Coke personalized label tool sparks backlash as it bans 'Black Lives Matter' but not 'White Lives Matter'

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By VT

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Coca-Cola's new personalized label tool has sparked backlash online after it banned "Black Lives Matter" but not "White Lives Matter".

The system blocks people from purchasing Coca-Cola bottles that read "Black Lives Matter" on its label, however, customers are allowed to buy bottles that read "White Lives Matter", CNN reports.

This is not the only controversial phrase that Coke allows its bottles to be personalized with, and while customers can buy a Pride label, they cannot write "Gay Pride" on a bottle, despite "I hate gays" being allowed.

Shockingly, despite the words "Hitler" and "Nazi" being banned by the soft drinks manufacturer, patrons can buy bottles that read "I am Hitler" or "I am a Nazi."

If a word or phrase is blocked by the company, the following phrase appears: "Oops! Looks like the name you requested is not an approved one. Names may not be approved if they're potentially offensive to other people, trademarked, or celebrity names.

"We've worked hard to get this list right, but sometimes we mess up. If you think this is an error, please contact our Customer Care team. Otherwise, please try again, keep it fun and in the spirit of sharing!"

wp-image-1263115323 size-full
Credit: Alamy / Godong

It's not known if any Coca-Cola bottles with these labels were actually produced or sold, however, the lack of restrictions did not go unnoticed on Twitter.

One Twitter user joked: "Good news about the horribly broken Coke bottle personalization: it may ban a lot of words that shouldn't be banned, but it doesn't ban me from doing this."

A second added: "How ya gonna block Black Lives Matter from custom bottles but white lives matter and i am hitler is ok? no wonder black people hate coke. think I'll go buy a pepsi [sic]."

A third wrote: "Another epic fail. 'Well done': Coca Cola doesn't allow 'Palestine' or 'Black Lives Matter' on its Coke bottles - but it does allow 'blue lives matter' 'Nazis rule' passed the censors - but 'lesbian' didn't."

Meanwhile, a fourth joked: "I *shouldn't* buy a case of 'share a coke with nazis' bottles to give to kendall jenner to hand out to police, right?? [sic]"

A Coca-Cola spokesperson told CNN Business: "We're continuously refining and improving our Share A Coke personalization tool to ensure it is used only for its intended purpose.

"Words or phrases that have appeared in the preview mode of the tool may not necessarily be approved, but rather are words we have not previously assessed," the spokesperson added.

"Actual bottles are not made with words that are inconsistent with the program's intent. We have clarified in the tool's preview mode that proposed language may require further review."

Featured image credit: Alamy / Kristoffer Tripplaar

Coke personalized label tool sparks backlash as it bans 'Black Lives Matter' but not 'White Lives Matter'

vt-author-image

By VT

Article saved!Article saved!

Coca-Cola's new personalized label tool has sparked backlash online after it banned "Black Lives Matter" but not "White Lives Matter".

The system blocks people from purchasing Coca-Cola bottles that read "Black Lives Matter" on its label, however, customers are allowed to buy bottles that read "White Lives Matter", CNN reports.

This is not the only controversial phrase that Coke allows its bottles to be personalized with, and while customers can buy a Pride label, they cannot write "Gay Pride" on a bottle, despite "I hate gays" being allowed.

Shockingly, despite the words "Hitler" and "Nazi" being banned by the soft drinks manufacturer, patrons can buy bottles that read "I am Hitler" or "I am a Nazi."

If a word or phrase is blocked by the company, the following phrase appears: "Oops! Looks like the name you requested is not an approved one. Names may not be approved if they're potentially offensive to other people, trademarked, or celebrity names.

"We've worked hard to get this list right, but sometimes we mess up. If you think this is an error, please contact our Customer Care team. Otherwise, please try again, keep it fun and in the spirit of sharing!"

wp-image-1263115323 size-full
Credit: Alamy / Godong

It's not known if any Coca-Cola bottles with these labels were actually produced or sold, however, the lack of restrictions did not go unnoticed on Twitter.

One Twitter user joked: "Good news about the horribly broken Coke bottle personalization: it may ban a lot of words that shouldn't be banned, but it doesn't ban me from doing this."

A second added: "How ya gonna block Black Lives Matter from custom bottles but white lives matter and i am hitler is ok? no wonder black people hate coke. think I'll go buy a pepsi [sic]."

A third wrote: "Another epic fail. 'Well done': Coca Cola doesn't allow 'Palestine' or 'Black Lives Matter' on its Coke bottles - but it does allow 'blue lives matter' 'Nazis rule' passed the censors - but 'lesbian' didn't."

Meanwhile, a fourth joked: "I *shouldn't* buy a case of 'share a coke with nazis' bottles to give to kendall jenner to hand out to police, right?? [sic]"

A Coca-Cola spokesperson told CNN Business: "We're continuously refining and improving our Share A Coke personalization tool to ensure it is used only for its intended purpose.

"Words or phrases that have appeared in the preview mode of the tool may not necessarily be approved, but rather are words we have not previously assessed," the spokesperson added.

"Actual bottles are not made with words that are inconsistent with the program's intent. We have clarified in the tool's preview mode that proposed language may require further review."

Featured image credit: Alamy / Kristoffer Tripplaar