Multiplying products and adapting packaging to various clienteles urge greater consumption and build consumer loyalty to soft and energy drinks.

2 KEY MESSAGESto reveal the various traps or misleading messages in food marketing

1. A thousand products in appearance, to reach all targets. • By diversifying their products, producers aim to attract the maximum number of consumers (youths, women, sports enthusiasts, etc.) and to increase their market shares and income. (See INFO-PLUS.5: A vast and powerful market). - All these drinks are basically similar since they contain the same main ingredients: water, sugars (artificial sweeteners for diet drinks), preservatives, acidifying agents, colouring, flavours, caffeine, salt and carbon dioxide (CO2). Plant extracts and nutritional elements (amino acids, vitamins, etc.) are also added to energy drinks. - Nonetheless, in Canada, there are 30 different brands of soft drinks and over 200 flavours. In fact, approximately three-quarters of the market are held by Coca-Cola and PepsiCo. For example, Sprite, Fanta, Powerade, Full Throttle and TaB energy all belong to Coca-Cola Canada. Seven-Up, Mountain Dew, Mug, Gatorade and AMP are all PepsiCo products. - Every 10 seconds, 126,000 people around the world purchase a Coca-Cola product. Every day, 1.5 billion Coca-Cola drinks are consumed worldwide. - In 2006, 500 new brands of energy drinks appeared on the American market. In January 2010, more than 300 licensing requests were made to Health Canada to market energy drinks. (See INFO-PLUS.3: Natural product with no control?). - A single product can be available in many flavours. For example, to date, some thirty flavours of Pepsi and approximately 70 flavours of Fanta have been released around the world: Pepsi Lime in Canada, mint-flavoured in Asia, cappuccino-flavoured in Europe and pineapple-flavoured in Hawaii; Fanta Apple in the United States, blackcurrant in Switzerland and elderberry in Romania. (Refer to the sites in footnoteb ). - “Diet” versions exist for most products. - Coca-Cola is proud to offer “A drink for every thirst”. So whatever your need, whatever your thirst, Coca-Cola has something to offer, despite the fact that the only real need the body has for fluids is to drink water. - New energy drinks with less sugar, fewer calories and more vitamins, such as Sugar-free Red Bull, Diet Rockstar and TaB energy (Coca-Cola) were created to attract young women. Until then the energy drink industry had mainly targeted young men. 2. Designs made to appeal (colour, name, logo, shape of container) • The packaging has become a key means of reaching various market segments. • Packaging colours evoke emotions, values or feelings and build a bond with the consumer's unconscious. They have drawing power beyond the appeal of the product itself.c . • The brand (name and logo) defines a “universe” linked to the product through symbols it evokes and to which consumers wish to relate.

a) Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. The Canadian Soft Drink Industry. Online: http://www4.agr.gc.ca/AAFC-AAC/display-afficher.do?id=1172167862291&lang=eng (accessed October 4, 2010).b) List of Pepsi Variations. Online: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Pepsi_variations Fanta. Online: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fanta and Fanta Product description. Online: http://www.virtualvender.coca-cola.com/ft/index.jsp?brand_id=258 (accessed October 4, 2010).c) Information taken from Le blogue de Luc Dupont. Sur la signification des couleurs en emballage. March 31, 2010. Online: http://lucdupont.blogspot.com/2010/03/sur-la-signification-des-couleurs-en.html (accessed October 4, 2010).

THE INDUSTRY MULTIPLIES ITS PRODUCTS AND ADAPTS THEIR PACKAGING FOR ITS DRAWING POWER.

FACT SHEET #3

• Containers highlight the product's alleged assets. For example: - Transparent to highlight a “natural” look (e.g. the colour of fruit) - Small and pink for energy drinks that target girls (e.g. TaB) but more imposing for boys (e.g. Full Throttle) - Flat shape of cans to infer portions are halved in relation to the bottle equivalent (e.g. 237 ml size of Coca Cola - photo right). - Shot or shooter sizes (energy drinks) to suggest a concentrated and “more effective” aspect, evoking intensity and instantaneous effect.

Energy drink examples speak for themselves.

Red Bull · Logo: The bull, symbol of strength and power · Blue for a refreshing feeling, red for impulsiveness · Red bull: energy to charge, to fight

Burn · Logo: A flame, symbol of fire, desire, sexuality · lack for the night life, a fire in the night · Burn: the hottest of energy drinks

Full Throttle · Logo reminiscent of a rocket or racer taking off · Red for energy, extreme · Full Throttle: going full speed, pedal to the metal

Hype · Design with simple, repetitive patterns (dots, lines), trance-like or suggesting a minimalist or techno music atmosphere · Metallic colours for technology, electronics, space · Hype: frenzy, elation

Guru · Logo and design reminiscent of the yin-yang, symbol of fullness · Luminous colours for radiance, well-being · Guru: “teacher, sage, spiritual guide” in the Sanskrit language of India

The most popular soft drink logos and names are often related to their history. For example, Coca-Cola was so named because of the presence of kola nuts and decocainized coca leaves in the product created in 1886. Meanwhile, Pepsi-Cola invented another drink, also based on kola nuts, to relieve dyspepsia and other digestive problems. The red, white and blue colours Pepsi uses appeared to commemo-rate the United States’ war efforts during World War II.e .

• Around the same time, Fanta was created following the inability to import the necessary ingredients to make Coca-Cola into territories

controlled by the Third Reich. Fanta comes from the German Fantasiegetränk which means “fantastic drink”.

• The impact of soft drink names and logos mainly stems from the reputations they have built over the years around the world.

d) Wikipedia.com: see pages for PepsiCo, Coca-Cola and Fanta.e) Luc Olivier Lafeuille (2010). Design : L’évolution du logo Pepsi. Online: http://luc-olivier.com/communication/produit/72-levolution-du-logo-de-pepsi (accessed October 4, 2010).

THE INDUSTRY MULTIPLIES ITS PRODUCTS AND ADAPTS THEIR PACKAGING FOR ITS DRAWING POWER.

FACT SHEET #3