"This summer the company printed the 250 most common names of U.S. teens on Coke bottles, hoping that millions of kids will want to buy drinks with their names on them. So far it seems to be working: In the last three months, sales of Coca-Cola have inched up 1 percent in North America."Moreover, do you really think that these cans and bottles won't target your preteens too?
And it's not just a theory they're going after your children with this campaign. According to promomedia, one of Coca-Cola's many marketing agency partners noted,
"The heart of this campaign was the physical customization of Coca-Cola cans (Brand Experience) for TEENS."No surprise though as this quote from Michael Moss' fabulous Salt, Sugar, Fat - How the Food Giants Hooked Us (which I reviewed here) explains, where the quote is from a Coca-Cola executive discussing Coca-Cola's (rather empty) promise not to target kids under 12,
“magically, when they would turn twelve, we’d suddenly attack them like a bunch of wolves."[And just in case you're tempted to try, the online Share a Coke generator won't let you design a bottle for "Diabetes". I know because I tried.]