The Coca-Cola Company, the world’s largest soft drink company offers a mix of sodas, sparkling drinks, teas, still-drink and bottled water. Besides a dedication for making quality beverages, Coke has committed to help build sustainable communities. As the leading soft drink company in the Asia Pacific region, Coca-Cola has dedicated US $200 thousand into producing Coke 2nd Life series of caps for select Asia markets, to encourage consumers to re-use and recycle plastics. This campaign builds on the global sustainability programme, and is a part of the ‘Open Happiness’initiative in bringing positivity and fun into consumers’everyday life.

We wanted to create caps that would appeal to a variety of age groups, and cultural preferences. We looked at caps that would appeal to children (like paintbrushes, pencil-sharpeners, bubble blowers, water-squirters and night lights) as well as adults (plant sprays, soap dispensers and salt and pepper shakers). For some Asian markets, we also had soy-sauce dispensers and hot sauce dispensers. We studied plastic bottle usage patterns in different Asian countries.

In our test market study, the people that came across this activity were delighted at how this extended the life of a Coke bottle imaginatively. Amidst the fun, there was always a moment of pause where the sustainability message clicked with them. They were putting the Coke bottle to great use in its second life...and yet they were also preventing it from going right into a landfill.