Coca-Cola launches food donation program for Ramadan

Coca-Cola is providing food for those in need in a new campaign launched Friday in celebration of Ramadan. 

For the campaign, created by Ogilvy New York as a part of WPP’s dedicated Coca-cola team OpenX, the company launched a donation program that turns bottle labels into a currency that can be used to donate a meal with the purchase of a Coke bottle. 

Redesigned labels that resemble bank notes will appear on limited edition bottles with the text “buy one, donate one.” 

The campaign is meant to unite people under a cause that many of those who fast during the holy month of Ramadan understand, said Mostafa Talaat, head of consumer and shopper content at Coca-Cola, Eurasia and Middle East. 

“Despite recent global events, like the pandemic and inter-country conflict, seemingly making the world more uneven and unequal than ever before, there are still major cultural moments we share, such as Ramadan, that put us all on equal terms,” he explained in an email. “From sunrise to sunset, when observers are fasting, we all experience the same things: hunger, moodswings, getting stuck in traffic, being thirsty and so on. It’s only at that moment of Iftar (when we break fast) when our inequalities and differences appear, with some individuals not able to access a hot meal.” 

This is where Coca-Cola comes in, he noted, providing a hot meal to those who can’t access one at the end of a long day of fasting.

The campaign, which is live in five markets and 63 countries, also includes long-form TV spots that depict individuals’ silhouettes as they participate in daily activities, such as waiting in line and sitting in traffic. There are no discernable differences between the shadows, which Talaat describes as a metaphor for the equal experience of fasting during the daylight hours of Ramadan. 

As the sun sets, the faces of these individuals are revealed as families gather for Iftar. A voice-over reminds the viewer that although observers fast the same, not everyone can access the same meal at the end of the evening. 

The idea emerged from the concept of using currency as a vehicle to give rather than to take, he added. 

The campaign will run through the end of Ramadan on April 20, with activations across TV, OOH and paid social media. It will also be amplified across digital, social media channels and at retail stores.