Greenpeace continues anti-Coke campaign with parody website
Greenpeace’s spoof Coke site
Environmental activist group Greenpeace has once again taken aim at Coca-Cola over its opposition to a national recycling scheme launching a new parody website Coke Refunds.
The real thing
The website, which is a parody of Coca-Cola’s loyalty website Coke Rewards, talks consumers through a procedure for refunding 10 cents from the purchase of a contain then encourages then to click a button to get their refund.
When the consumer try to click on the “refund my 10c” button it jumps around on the page and cannot be clicked. Consumers who click on the technical help link are directed to a webpage which explains the Greenpeace campaign.
“Coke’s opposition to a beverage recycling scheme is dodgy. This is reflected in an impossible-to-click ‘Refund my 10c’ dodge button which like Coke’s support for recycling can’t be pinned down,” claimed Seb Cumberbirch, digital strategy manager for Greenpeace Australia Pacific.
This is not the first time Greenpeace have taken aim at Coca-Cola over recycling this year. In May it created a deliberately provocative television commercial called ‘Stop Coca-Cola trashing Australia’ showing people enjoying bottles of Coca-Cola by the beach before seeing hundreds of sea birds literally dropping from the sky. The ad was banned by all the major television networks.
It has also run full page newspaper ads in the Fairfax press highlighting a court case which may lead to the dismantling of the Northern Territory’s recycling scheme.
“To date, our campaign to win a beverage recycling scheme has been serious and quite confrontational, reflected in our banned TV advertisement showing dead birds falling from the sky having choked to death on plastic waste,” said Reece Turner, a Greenpeace campaigner.
“This change of tack employs cheeky humour to belittle Coke’s stiff opposition to a cash for containers scheme. On Facebook our supporters are enjoying the site and sharing the joke,” he said.
Coca-Cola said it was aware of the website but would not be taking action against any copyright infringement. “We are aware of the website and are not planning to take any action,” said the spokeswoman.
Nic Christensen
