People Honestly Think Coca-Cola Stopped Using Polar Bears to Be "Less White"
Published Feb. 24 2021, 2:32 p.m. ET
Marketing whizzes will use anything and everything to try and sell you a product, no matter how seemingly off the wall or random the idea may be. I mean, have you seen the Old Spice commercials? Or how about the old-school Mentos TV spots where someone is presented with an inconvenience and they think of a bright solution after popping a chewable mint? Or how about Coca-Cola's use of blood-thirsty arctic juggernauts to shill soda?
But did Coca-Cola really stop using the polar bears?
Why did Coca-Cola stop using polar bears in its advertising? Some people think it's an attack on "whiteness."
While the world is filled with people whose ideas usually fall somewhere in the middle of an issue, an unfortunate fact of life is that the loudest voices are usually the most extreme or irascible. This is especially true when it comes to social media where there seems to be a constant battle between PC principals and edgelords.
It appears that a demographic is seriously accusing Coca-Cola of no longer using polar bears in its advertising because the soft drink manufacturing mega-giant is trying to be "less white."
There's been a longstanding belief that "whiteness" in America is under attack; it's been the subject of many a think piece and mainstream news interviews.
However, it's hard to deny that people have some crazy conspiracy theorist ideas, like the fact that Coca-Cola got rid of the polar bears because American whiteness is under attack.
Yes, there are serious social media posts where individuals are claiming that the company's decision to get rid of the polar bears stems from a desire to "distance" themselves from any positive image of whiteness whatsoever. As if the company is intentionally trying to not celebrate positive depictions of the color white.
As a result, a flood of memes are circulating the internet lampooning this idea.
Memes that say things like "be less white" featuring the Coca-Cola bears are circulating Reddit and Imgur.
In 2011, Coca-Cola released limited-edition cans that featured animated polar bears on them in an effort to raise awareness about dwindling polar bear populations. The New Yorker published a piece asking if it was ethical to even keep using the polar bear as a mascot for the soda company, considering the danger the animal finds itself in.
What do you think? Do you want to see the polar bears make a return to soda advertising? Or are you more of an RC drinker anyway?