A photo that shows two Coca-Cola bottles with taglines that support farmers has gone viral on social media. The image is being shared with false claims that the global beverages company has come out openly in support of the ongoing farmers' protests.
BOOM reached out to Coca-Cola India who denied launching any such campaign in support of the farmers.
In the viral photo, there are two Coca-Cola bottles with the label - 'Share a coke with support farmer' and 'Share a coke with Kisan Ekta'.
The image is being shared in the backdrop of the ongoing protests at different borders of Delhi by farmers from Punjab, Haryana and Western Uttar Pradesh camping there since November 26, 2020. The farmers have been demanding the repeal of three farm bills passed by the central government last year.
The photo is being shared with the caption which when translated from Punjabi reads, "Company Coca Cola also came out in favour of the farmers."
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(ਲਉ ਵੀ ਭਗਤੋ ਵਰਲਡ ਲੈਬਲ ਕੰਪਨੀ ਕੋਕਾ ਕੋਲਾ ਵੀ ਆਈ ਕਿਸਾਨਾਂ ਦੇ ਹੱਕ ਵਿੱਚ।)
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FACT-CHECK
In a statement via email, the company told BOOM, "Coca-Cola India confirms that this is a fake image and denies the launch of any such brand campaign around the stated issues indicated in the image."
Additionally, we did not find any report which stated that the company had launched any such product in support of the farmers' protests. We also did not find any other photos of coke bottles with the labels 'Share a coke with support farmer' on it, which would not be the case if it had launched such a campaign.
Picture credit: Coca-Cola India website
The 'Share a coke' packing campaign was launched by Coca-Cola in India in 2018 which had descriptors on its bottles such as, "Grandad (Old School. Yet Cool), Grandma (Scolds me. Spoils me), Daddy (My teacher. My friend)". The campaign rebranded the traditional Coke logo, replacing "Coca-Cola" from one side of a bottle with the phrase "Share a Coke with" followed by these phrases.
The viral photo also has a 'Share a Coke' tagline to add credibility to the false claim.
BOOM has previously debunked misinformation around the farmers' protests. Several false claims had gone viral to target the protesting farmers and old photos, videos being shared as recent.
Follow BOOM's thread on misinformation around the farmers' protests.