Facing the apocalyptic possibilities of 2012, some artists are preparing people to off themselves, while others are simply helping them prepare. Last night in London, a runway model for designer Vivienne Westwood demonstrated how easily an old Coke can is turned into stylish glasses, perfect to prevent snow or sun blindness depending on what end-of-world scenario you believe in.
Photo by Stefan Wermuth/Reuters
As if Coca Cola lovers needed any more reminders about soda’s heart-stopping potential, designer Dzmitry Samal created a new geometric can concept composed of ominous little coffin shapes. |The Dieline|
Japanese streetwear brand NEIGHBORHOOD has released a corporate can collaboration that actually makes Mountain Dew’s “Green Label Art” bottles look good. Hollowly shilling for Coke Zero, the “technical apparel” makers co-branded a soda can, USB-stick, tote bag, and t-shirts with the slogan, “Forever Zero, Zero Forever.” But as Hypebeast points out, the pile of schwag is “keeping in tune with NEIGHBORHOOD’s dark aesthetics” so it’s all good, or not.
In 2003, Mayor Bloomberg took a sweet sip and christened Snapple the “official beverage of New York City,” as part of an unsuccessful marketing agreement giving the beverage giant exclusive rights to peddle high fructose corn syrup-laden drinks to the city’s schoolchildren. Now with that contract completed, the city is free to change course and attack the sugary drink maker, or at least its likeness, in a series of new Department of Health ads declaring: “Don’t Drink Yourself Fat.” Going up on subways today, the PSAs show sugary streams of Snapple, Coke, and Gatorade-style soft drinks morphing into gleaming blobs of fat, bubbling over a veiny, yellow, lard-filled glass. |NYDN|
A Virgin Mary sculpture mixing religion and pop culture has sparked some controversy outside Syracause. “Bebe Coca,” a paper-mache sculpture of the Virgin of Guadalupe by artist Geri Keil, uses a glass Coca-Cola bottle for the body, the artist’s allusion to the “mishmash of cultures” in Mexico. But a local church group is so insulted they’re demanding the Marcellus Free Library take it off display. In a petition signed by a whole 78 people, the Blessed Virgin Mary Mother of God Church claims the artwork “is a grave dishonor to the image of our Lady because it depicts her as being devoured by a Coke bottle.” Read more »
It’s National Recycling Week in merry old England. So yesterday, planet-, teeth- and pancreas-destroyer Coca-Cola unveiled this 50 meter, 200,000 can eyesore called “Precious Metal” above the beautiful white cliffs of Sussex. Hey, let’s grab a six-acre Papa John’s pizza and a 100,000 foot tall stripper and have a big stupid party! Seriously, that is one ugly-ass piece of work. Look at the amateurish type! In the accompanying promo video Coke “Citizenship Manager”(?) Liz Lowe claims the recycling of these 200,000 cans will save enough energy to power a “tellie” for over 70 years.
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After giving Coca-Cola a creative facelift last year, “identity and package design firm” Turner Duckworth is back at it, designing these new cans for the soft drink juggernaut. They’ll be “released over the next two months, culminating with a special July 4th holiday can” (it’s the patriotic looking one in the center with the stars on it). |CreativeReview|
Fresh off the buzz it created in June with a massive design overhaul that included a sleek new aluminum bottle and various POS, Coca Cola is once against enlisting some help from creatives to keep the brand marginally fresh. They recently tapped Italian designer Roberto Cavalli to create a trio of limited edition bottles for Coca Cola Light (that’s the Euro name for Diet Coke in Italy). The signature animalistic patterns were designed to resemble a Cavalli dress. Only 100,000 of each design is being released in exclusive restaurants and bars in Italy. |Sybarites|
Thanks in part to anthropomorphic polar bears and overcaffeinated graphic designs, “Coke’s identity had become cluttered, uninspiring and easy to ignore.” But with the help of “identity and package design firm” Turner Duckworth, the world’s most recognizable sugar water brand received a fresh and clean new look that won a first ever Design Grand Prix award at Cannes Lions. The firm’s “iconization of heritage” concept included a streamlined aluminum bottle that were based on Coca-Cola’s signature glass bottles, a redesign of the cans, new signs/POS, and even graphics for delivery trucks. See some of the mods after the jump or download the full case study here: (PDF doc).
Coca-Cola is releasing 8.5-ounce, “limited edition” replica bottles of its 1906 “Diamond Label” design, which helped distinguish the soft drink company from other beverages of the time, since many of them were also sold in straight-sided bottles—the cola’s signature contour shaped glass containers weren’t introduced until 1916. Of course, the real collectibles are the pre-1903 versions of Coke, which marked the year that the “estimated nine milligrams of cocaine” were removed from the ingredient list forever—to the dismay of many, turn-of-the-century, party-friendly Americans.
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