Coca‑Cola brings Christmas magic to Great Britain

• This year, the eagerly anticipated Coca‑Cola Christmas Truck Tour will return, aiming to bring the magic of Christmas to people nationwide
• Supporting FareShare, Coca‑Cola will donate the equivalent of thousands of meals, with the equivalent of a meal donated on behalf of every person that attends the Coca‑Cola Christmas Truck Tour this year
• Truly marking the start of Christmas, the iconic ‘Holidays Are Coming’ Christmas advert will return later this month
• For the first time ever, Coca‑Cola is also collaborating with the Royal National Institute of Blind People and NaviLens to make its Christmas packaging accessible for blind and partially sighted people

London, 21 November 2022 – Holidays Are Coming! Christmas is set to be extra special this year and to celebrate, Coca‑Cola is bringing the magic of Christmas to the nation with its eagerly awaited Christmas Truck Tour.

Bringing friends and family together to enjoy a magical moment of festive fun, the anticipated tour is set to put a spotlight on local community, supporting FareShare, the UK’s biggest charity fighting hunger and food waste.  

In a magical winter wonderland setting, every visit to the Coca‑Cola Christmas Truck will count towards supporting those experiencing food poverty. With the theme for those attending of “Your Presence is Your Present”, Coca‑Cola Great Britain will donate the equivalent of up to 100,000 meals to those in need throughout the festive season. For every person that attends the Coca‑Cola Truck Tour, Coca‑Cola Great Britain will fund the equivalent of one meal for a person in need. Kickstarting the ambition, the equivalent of 100,000 meals have already been donated to FareShare by Coca‑Cola Europacific Partners, with the ambition of funding the total equivalent of 200,000 meals.

Lindsay Boswell, CEO at FareShare said: “We’re incredibly grateful for the support from Coca‑Cola. Their donation will help us get more good-to-eat surplus food to people across the UK most impacted by the cost of living crisis. We hope as many people visit the Coca‑Cola Truck Tour this Christmas so that we can get more food to people who need it during what are challenging times for many.”

As well as capturing the perfect seasonal selfies in front of the iconic red truck, this year’s tour is bigger and better than ever before, with a magical ‘winter market’ setting, featuring fun activities for all to get involved with. This year’s sparkling Christmas experience also offers fun opportunities - from giggle-inducing ‘elfie selfie’ shots, to QR codes that access a host of interactive games, plus food huts that will serve up delicious seasonal tastes. Visitors will also have the opportunity to purchase Coca‑Cola Zero Sugar and Coca‑Cola Original Taste and have them personalised with their name or short phrase– the perfect gift for a loved one or special keepsake.

Officially kick starting the Christmas season, the Coca‑Cola Christmas Truck will also be making its familiar festive appearance to TV screens later in November, with the first airing of the much loved “Holidays Are Coming” ad often said to still signify the official start of Christmas.

Laura Moon, Senior Brand Manager at The Coca‑Cola Company, Great Britain, said: “Coca‑Cola has always been synonymous with Christmas, particularly the iconic Truck Tour and Holidays Are Coming advert. This year, the magic of Christmas is needed more than ever, and we are excited to bring back our famous truck tour to fans nationwide.

“We’re also extremely pleased to continue our relationship with FareShare and for every person that visits the Truck Tour, we’ll donate the equivalent of a meal on their behalf, supporting those most in need this festive season.”

For those unable to visit the Coca‑Cola Christmas Truck in person, from the 21 November, a promotion with Coca‑Cola Zero Sugar and Coca‑Cola Original Taste will invite fans to scan on-pack QR codes for the chance to win 1,000’s of festive gifts, including pre-loaded £200 ‘Festive Feast’ gift cards. The on-pack promotion supports Coca‑Cola’s Christmas campaign, ‘Christmas Always Finds A Way’, with the aim to offer winners a special addition to their Christmas this year.

Plus, for the first time ever, Coca‑Cola is collaborating with the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) and NaviLens on a pilot project to make its packaging accessible for blind and partially sighted people. This Christmas, promotional 24 & 30 multipacks of Coca‑Cola will feature NaviLens technology which allows a smartphone to easily detect a unique on-pack code and playback labelling information to shoppers, enabling people with sight loss to access the key information they need to shop independently and with confidence.

Marc Powell, RNIB’s Accessibility Innovation Lead, said: “It’s great to see that one of the world’s biggest brands, is championing the inclusion of accessibility as part of the conversation around how we can make the customer experience better for blind and partially sighted people.

“People with sight loss should have the same access and choice as our sighted counterparts, but currently, important information on packaging can often be in very small print, making it difficult or impossible for us to read. Technology such as NaviLens is a game changer and allows blind and partially sighted people to independently access key information on packaging.

“This pilot with Coca‑Cola, the first beverage company to launch NaviLens on packs, highlights how big brands can put accessibility at the forefront of design and packaging decisions, and be a real catalyst for change.”

Finally, offering Christmas shoppers the chance to snap up their holiday gifts, the Coca‑Cola London Store will be open in London’s Covent Garden, with a festive choice of fashion collaborations and season favourite Christmas stocking fillers.

With a packed schedule of exciting Truck Tour stops taking place in the lead-up to Christmas, eager Coca‑Cola Christmas Truck fans can follow announcements about the schedule which will be made over the coming weeks at @CocaColaEU (Instagram) and @CocaCola_GB (Twitter).

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For further information about the Coca‑Cola Christmas campaign please contact: cokechristmas@thisismission.com

ABOUT THE COCA‑COLA COMPANY  

The Coca‑Cola Company (NYSE: KO) is a total beverage company, offering over 500 brands in more than 200 countries and territories. In addition to the company’s Coca‑Cola brand, our portfolio includes AdeS, Ayataka, Costa, Dasani, Del Valle, Fanta, Georgia, Gold Peak, Honest, innocent, Minute Maid, Powerade, Simply, smartwater, Sprite and vitaminwater. We’re constantly transforming our portfolio, from reducing sugar in our drinks to bringing innovative new products to market. We’re also working to reduce our environmental impact by replenishing water and promoting recycling. With our bottling partners, we employ more than 700,000 people, helping bring economic opportunity to local communities worldwide. Learn more at www.coca-colacompany.com and follow us on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn.

ABOUT COCA‑COLA GREAT BRITAIN 

Coca‑Cola Great Britain is responsible for marketing 20 brands and over 80 products to consumers across Great Britain. Led by Coca‑Cola, one of the world’s most valuable and recognisable brands, their company portfolio includes Fanta, Sprite, Dr Pepper, Oasis, glaceau smartwater, Schweppes, Appletiser and Diet Coke.  

All packaging across Coca‑Cola Great Britain’s portfolio of drinks is 100% recyclable and in 2020, the core range doubled its recycled plastic in its bottle to 50%. 

For more information, visit www.coca-cola.co.uk

ABOUT FARESHARE

FareShare is the UK’s biggest charity fighting hunger and food waste. We take good-to-eat surplus food from across the food industry, sort it in our regional warehouses across the UK, and pass it onto a network of nearly 9,500 charities and community groups. These include food banks and pantries, hostels, refuges, community centres, older people’s lunch clubs, school clubs and hospices. Three quarters of the organisations we provide food to, support children and families. During the last financial year, 2021-22, FareShare redistributed the equivalent of nearly 130 million meals - that’s 4 meals every second.

For every person that visits the Coca‑Cola Christmas Truck Tour- one visit equals one donation of 25p, limited to one unique visit per person. Maximum donation is 100, 000 meals (£25, 000). FareShare is a registered charity in England, charity number 1100051.

ABOUT RNIB

We are the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB).

Every six minutes, someone in the UK begins to lose their sight. RNIB is taking a stand against exclusion, inequality, and isolation to create a world without barriers where people with sight loss can lead full lives. A different world where society values blind and partially sighted people not for the disabilities they’ve overcome, but for the people they are.

RNIB. See differently.

Call the RNIB Helpline on 0303 123 9999 or visit www.rnib.org.uk