearing in major retailers this month, including Walmart and Target.
Duane Stanford, editor and publisher at Beverage Digest, thinks this will boost sales for Coke.
“They do a lot of consumer research,” he said. “And they really understand these kinds of promotions and programs well. So you can bet, if they’re going to spend the time and effort to pull together a program like this, they do expect it to lift sales.”
For Coke, he said this is an opportunity to connect with consumers at an important time in American history.
“The states have their mottos and slogans,” he said. “It’s just a way to kind of create a real close connection to consumers in a specific location. They’ve been doing this with sporting teams for decades now, printing cans, for instance, with NBA teams or NFL teams in a local area.”
And Stanford likes the Washington Monument on the can for D.C. He thinks the cans could prove popular with tourists this summer, becoming collectors items.
“And it’s a way,” he said, “to kind of connect to consumers in a specific geography with something very direct, something that can hold in their hands, something they can see.”鈥�
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