Consumers Revolt Over White Coke Cans

The Wall Street Journal today brings us the very definition of a first-world problem with its report on the reaction to Coca-Cola's white holiday cans. Coke has always released special seasonal cans, but this is the first year the company has opted to put its classic soda in a white can—and consumers freaked out. As a result, just one month after the white cans were rolled out, red holiday cans will be released as white cans exit the shelves earlier than originally planned.

Many consumers complained that they thought they were getting Diet Coke, in its silver can, but ended up with real Coke in a white can. Others, including one in a video at left, insisted the soda in the white cans tasted different. Still others were just plain mad: Among hundreds of Twitter complaints, one comment raged against the "blasphemy" of white cans, while another ranted about Coke's "trickery." Coca-Cola is aware of the backlash and even posted a "fact sheet" on its website explaining the differences between white Coke cans and Diet Coke cans, but the company won't officially state that the upcoming red cans are a response to the outcry. Rather, a rep insists, the white can has "generated a lot of interest and excitement." (More Coke stories.)