Coca-Cola Zero - Marketing

Marketing

Coke Zero was Coca-Cola's biggest product launch in 22 years. It is primarily marketed towards young adult males and has even been nicknamed "Bloke Coke" in the UK. In the US, advertising has been tailored to its targeted market by describing the drink as "calorie-free" rather than "diet", since young adult males are said to associate diet drinks with women. U.S. marketing has also emphasized its similarity in taste to sugared Coca-Cola through a 2007 U.S. viral marketing campaign that suggested the company's executives were so angry over the drinks' similarities, they were considering suing their coworkers for "taste infringement".

In Australia, the product was originally promoted by a fake front group; the campaign included outdoor graffiti and online spamming that mentioned a fake blog. Once exposed, consumer advocates assailed the campaign as misleading and established the Zero Coke Movement to comment on the ethics of Coke's activities.