Coca-Cola has seemingly been using flavor creation as a publicity stunt. The beverage company created “Coca-Cola Creations,” a global innovation platform designed to make adding lime to Diet Coke sound a lot more fancy.
The company has been creating new flavors for decades, but that's fully different from having a global innovation platform, or at leas that's what the company wants you to believe:
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“Coca-Cola Creations will take the iconic Coca-Cola trademark and lend it to new expressions, driven by collaboration, creativity and cultural connections. Through limited-edition, sequential releases, Coca-Cola Creations will introduce new products and experiences across physical and digital worlds,” the company shared in a press release.
That sounds like a lot of nonsense, well, because it is, but the new beverage platform has helped the company partner with famed DJ Marshmello, something nobody was asking for and few people wanted.
It also led to the even less-needed first ever soda created by AI, and several other soda flavors that sound more pretentious than say “Vanilla Coke.”
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Coca-Cola, however, which appears to have a very high opinion of itself, sees Coca-Cola Creations, which is built on a platform it calls “Real Magic,” as a positive, not just for people bored with Coke Zero, but also for humanity at large:
“For over a century, Coca-Cola has maintained its iconic status around the world as a symbol of optimism that has refreshed generations. When we launched ‘Real Magic,’ we wanted to connect with and celebrate the experiences that bring joy to young people today, and that has taken us to an exciting new territory,” said Global Brand Strategy Senior Director Oana Vlad back in 2022.
Image source: Coca-Cola
Coca-Cola Creations has not yet saved the world
While the Marshmello collab came close, Coca-Cola has not yet taught the world to sing in perfect harmony so to speak. It did, however, release perhaps the most nonsensical cola flavor (and that's something to be proud of too).
The first product that launched under Coca-Cola Creations was Coca-Cola Starlight.
“Coca-Cola Starlight was created with the vision that – in a world of infinite possibilities – somewhere in our universe, another kind of Coca-Cola, another way of connecting with each other might exist,” the company shared in a press release. “Coca-Cola Starlight combines great Coca-Cola taste with a dash of the unexpected, including a reddish hue. Its taste includes additional notes reminiscent of stargazing around a campfire, as well as a cooling sensation that evokes the feeling of a cold journey to space.”
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That seems like a lot for one beverage to deliver, but it's not living in vacuum (like space). Instead, it traces to a bit of the company's history.
“Thirty-five years ago, Coca-Cola partnered with NASA to become one of the first soft-drinks to travel to space,” Vlad said. “That same passion for space still exists today. With Coca-Cola Starlight, we wanted to celebrate the remarkable ability of space exploration to inspire generations to discover new worlds of infinite possibilities.”
Space Coke, or Coca-Cola Starlight, makes a comeback
So far, every Coca-Cola Creations product has been a one-off. Coca-Cola Starlight will change that later this year.
“It looks like Coca-Cola Starlight is coming back!Coca-Cola updated the nutritional facts page for Starlight less than two months ago; that page features this new product design (missing the Coca-Cola Creations logo seen on the initial release), which matches the render seen in a promotional image that leaked online earlier this month,” the SodaSeekers web page reported.
It appears Coca-Cola Starlight is only coming back in 20 ounce bottles.
Fans of the product, as you might imagine, are very excited.
“I cannot tell you how much I am literally crying over this. Real tears. I love this flavor so much,” @GallowMeReGhost posted.
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@BootlegFoodReview has similar thoughts, but likes their space soda sugar free.
“Our prayers have been answered! Definitely need a Zero option,” they posted.
