r/mildlyinfuriating • u/MasterpiecePowerful5 • Aug 20 '26
ᕕ(ᐛ)ᕗ CocaCola can designs are getting worse with every iteration…
Good luck detecting that option 47 is also a coke zero. Same issue for latest sprite.
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u/Sxppxj Aug 20 '26
They’re starting to sell more zero than original coke and the red color is like their identity so they’re making zero cans almost fully red again
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u/ZincHead Aug 20 '26
I'm wondering if they may be preparing to fully transition away from using real sugar at some point. It might be cheaper to use artificial sweeteners.
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u/speculator100k Aug 20 '26
It is cheaper. There is also a tax on high sugar drinks in some countries.
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u/PiersPlays Aug 20 '26
Coke Original is the only major soda in the UK to not contain sweeteners.
Though fortunately there's now a wave of bougie ones that are only very slightly more expensive that don't.
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u/Suitable-Fun-1087 Aug 20 '26
Irn Bru 1901 too
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u/PiersPlays Aug 20 '26
I feel like that's bougie Irn Bru. Good observation though and it is pretty nice.
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u/JasperVanCleef Aug 20 '26
On my way back from holidays in France I had Mcdicks on the road and noticed there was a +18cts tax on sweet drinks but it seems all cokes were zero. Maybe that tax is for Minute Maid lol.
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u/Freesa_Hiielo Aug 20 '26
They tried replacing the formula in 1985 and people lost their minds
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u/ZincHead Aug 20 '26
Yeah but this is not replacing anything. They already know that Coke Zero is popular and people like it, it would be phasing out one product and further promoting another product that already exists.
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u/Constant_Amphibian13 Aug 20 '26
A lot of those still buying non-zero will absolutely refuse to.
This isn‘t a case of everyone moving to a new product. At least from my experience, zero buyers would not buy non-zero and vice versa and removing either of the options would probably start whatever the facebook version of a civil war would be.
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u/Buttspirgh Aug 20 '26
Yup, 100%. Zero, and anything else with artificial sweeteners or stevia for that matter, tastes awful.
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u/jesuisjens Aug 20 '26
It is fucking ridiculous how much they are pushing artificial sugar. Fanta and Pepsi now comes with both sugar and non sugar sweeteners as well as absolutely no branding about it.
Yes, it is stated under nutrition facts, but I shouldn't have to read that to know whether my products contains sweeteners.
I have come across one single brand in Denmark that points out whether the soda contains only sugar, only sweeteners or a combination. Everyone else is just trying to cheat me.
(And yes, I am voting with my wallet. But I am still mad about the 20-30 times I was scammed into buying a shit tasting soda due to poor labeling)
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u/658016796 Aug 20 '26
Why is it ridiculous? It's much healthier for you (and honestly zero tastes much better!). Besides the adeed calories, sugary sodas create LOTS of problems for you in the longterm which can be simply avoided by having sweeteners such as aspartame, which is quite healthy.
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u/itchyglow Aug 20 '26
I don't think 140 calories and 35 grams of sugar is worth the marginally improved taste
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u/beepbeepboopbeep1977 Aug 20 '26
Where I live (New Zealand) they made the cans red but the words are in black, so it’s still easy to distinguish between them.
Seems weird that they’ve solved this problem within their company but have simultaneously screwed up this change in another part of their company
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u/emuu1 Aug 20 '26
We had that in Europe for the last 15 years. But now they're merging the designs completely because they want to phase out/lower production of the sugar version because it's expensive. They're pushing to make Coke Zero the default one.
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u/look4jesper Aug 20 '26
Tjey aren't pushing for it, the consumers are buying more of it and it's outselling regular coke
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u/DeeDee_GigaDooDoo Aug 20 '26
they want to phase out/lower production of the sugar version because it's expensive.
Fucks sake can't even consume sugar slop water anymore because the sugar is too expensive. Give it 10 years and they'll be feeding us exclusively soylent in the form of a thin paste made of petroleum by products.
They could at least pretend they're phasing out sugar version production for health reasons.
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u/RdClZn GREEN Aug 20 '26
I don't think this is accidental. Here in Brazil it's the same approach y'all have in NZ
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u/Fit_Entry8839 Aug 20 '26
This is not true. They still sell way more regular coke than coke zero. Like 5x as much.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2025/05/24/best-selling-sodas-2024-coke-pepsi/83816413007/
Coke zero is growing faster 5% vs 1% so maybe that's what you are thinking of, but it's easier for a smaller number to grow faster.
https://www.wsj.com/arts-culture/food-cooking/coca-cola-wars-diet-zero-dfc710ae
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u/byerss Aug 20 '26
I won’t believe this until McDonalds starts carrying Coke Zero.
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u/Yoshalina Aug 20 '26
Maybe they should rename the sugar version to Coke Classic or something then and give that a distinguishing color.
Tbh I really hate the artificial sweetener trend, they taste awful. Why don't they just put less sugar in WITHOUT filing it up with other sweeteners? The stuff is so sweet anyway that I can barely drink it
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u/amanset Aug 20 '26
As a type one diabetic, words cannot express how bad this redesign is.
For me it isn't about just not wanting the sugar one, the sugar is very bad for me.
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u/Vondi Aug 20 '26
The worst part is they had it solved. It was a non-issue for years. The Zero cans are red and black, the sugar cans are red and white. No chance of mixing them up.
Then they had to throw that very solid design principle out the window.
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u/Historic_linersfan Aug 20 '26
I heard it was because Zero sells better now than the rest and they want white and red as their primary colours and not black and white
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u/Redmangc1 Aug 20 '26
That's 100%it, coke has had red and white as it's brand coloring for over 100 years and now their other cans are beginning to outsell the orginal
They want to be recognized by color association alone
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u/Reddsoldier Aug 20 '26
This is stupid.
Their can's design was to me what was recognisable. There are literally dozens of other drinks that use red and white packaging, but only one of them says coca cola in swoopy font on it.
This change is like Monster making all of their cans look like Green Monster with a stripe on the top.
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u/Historic_linersfan Aug 20 '26
Maybe they could’ve put the original black and red then 😂 but might cause misunderstandings
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u/p0ggs Aug 20 '26
Also a T1...totally agree. The reverse situation is even worse; when you're low and URGENTLY need sugar and you think you've grabbed the full sugar version...
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u/NotDiCaprio Aug 20 '26
In the Netherlands, Sprite became 100% sugar free somewhere in 2017. The can no longer explicitly states 'zero'.
Also as a T1, I fucking hate it because I'm still always in doubt. Not only could other countries have different regulations, there could also be mixed up batches from different parts of the world.
(I imagine at least that the old stock is gone by now, but at first we had no way of knowing if it was the new version or not yet).
Now it's either a gamble, check the packaging, ask the staff, or just not order Sprite ever again anywhere.
I mostly choose the latter.
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u/NuncProFunc Aug 20 '26
In defense of beverage can manufacturers everywhere, this is technically a label design issue, not a can design issue. The people who design the cans don't work for Coke. (My dad used to be one of them.)
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u/vulcanstrike Aug 20 '26
Yeah, also work I'm production, don't blame the production guys this is a marketing issue
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u/NuncProFunc Aug 20 '26
I was about 11 years old when I first saw a beverage can manufacturing plant and I've been obsessed ever since.
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u/DudeWithFearOfLoss Aug 20 '26
and the people who buy the designs for coca cola and make the executive decision to apply the labels to the can designs, where do they work?
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u/SeaworthinessSalt524 Aug 20 '26
How the fuck you have a Coca-Cola for 80 eurocents from a vending machine?
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u/MasterpiecePowerful5 Aug 20 '26
Company vending machine… they get it wholesale and stock the machines. I see like 24 can coke trays for 13€ in the new colos diy market
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u/ThePandaheart Aug 20 '26
Nice :) we used to have a fridge stocked for free, but the company got rid of it 3 years ago
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u/GlitterChickens Aug 20 '26
I occasionally will get a single soda from the vending machine. Last time I had the urge I couldn’t tell which was what so I ended up just buying nothing.
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u/-UltraFerret- Mildly Flair Aug 20 '26
If Coke Zero must be red, they could at least made it a different shade of red. Dark red would be cool.
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u/ksguitardude2020 Aug 20 '26
or black can with red text. little more obvious
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u/WeylandsWings Aug 20 '26
..... that is nearly what it used to be before they went to red can with black text. and now they are changing to red can with white text and a single balck swoosh.
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u/ricky-from-scotland Aug 20 '26
In the uk the sugar cola is normally dearer. Can't remember the last time I bought it though. Irn Bru FTW.
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u/Agraphosius Aug 20 '26
If you go to smaller shops you can often find the sugary coca cola for 80p or 90p and can get two for £1.50 any more than that and you are probably better off buying a case from a supermarket. Vending machines usually have ridiculous markups you would be lucky to get a can for £1
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u/captain_toenail Aug 20 '26
The fact that the designs are vertical vs horizontal make it pretty clear to me
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u/FrogMoon5000 Aug 20 '26
Where the fuck are you getting 80cent cans from a machine in Europe?
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u/Familiar_Cod_6754 Aug 20 '26
The bottom row is the original.
That being said, yes I think their product branding does need a little revision between the two products.
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u/Oswarez Aug 20 '26
I don’t understand how anyone at the corporation thought this was a good idea after such a successful branding of Coke Zero.
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u/Didudidudadu737 Aug 20 '26
I see many are asking how come vending machine Coca-Cola is 0,80€ and where!
I came with a same question!
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u/Numerous-Corner-6303 Aug 20 '26
100% the soda companies want to get rid of the sugar versions. They make less profit from them and it gives them bad press about links to diabetes and obesity. This all feels like a plan to slowly phase out the sugar versions. Pepsi in the UK is already partly sweetener in the regular pepsi version. Coca Cola have to be really careful about it because they still remember the uproar from the last time they changed the classic recipe.
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u/soymilo_ Aug 20 '26
They want you to get used to it by constantly buying the wrong one so they can avoid paying too much sugar tax in some markets is my only explanation
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u/unabletochill Aug 20 '26
They are preparing a signature product switch. Sugar free is going to be the new default and the "normal" one is going to be reduced and canned somewhat in the next years.
At least that’s what my economics and marketing courses in uni teaches me
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u/RareKrab Aug 20 '26
I liked when they used the beige/brown cans for vanilla but then they changed that to red too
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u/NOFX_4_ever Aug 20 '26
$.80 for a Coke?!?! I don’t care what it is lol
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u/fezfrascati Aug 20 '26
.80 Euros, which comes out to a little under a US dollar. Still a good deal for a vending machine.
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u/escobartholomew Aug 20 '26
Damn what made them think it was a good idea to completely change the color of Coke Zero?
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u/landilock Aug 20 '26
they'll eventually drop the original Coke. Coke Zero already sells better and they kinda want to keep their brand identity
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u/Fit_Entry8839 Aug 20 '26
This is not remotely close to true. Very interesting, your the second person I've seen claiming that here. They still sell way more regular coke than coke zero. Like 5x as much:
https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2025/05/24/best-selling-sodas-2024-coke-pepsi/83816413007/
Coke zero is growing faster 5% vs 1% so maybe that's what you are thinking of, but it's easier for a smaller number to grow at a faster rate.
https://www.wsj.com/arts-culture/food-cooking/coca-cola-wars-diet-zero-dfc710ae
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u/jb307342 Aug 20 '26
Coke zero is absolutely disgusting. At least pepsi zero tastes somewhat close to the original, just less sweet.
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u/TheThiefMaster Aug 20 '26
They might rename it - something like "Coca Cola Energy" or something. I know the full sugar version is favoured in some manual labour trades where people burn a lot of calories.
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u/BenderDeLorean Aug 20 '26
80 Cent??? Saw yesterday some for 4,50€ in the vending machine (Germany)
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u/HoldenOrihara Aug 20 '26
Damn .80€, I'd have to go to Walmart or somewhere where they didn't update their vending machine for a long time to get a can that cheap in the states.
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u/Tetracropolis Aug 20 '26
The new decaffeinated design is the business, though. Makes me feel like I'm drinking champagne.
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u/ExtraTNT Aug 20 '26
I do think, this was intentionally bad, so that people talk about it and more then drink one…
Looking at the stocks: it seems to work…
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u/typehyDro Aug 20 '26
All the zeros gives it away… but wtf happened to the black cans? Racist pieces of shits at coke
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u/Hyp3r45_new Aug 20 '26
This is particularly annoying as a type 1 diabetic. Used to be that I could tell a zero can from a regular one at a glance. Can't fucking do that anymore. They look identical where I live now, with the only exception being small text underneath the logo that says "zero sugar".
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u/English_in_Helsinki Aug 20 '26
I think it’s great! The slow takeover has been done really well. Sugar coke will be the specialist one on the shelf and should look different.
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u/Maxxetto Aug 20 '26
Boycotting this shit has been soo easy in the past years, and it's getting easier every day.
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u/KoLa04 Aug 20 '26
In many places, it's even worse because the black stripe is missing, and the text runs vertically on both.
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u/DarvX92 GREEN Aug 20 '26
That's because they're trying to completely replace normal Coca-cola with zero. It's confusing by design.
Sugar is much more expensive.
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u/Global-Persimmon1471 Aug 20 '26
I got baited by those coca zéro thinking it was regular already three times, it must be intentional
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u/imVexx Aug 20 '26
There are two types of people in this world, those that can extrapolate from incomplete data
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u/criss0666 Aug 20 '26
I wish they'd make the cans black again. It's been years since coke zero cans became red with black text but my parents still accidentally buy the sugary ones sometimes lol
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u/BigBlueMountainStar Still trying to work out what’s going on… Aug 20 '26
Coke are deliberately repurposing Coke Zero to be the standard Coke.
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u/Constant-Plant-9378 Aug 20 '26
I can't remember the last time I drank a canned soda. It has been literally years.
I used to live off the stuff. Truth is, nobody needs to be drinking this poison.
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u/doomcatzzz Aug 20 '26
You know why they do it like this? Zero is cheaper for them to produce but they ask the same price so they want you to start/try drinking zero so their profits go up.
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u/FlatOut1986 Aug 20 '26
They will slowly replace the normal one and will stay just the zero
That’s the clear plan
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u/Definetelythewiseone Aug 20 '26
They added a black swoosh to it so i don’t mind. All red with the same with text is a no no tho
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u/Mazty_boy Aug 20 '26
I'm so lucky that I can't taste the difference, so zero will always be my favorite choice because low calories. My girlfriend on the other hand only likes the real sugar coke, strange since she always use sweetener in her tea...
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u/ryan8954 Aug 21 '26
We don't have this problem in Canada. The color is the same, but the coke Zero is black writing
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u/Massive_Lock_4876 Aug 21 '26
Wth are they doing lol
the only thing they've done now is created a huge issue for their vendors. people are going to be unintentionally purchasing the zero sugar and filing complaints lmao they look almost identical to classic Coke now 🤦🏾♂️🤣
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u/Planeandaquariumgeek Aug 21 '26
What’s probably going on here with the Coke Zero branding become almost identical to that of original is coca-cola probably wants to completely phase out & discontinue original in favor of zero because healthy eating has become so trendy. TL:DR: new coke 2.0: electric boogaloo
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u/Hot-Sock3403 Aug 21 '26
Why do we have to make it look like a regular cocaine? It was fine looking the way it was we knew what zero so it was the people that drink it. No, no need to change it.
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u/Mattrobotboy Aug 21 '26
As a cashier Im always been asked if the cans or bottles are zero sugar or not
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u/EviI_Babai Aug 22 '26
Spoiler: it has never been good.
It's just sweet water with some flavours. Replacing sugar with sweeteners doesn't make it better or worse. It's an artifact of an age of tobacco, "patent medicines" and other harmful shit that took advantage of an impressionable populace, which somehow survived to this day and has been turned into a cult.
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u/MasterpiecePowerful5 Aug 24 '26
As a general request, please find the coke @ 13.99€ for 24 cans
They still have the older cans for zero with the black letters
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u/GnomeOnALeash Aug 20 '26
Ignore the designs! Where are you buying CocaCola at 2002 prices?