#GlobalSamosa: Coca Cola Brazil gives lessons against homophobic slurs

As India celebrates a year of LGBTQ freedom since the day a part of Section 377 was repealed, we take a look at Coca Cola Brazil's 'This Coke is a Fanta' campaign that created waves around the world for their stance against homophonic slurs.

Taking cognisance of the issue of homophobic slurs in Brazil, Coca Cola took it upon itself to educate people about the damage they do with harmless comments. The campaign ran was called, This Coke is a Fanta. As a part of the campaign, they launched limited-edition cans of coke that were filled with Fanta. The campaign was conceptualised for Coca Cola Brazil by David The Agency and won a Cannes Lions 2018.

They took this particular phrase, This Coke is a Fanta, as the tagline of the campaign because it was one of the sentences used to mock the LGBTQ+ community in the country. "It might look like an innocent joke, but it's not," they said. It was launched on the International LGBT Pride Day and later became a hit around the carnival. It was called the most engaging organic campaign in Brazil in 2017, the brand said.

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As the campaign gained popularity, people started making their own DIY Coke-Fantas. Unofficial merchandises, including phone covers, mugs and T-shirts, cropped up for sale online. All of this was, of course, documented in the social media space. A change in Google search trends was also highlighted as a success by the brand. Over a billion media impressions were gained at the cost of no media investment.

It is always heart-warming to see brands take an honest initiative to raise awareness and share a token of respect. With minimal investment the brand changed negative sentiments associated with the LGBTQ+ community in Brazil into positive.