The history of pink-themed cans in the diet soda industry is a multifaceted story, intertwining targeted marketing towards women, health concerns, and cause-related campaigns. This article explores the evolution of pink diet soda cans, tracing their roots from Tab, Coca-Cola's first diet soda, to Diet Coke's breast cancer awareness initiatives.
The Rise of Diet Sodas and Tab's Pink Appeal
The late 1950s and early 1960s witnessed the emergence of diet sodas as a response to growing consumer interest in weight management and sugar reduction. Diet Rite Cola, launched in 1958 by Royal Crown Company, led the way, initially targeting diabetics before shifting focus to weight-conscious consumers. It was stocked among medicines rather than soft drinks. Sweetened with cyclamate and saccharin, Diet Rite boasted the taste of cola without sugar. This sugar-free proposition understandably worried the sugar industry. In response, Domino Sugar ads assured consumers that sugar provided an “energy lift” and was lower in calories than typical diet-friendly foods like apples, grapefruits, and hard-boiled eggs. They even produced their own sugar-centric “reducing” plans. Competitors launched a number of new offerings as a result.
Coca-Cola joined the diet soda market in 1963 with Tab, packaged in a bright pink can and sold through decades of highly feminized advertising, after months dedicated to “Project Alpha”. Tab premiered in 1963, in a textured glass bottle dotted with Space Age sparkles. An early ad from Mademoiselle showed a graceful hand wearing a pair of bracelets, reaching out for the drink from a peacock chair. “Doesn’t it make sense to be refreshed with sensible, modern Tab?” the ad asked. The Coca-Cola Company’s first diet soda targeted women specifically, promising to reshape their bodies. Nearly immediately. Tab was Coca-Cola’s first foray into the diet soda market, debuting in 1963. With its distinctive pink can and unique flavor, Tab was a hit among diet-conscious consumers. The choice of pink was no accident; it was a deliberate marketing strategy to appeal to women, who were seen as the primary consumers of diet products.
Tab was a notable diet drink, but it wasn’t the first. That honorific belongs to Diet Rite Cola, which was launched in 1958 by Royal Crown Company. All of these sodas weren’t necessarily intended for women consumers alone. For example, Diet Rite marketed to women, men, and children, all at the same time, and claimed that consumers appreciated the drink’s “delicious” flavor more than its low calories, making it a beverage suitable for every member of a health-conscious family. Citrus-flavored Fresca similarly advertised to a broader target market.
Marketing and Taste Perceptions
Over the years, Tab also targeted primarily women with messages about weight loss and notions of conventional feminine beauty. The “Be a Mindsticker” campaign (which contemporary viewers rightly find super creepy) encouraged women to drink Tab in order to “stay in his mind with a shape he can’t forget.” Despite this focus on sticky patriarchal body-shaping (and shaming, too?), Tab’s pitch still addressed taste. Early diet sodas’ combination of cyclamate and saccharin did taste similar to sugar, but the FDA banned cyclamate in 1969, based upon laboratory studies on rats that linked the substance with the development of malignant bladder tumors. This forced the reformulation of most diet sodas, resulting in drinks that tasted sweet, yes. Just like real sugar? Nevertheless, Tab devotees in recent decades described the drink’s flavor with words like: crisp and clean, citrus-like, and nostalgically tart with a slight bubble gum flavor. Others use phrases like “very, very sweet, with the aftertaste of furniture polish.” Different from options like Diet Pepsi, Tab wasn’t a knock-off version of another drink. Tab drinkers claimed that because the beverage was not a no-calorie version of a full sugar option, “it tastes completely chemical, a relief from the faux-sugary diet sodas that dominate the market.” Imitating nothing, Tab was its own original diet soda and for decades, a top-selling beverage.
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Beverage companies have depended upon women consumers of diet products, but they’ve always wanted a larger audience. They’ve always wanted men. Despite companies’ hankering for bigger sales, they’ve had trouble envisioning a different purpose for diet drinks than selling the image of slim women’s bodies. As a result, their pitches often fell flat.
Coca-Cola today historicizes Tab as “a cultural icon in the 1980s.” It’s a truer story that Tab’s demise started then. In his history of Tab, media scholar George Plasketes described the drink as a “stepchild” and “a clinging orphan” that was put “on life support” and “gradually exiled toward possible extinction.” In late 1970s and early 1980s ads, Tab boasted itself “the beautiful drink for beautiful people,” attempting to message men as well, but without significant results.
The Arrival of Diet Coke and Tab's Decline
The introduction of Diet Coke in 1982 marked a turning point for Tab. Unlike Tab, which seemed entrenched in a women’s demographic, Diet Coke sought both male and female consumers, especially those who endorsed health, fitness, and appearances as part of a 1980s “yuppie” lifestyle. Coca-Cola executives mused that men wouldn’t buy Tab, given its identity as a diet drink coupled with years of heavily feminized advertising, but they might try Diet Coke, especially since it was being marketed as “incidentally” low-calorie. These executives knew launching Diet Coke in 1982 would “cannibalize some of the market for Tab,” but they did it anyway.
Although Coca-Cola went after male consumers with Diet Coke, men (and broader culture) seemed to deem the beverage derisively feminine in later decades. For example, in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution an unidentified Coca-Cola executive declared that diet is a “four-letter word” for men, or at least those aged 16-24. That belief inspired Coca-Cola to try, yet again, to craft a non-diet diet soda for men. Since the very beginning, diet soda development and marketing focused on taste and flavor, but starting as early as the 1990s, Coca-Cola went back to the drawing board to create an even better tasting sweetener for a diet soda for men-Coke Zero-which is one of the stories I tell in Diners, Dudes, and Diets: How Gender and Power Collide in Food Media and Culture. Coca-Cola assumed men demand full and satisfying flavor, compared to the at times unfulfilling and unpleasant aftertastes women have long accepted from diet drinks. And so, Coca-Cola sweetened Diet Coke with aspartame, while Coke Zero boasted a sweeter combination of aspartame with acesulfame potassium, referred to as “Ace-K,” a nickname befitting a winning quarterback, or maybe a Bond villain. Coke Zero launched in 2005, but Coca-Cola wasn’t alone in reconfiguring their sweeteners with bolder flavors intended for male consumers.
While Coca-Cola sought to win over men (and maybe some women too) with the taste of Coke Zero, Diet Coke has leaned into its perceived feminization over the last forty years. Whitney Houston, Paula Abdul, and Demi Moore starred in Diet Coke commercials with feminine flair in the 1980s and 1990s. In 2013, Taylor Swift served as brand ambassador in a series of girly ads. That year Marc Jacobs also started a yearlong stint as Diet Coke Creative Director to celebrate the brand’s thirtieth anniversary. And yet, five years later, Diet Coke tried to reinvent itself when it comes to gender, again. In 2018, Coca-Cola unveiled a rebranded, but not reformulated, Diet Coke. They kicked it off with the company’s first Super Bowl commercial in twenty-one years. The rebrand was the result of two years of research and testing, necessitated by further declines in the soft drink market. In 2016, six of the top nine diet sodas saw a sales drop, including Diet Coke, long a best seller. Coca-Cola company executives described their efforts to transition Diet Coke from a woman’s diet drink to a “contemporized” millennial beverage for both men and women. And yet, Diet Coke hasn’t been able to shake its feminized roots, which the brand itself seemed to openly acknowledge in a March 2020 commercial, “Drink What Your Mama Gave Ya.” The spot opens with two young men sitting at a table. As one takes a sip from a can of Diet Coke, the other derisively quips, “Diet Coke? Who are you, my mom?” The ad then flows into a tribute to not just moms, but spectacularized 1980s moms, dressed in turquoise jumpsuits, rib-high stone-washed jeans, and purple legwarmers over hot pink tights. Some men have and still do drink Tab. Marty McFly orders one in Back to the Future; my own husband, a wrestler in high school and a bodybuilder in college, loves Tab. But despite its small, loyal fan base, Tab remained popular with primarily a niche demographic of college-educated, middle-class women who watched their weight. Although Tab embodied nostalgic, retro chic for a tiny slice of young fans, broader cultural trends and tastes changed. We don’t diet anymore, we’re focusing on our wellness and self-care. We don’t drink Tab, we’re sipping sparkling water flavored with “natural essences.”
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In October, when the company announced Tab would be discontinued, Coca-Cola maintained its commitment to the bit with a press release proclaiming that dropping the brand would “reshape” and “streamline” the company. The announcement was unsurprising: Tab made up just 1 percent of Coca-Cola’s sales in recent years. It’s also true that Coca-Cola invested relatively little in Tab over the decades because it was intended for only, or mostly, women; it was eventually packaged in a bright pink can and sold through decades of highly feminized advertising, which limited the brand’s appeal.
Diet Coke's Pink Cans for Breast Cancer Awareness
Despite such shifts (which may be much smaller than we think), Tab is worth remembering. Emily Contois, PhD is Assistant Professor of Media Studies at The University of Tulsa. Still here. Still without airbrushing. Diet Coke is one of the most iconic and popular soft drinks in the world, with a history that dates back to 1982. The brand is known for its distinctive silver and red packaging, as well as its low-calorie and sugar-free formula. But in October 2023, Diet Coke changed its look and colour for a very special reason: to support breast cancer awareness and research. As part of British supermarket Asda’s Tickled Pink campaign, Diet Coke launched a limited edition of pastel pink cans, available exclusively at Asda stores. The campaign aimed to raise funds and awareness for two leading breast cancer charities: Breast Cancer Now and CoppaFeel! A percentage from each pack of pink Diet Coke cans was donated to these charities, which support new breast cancer treatments, vital education, and life-changing support for those affected by the disease.
Diet Coke also hid 10 special golden cans among the pink ones, giving lucky customers the chance to win £1,000 each. The brand also encouraged people to share their pink cans on social media using the hashtag #PinkDietCoke, creating a buzz and a sense of community among the supporters.
Marketing Strategy and Results
Diet Coke’s pink campaign was a smart and effective way to achieve several marketing objectives, such as:
- Aligning the brand with a social cause: By supporting breast cancer awareness and research, Diet Coke showed its commitment to corporate social responsibility and its empathy with its customers, many of whom are women who may have been affected by or know someone who has been affected by breast cancer.
- Creating differentiation and novelty: By changing its iconic packaging colour to pink, Diet Coke created a visual impact and a sense of novelty that attracted attention and curiosity from consumers. The pink cans also stood out from the competition and created a positive association with the brand.
- Increasing sales and loyalty: By offering a limited edition product that was only available at Asda stores, Diet Coke created a sense of urgency and exclusivity that encouraged consumers to buy more packs of pink cans before they ran out. The brand also rewarded its loyal customers with the chance to win £1,000 by finding a golden can.
- Generating word-of-mouth and engagement: By inviting consumers to share their pink cans on social media using the hashtag #PinkDietCoke, Diet Coke created a viral campaign that generated organic word-of-mouth and engagement. The brand also leveraged the power of influencers and celebrities who endorsed the campaign and posted pictures of themselves with the pink cans.
- Enhancing brand image and reputation: By partnering with Asda and two reputable breast cancer charities, Diet Coke enhanced its brand image and reputation as a socially conscious and trustworthy brand that cares about its customers and the community.
Diet Coke’s pink campaign was a huge success, both in terms of raising funds and awareness for breast cancer, and in terms of boosting the brand’s performance and popularity. Some of the results achieved by the campaign were: Raising over £7 million for breast cancer charities: According to Asda, the Tickled Pink campaign raised over £7 million in 2023 through product sales and fundraising activities, making it the biggest year so far. The hashtag also generated over 100,000 likes, comments, shares, views, and mentions. Increasing market share and customer satisfaction: According to Nielsen, Diet Coke increased its market share by 2% in October 2023 compared to the same month in 2022. The brand also saw an increase in customer satisfaction ratings by 5% according to YouGov.
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