COKE PUTS NAMES ON CANS AND BOTTLES

Sales of Coke have risen significantly since the world’s best-known drinks brand started printing people’s names on its labels.
Coca-Cola’s carbonated soft-drink sales have climbed by more than two per cent in the US after it launched its “Share a Coke” campaign this summer.
Under the initiative, shoppers could choose personalized bottles and cans of Coke, Diet Coke and Coke Zero carrying names from Alex to Zoe and endearing terms such as “Friends” and “BFF”.
The marketing idea – designed to get consumers to buy drinks for friends and family as well as themselves – appears to have paid off. It reversed a 10 year decline in consumption in the US, The Wall Street Journal reported.

A spokesman for the beverage giant said it was “pleased” with the campaign, which even saw bottles for sale on eBay.
Instagram was swamped with people posting more than 500,000 photos with the hashtag #shareacoke, including some from animal lovers who’d bought bottles for their pets.
When “Share A Coke” first ran in 2011 in Australia, consumption soared by seven per cent.
It has now spread to about 80 countries and hit UK shelves in April.

In the US, Coke used the 250 most popular first names, with Chris, Jess and Alex, among the most stocked in store.
It also printed out more than one million personalised cans with more than 100,000 names and sold them from roving kiosks.
Alyssa and Shane Lescalleet, a couple from Lancaster, Ohio, said they spent the summer hunting for bottles with their names on and vowed to keep them ‘forever’.
In the UK, the firm replaced its logo with around 1,000 names and also added nicknames on cans and bottles.
Shoppers were encouraged to “Share A Coke” with their “Mum, Dad, Bro, Sis, Mate, Bestie” or show loved ones they cared by picking up a drink with “Gorgeous” and “Bestie” on the label.
A story on the Coca-Cola Facebook page reported a man proposing to his girlfriend Eloise with a collection of the bottles arranged to create the message “Beautiful Eloise Will You Marry Me”