Coca-Cola did not create or distribute cans printed with “Try to be less white” slogan.
Claim
Rating
Explanation
An image of a coca-cola can printed with “try to be less white” slogan on it is shared widely on Twitter. Some of the posts with such a claim can be seen here, here and here. This image is viral since 2021. Another image of a coke can printed with same slogan was also viral in 2021.
What is the truth?
When reverse-searching the viral image and searching with relevant keywords we found that the can with such a slogan is not created, distributed or authorized by the Coca-Cola company.
Coca-Cola’s verified Twitter account on 11, June 2021 replied to one of the tweets with the viral image as “The mock Coca-Cola can appearing in some social media feeds was not created, distributed or authorized by The Coca-Cola Company.”
The mock Coca-Cola can appearing in some social media feeds was not created, distributed or authorized by The Coca-Cola Company.
— Coca-Cola (@CocaCola) June 10, 2021
Another similar image of a coca-cola can with the slogan ‘Try to be less white’ with the ice cubes as its background was also viral. And this image is found to be edited as the original image can be seen on the Shutterstock site.
Some of the viral posts quote Newsweek’s article to mention that the image is true. These images started doing rounds on the internet in 2021 after Coca-Cola promoted an online training session that encouraged their employees to “try to be less white”. The program was removed after the controversy raised on ‘anti-white’ racial discrimination.
After the controversy, Coca-Cola apologized and released a statement mentioning that it was not a part of their training curriculum and the links to the content were immediately removed. The statement mentioned, “We apologize to those who were offended by this content. We would never encourage anyone to be any less of themselves”. However, no such racist slogan was printed on the Coca-Cola cans.
Conclusion
It is found that the coca-cola can with “try to be less white” slogan printed on it is not created or distributed by Coca-Cola company.
Proof Links
