Branding Expert Reveals Coca-Cola’s Secret Labelling Trick That Makes the Drink Seem ‘Healthy’

Food desire is something that all humans share in common. Well, all marketers are secretly taught about this mysterious “food desire” in their colleges. So, when they step into the market and start writing copies and crafting advertisements, they latch onto this desire as a linchpin that will enable them to pull more and more heartstrings towards the product they’re trying to sell.

The problem arises when they start using this strategy from the agenda of deception. Health advocate Magdalene Rose, a.k.a. Maggie (@maggieroseadvocate), posted a duet video with Matt Rosenman (@mattrosenman) depicting how cola companies use deceptive advertising to showcase their unhealthy sodas disguised as health foods.  

“Let’s rebrand Coke to sound like a healthy food,” said Matt. He went on to share a mock marketing strategy he’d employ to depict Coke as a health product. “I’m gonna change up the colors from the normal Coke colors that we're used to. And I'm gonna call this product ‘Thrive Sparkling Cola.’ Sparkling Cola makes it sound a little bit fancier. And thrive doesn't need to mean anything, just needs to feel a little bit healthy and light,” he explained. A panel in the video displayed a faux-designed golden yellow cola can with the packaging label reading “Thrive Sparkling Soda.”

While Maggie expressed appreciation for his explanation, Matt continued by explaining how some colas market themselves as healthy despite containing ingredients that are not healthy for the body. “Coke has high fructose corn syrup, but it's actually considered natural. The FDA regulation of the word natural, is very loose,” he shared with the viewers. Moving on, Matt dismantled the ingredients of these colas, saying that most of them mention “natural flavors” in the ingredients label.

“So, we’ll say with natural flavors, we need a healthy-ish sounding flavor name. Let’s call this ‘Caramel Gold Bliss.’ And of course, Coke is 100% plant-based. Since Coke has caffeine, let’s say, ‘smooth energy at the top.’ And we need to liven up this packaging a little bit, so let’s add a beautiful golden landscape. The Coke logo itself will be hidden somewhere else on the can. And I didn't want to make this too crowded.” An ad popped up in the video with a golden yellow cola can accompanied by a graphic typography and bullet points for features. “So in our ads, we'll say gluten-free and low-sodium. Both are true. And there you have, all-natural, healthy Coca-Cola,” Matt said and concluded the video.

“This is exactly how companies greenwash their products. It's all in the marketing! #greenwashing,” Maggie captioned the video. Greenwashing, Earth.org explains, is a “deceitful advertising method to gain favour with consumers who choose to support businesses that care about bettering the planet.” When customers are greenwashed to buy a particular product, they cease to care about environmental issues like climate change, plastic ocean pollution, air pollution, and global species extinctions. This is how the world spins in a destructive loop of sales and demand, ultimately hampering all growth and thrashing sustainability for desire. “Don't trust the front of the package, read the ingredients,” said a TikTok user, @SaltyPeach.

You can follow Maggie (@maggieroseadvocate) and Matt Rosenman (@mattrosenman) on TikTok for more eye-opening health videos.