The European Commission’s proposals from November last year to cut packaging waste have been voted through by the European Parliament’s environment committee. Not that anything more important is going on at the moment…
Under the draft rules packaging will be steadily standardised to allow for easier reuse. It can be heavier or more intricate than the minimum only if it fulfils certain “performance criteria”, though the commission have deleted “consumer acceptance” and “marketing and product presentation” from the list. Brand identification won’t be a good enough reason to keep a packaging design. Anything that uses glass is at high risk – bottle designs for coke, perfume, and spirits could go out of the window. Kiss that Grey Goose goodbye…
The glass bottle manufacturer trade association FEVE says “creative designs and iconic shapes will gradually disappear, and commercial value will be squandered because brands can no longer stand out from each other on the shelves“. Meanwhile, several packaging formats will also be banned, like single-use packaging in restaurants and hotels. Goodbye ketchup sachets and mini-shampoo bottles…
Soon after spotting this really decent parody ad from Momentum – riffing on Coca-Cola’s famous ‘Holiday’s are Coming’ Truck advert – Guido was informed by a lawyer that he didn’t think the ad would be allowed by Coke’s lawyers much longer. What else would you expect from the brand that is the greatest symbol of capitalism in the world?…
Before Guido even managed to publish, the ad was already taken down by lawyers. You’re either in front of Coca-Cola’s lawyers or behind…
Coca-Cola have now said:
“We have been made aware of a social post from Momentum which uses footage from the Coca-Cola Christmas advert. The film is in no way endorsed by The Coca-Cola Company…
Whether they end up suing Momentum, we will have to wait and pep-see…
Portulent Labour MP Keith Vaz is very upset about a Coca-Cola Christmas truck visiting Leicester, warning that in “each can of Coke there are seven teaspoons of sugar”. Yet Vaz hasn’t always been able to hide his sweet tooth, even opening a sweet shop, Sweetalicious, in his constituency. Vaz had this to say at the opening:
“It will be a trip down memory lane with shelves filled with brightly coloured jars of sweets from all over the world. The only problem will be wondering what to chose from the amazing range of sweets. I have a sweet tooth, so I will have to be very careful and not over indulge.”
Perhaps he’s on a health kick…
