Coke has made contributions to theWorld Wildlife Foundation or WWF over the past three years to help the group protect white polar bears and white polar bear habitats. White polar bears have become a staple in Coke’s advertising since 1993 and the white coca-cola cans are the next phase in Coca-Cola’s cause related marketing efforts.
According to Coca-Cola’s website, the white polar bears have a rich history at Coca-Cola. In 1922, the first polar bear print advertisement appeared in France and for the next 90 years, polar bears appeared sporadically in Coca-Cola’s advertising. It was in the 1993 animated commercial called ‘Northern Lights’ that really connected Coca-Cola to the white polar bears. The commercial, in which a family of white polar bears watch the aurora borealis and drink from bottles of Coca-Cola, took 12 weeks to produce and used state-of-the-art technology. There have been many white polar bear spots since, including two ads for the 1994 Olympic Games in which the white polar bear slid down a luge and soared off a ski jump. White polar bear cubs also were introduced in a holiday ad in which the white polar bear family selects its Christmas tree.