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For the first time in over a decade, Coca-Cola is relaunching its iconic Share a Coke campaign. This time around, its targeting Gen Z. When Share a Coke first debuted in Australia in 2011, replacing the Coca-Cola logo on Coke bottles with 150 of the most popular names in the region, it sold 250 million named bottles and cans in a nation of just under 23 million people. The idea was so successful that, over time, Coca-Cola replicated it in 70 different countries. And this April 1, a new version of Share a Coke is rolling out globally. The bones of the concept are the same as when it debuted more than a decade ago: In each local market, a range of the most popular regional names has been selected and printed onto Coke bottles and cans. This time, though, the campaign is including an expanded range of names, launching on a broader scale, and adding a few digital touches to attract a younger generation. The company is positioning this relaunch as a campaign with unprecedented personalization for Gen Z, but its a tough sell in an era when AI has made personalized marketing a much more achievable reality. Instead, its more like a nostalgic re-run with a couple modern tweaksand it might not be enough to impress a new, digitally native generation. [Image: Coca-Cola] Coca-Cola’s plan to recruit young consumers According to the industry research firm IBIS, American consumption of soft drinks has been on a steady decline since 1999. That year, the average American wouldve consumed 49.7 gallons of soda, compared to 42.2 gallons today. But while the category as a whole might be losing steam, Coca-Cola remains profitable: Net revenues were up 3% to $47.1 billion in 2024, and the companys shares have gone up by about 14% in the past year. For Gen Z, there are a few factors that influence soda consumption. To start, many younger consumers are increasingly interested in wellness, and therefore are choosing functional beverages like prebiotic drinks or lower sugar options. But soda isnt a lost cause, either: As many younger consumers opt to drink less or stay sober entirely, theyre turning to other kinds of drinks at the bar, including plain old soda. Trends like the rise of dirty soda also signal that Gen Z still enjoys a sugary drink here and there. Islam Eldessouky, Coca-Colas global vice president of creative strategy and content, says the companys idea to bring Share a Coke back actually came up while discussing new ways to recruit as many Gen Zers into the franchise as we can” (a mission that the company has already pursued with new flavor launches like Spiced and Orange Cream). One key data point that came up is that 72% of Gen Zers are really aspiring to make real connections, Eldessouky says. While we were contemplating different ideas of bringing this aspect of connection to the brand, somebody said, Share a Coke was built on that. Originally, he explains, “Share a Coke” was about creating organic connections, like finding a bottle with a friends name on it and sharing it with them. In 2011an era when the whole notion of personalization was very basic and very primitive, he saysdiscovering a Coke with your name on it felt especially exciting. To reinvent the concept in 2025 for a digitally native generation, though, the Coca-Cola team felt they’d have to do something bigger. [Image: Coca-Cola] A more digital ‘Share a Coke’ There are a few ways that Coca-Cola is seeking to make this new campaign feel more weighty. The scale is literally larger. This campaign is launching globally in 120 different markets over the course of the coming year, starting in North America, Latin America, and Asia South Pacific. The actual number of names used is greater as well, though the specific statistics vary by market. This version of the campaign will also include two new digital elements: Memory Maker, which lets users scan a QR code on their bottle to upload photos and videos to something like a Coke-powered group chat, and a new customization platform which lets fans order a Coke bottle online with a custom name or word (though, Eldessouky assures me, the platform wont allow users to enter anything obscene or inflammatory). In addition, Coca-Cola is partnering with McDonalds on an exclusive Share a Coke meal bundle, which will be available in the fast food chain’s restaurants. Coca-Cola says the goal of the Share a Meal, as the company calls its, is to incentivize friend groups to connect in person rather than online. Part of the strategy of this partnership, Eldessouky says, is to provide Gen Z consumes with an accessible, inexpensive third place. The third place is something that Gen Z is really craving, because it’s a very connected generation digitally, but they desire much more connection in real life than other generations, Eldessouky says. We’re trying to give [Gen Z] a lot of opportunities where they can actually go and find these third places to connect. But the ‘Share a Coke’ concept doesn’t need add-ons As a member of the campaigns target demographic myself, I think the customization platform is a nice add-on that might allow those whose names are less common to still participate in the campaign. But the other elements fall flat. The Memory Maker feature, for one, doesnt exactly feel like the unprecedented personalization Coke hopes it will be. Today, given the advent of targeted marketing and AI tools, personalized campaigns just feel a lot less novel. Coca-Cola itself, for example, used AI in 2024 to make a holiday ad that was customized across 12 different U.S. geographies. Frankly, its tough to imagine many young people going through the effort of scanning a QR code in the first place, let alone using it to message friends. And a Coke and McDonald’s collaboration makes intuitive sensebut I’m not totally convinced by the idea that it’ll make McDonald’s a novel “third space” for Gen Zers who aren’t already hanging out there. All in all, the new Share a Coke campaign doesnt look very different from its 2011 iteration, and thats fine. I just wish Coke had just gone full-on millennial nostalgia with the marketing (see this extremely 2010s ad, for example) rather than making a play at Gen Z that feels tired at best.
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E-Commerce
Installation of renewable energy worldwide hit a record high last year, with 92.5% of all new electricity brought online coming from the sun, wind or other clean sources, an international agency reports.Nearly 64% of the new renewable electricity generated in 2024 was in China, according to Wednesday’s report by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA). Overall, the world added 585 billion watts of new renewable electrical energy, a 15.1% jump from 2023, with 46% of the world’s electricity coming from solar, wind and other green non-nuclear energy sources.But even that big jump does not put the globe on track to reach the international goal of tripling renewable energy from 2023 to 2030, with the world on pace to be 28% short, IRENA calculated. The goal was adopted in 2023 as part of the world’s efforts to curb the increasing impacts of climate change and transition away from fossil fuels such as coal, oil and natural gas.“Renewable energy is powering down the fossil fuel age. Record-breaking growth is creating jobs, lowering energy bills and cleaning our air,” United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in a statement. “But the shift to clean energy must be faster and fairer.”China added almost 374 billion watts of renewable power three quarters of it from solar panels in 2024. That’s more than eight times as much as the United States did and five times what Europe added last year.China now has nearly 887 billion watts of solar panel power, compared to 176 billion in the United States, nearly 90 billion watts in Germany, 21 billion watts in France and more than 17 billion watts in the United Kingdom.United Nations climate chief Simon Stiell used the figures Wednesday to challenge Europe and other industrialized nations to catch up with China.“As one government steps back from climate leadership, it opens up space for others to step forward and seize the vast benefits,” Stiell told European leaders in Berlin, making reference to U.S. President Trump’s withdrawal from the Paris climate agreement. “The clean energy transition can be Europe’s economic engine-room now when new sources of growth are vital to buttress living standards and for decades to come.”Stiell said the IRENA numbers show that the “global renewables boom is unstoppable” and said the market for green energy reached $2 trillion last year.The move to renewables can grow even faster, said Neil Grant, senior policy analyst at Climate Analytics, which tracks and projects countries’ climate change fighting efforts.“If in 2024 renewables grew 15%, think how much faster they could grow with the full backing of comprehensive, credible and ambitious climate policies around the world,” said Grant, who wasn’t part of the IRENA report. The Associated Press’ climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org. Seth Borenstein, AP Science Writer
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E-Commerce
Current and former government technologists reacted with shock and disbelief to reports that top Trump Administration officials used the consumer messaging app Signal to discuss and plan bombing strikes against Yemen-based Houthis. The private chat group included Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Vice President JD Vance, and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard. It came to public attention after its organizer, National Security Advisor Mike Waltz, inexplicably invited Atlantic editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg to join the conversationdespite Goldberg being a frequent target of Donald Trumps criticism. Goldberg says he witnessed the full strategy session, including detailed discussions of war plans and logistics. Using a nonsecure consumer messaging app for sensitive government work is neither normal nor smart, according to several current and former government technologists. I’d never use Signal if something was classified, says Kate Green, who worked at the U.S. Digital Service (USDS) until late last year. There’s so many risks in communicating about classified information that you don’t mess around with that. You use approved channels for that. Green explains that government agency security departments configure government-issued phones to prevent users from installing commercial apps like Signal, Telegram, or WhatsApp. My work phone was very locked down and managed by them, she says. So they were using Signal either on their personal devices, or they were using it on government phones that weren’t being managed by the rules of the agencies they were part of, Green says of the administration officials on the Houthi chat. No one I know wouldve been this reckless talking about sensitive matters on a nongovernment system, says another government technology leader, who until very recently worked within USDS. I cant imagine any professional I know committing this egregious a lapse in judgement.” It’s a hard line we don’t cross for obvious ethical and legal reasons, adds the ex-USDS source, but also the logistics of personal devices getting subpoenaed and FOIA’d [accessed via a Freedom of Information Act request] would be terrible. (Another ex-government source, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation, says people within her agencyuntil recently, the Office of Management and Budgetreceived ethics training during their first month of employment, along with extensive instruction on the proper ways to communicate about government matters.) Virginia Senator Mark Warner, who chairs the Senate Intelligence Committee, stated the obvious during a contentious hearing of the same committee Tuesday. Classified information should never be discussed over an unclassified system, he said. If this was the case of a military officer or an intelligence officer, and they had this kind of behavior, they would be fired. Matthew Mittelsteadt, cybersecurity and emerging technologies expert at the Cato Institute, says the security of encrypted messaging apps like Signal is only as strong as the security of the end devices used to access them. In the specific case of Signal, messages may be secure when they are in transit between phones,” he says, “but once they reach the recipient, security can indeed fail. He points out that just last month, Google Threat Intelligence found actors backed by Russias GRU were actively exploiting Signals “linked devices” feature to eavesdrop on target individuals messages once they reached the individual’s inbox. As it happened, National Security Advisor Mike Waltz was on a trip to Moscow during the Signal chat in question, which spanned several days. Republican Representative from Nebraska Don Bacon, who sits on the House Armed Services Committee, said theres no doubt that Russia and China were monitoring the devices of the U.S. officials on the Houthi text chat. Waltz claims that the Signal chat group discussed no secret war plans, nor was any classified material shared. Goldberg bluntly denied Waltzs claim during a CNN interview Monday: Thats a lie. He was texting war plans, he said.
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