Coke’s going green

Coke’s undergoing some image changes, and one of the arenas they’ve gone about publicizing it is at the currently-underway Beijing Olympics. Following their Pemberton ad, which aims to spread awareness of the fact that Coke is made without any artificial flavours, the soft-drinks company is carrying out a number of initiatives in Beijing to promote environmental consciousness.

They have launched a new line of ’sustainable’ fashion - T-shirts that have been made out of cotton and polyethylene terephthalate, or PET. All participating athletes and officials at the Games have been handed these T-shirts, which say ‘I’m from Earth’ on the front, and the images of five bottles at the back, indicating the number of bottles it took to make the shirt. They have also partnered with the Beijing Organizing Committee of the Olympic Games (BOCOG) and the City of Beijing to recycle all PET bottles during the Games into reusable items, and are premiering a documentary film featuring seven torch relay runners selected for their commitment to the environment. Last but not the least, they are selling their products at each Olympic venue from high-tech vending machines that emit over 400 tonnes LESS of greenhouse gases.

If one thing is for sure, it’s that Coke is certainly making an effort to walk the talk. For a brand that’s had its share of controversies in the past, that’s a welcome change.

[via WWD, Olympic.org and Stylewatch]