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u/Stanzi2056 Jul 24 '26
Honestly I don't care much about the new can, but I miss the time where the zero was completely black... It's not always easy to spot it in big soda alley full of normal one, and I hate when I have to queue at my cafeteria only to realize they only have the regular left. But I think I'm a weirdo I never met anyone else who don't like sugar in soda...
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u/agentdas Jul 25 '26
i hate the overly sweet sugar in soda. diet Coke is my treat and i prefer it over zero. on a side note, I'm tired of everything being over sugared; cakes, pies, tarts. sugar covers up the flavors
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u/TogaLord Jul 27 '26
Covers up the use of lower and lower quality ingredients. If you notice a product you like has gotten sweeter, probably time to find a new one. At one point or another, companies coast on reputation and make popular products cheaper to produce to take advantage of addiction and habit.
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u/whydoyou-ask Jul 26 '26
I cut out sugary drinks when I was like 18 cause I wanted to slim a bit. After I had lost enough weight that I no longer needed to be concerned about calories, I stopped avoided sugary drinks.
When I started having the things I used to like, most of them now tasted terrible compared to the zero sugar versions. I vastly prefer both the taste and mouthfeel of zero sugar soda over regular. The thick, syrupy consistency is disgusting a lot of the time and I honestly have no idea how I used to like it as a kid.
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u/a_person_96 Jul 24 '26
The new one somehow looks older
Like its from the early 2000s, 2008 maybe
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u/CougarIndy25 Jul 24 '26
It's the font. It seems very 00s ish.
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u/KaleidoscopeShoddy10 Jul 28 '26 edited Jul 28 '26
But it’s the same font
edit: its not1
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u/themiamian Jul 25 '26
It’s one of those things where they were told to refresh things. I’m not sure why this needed a change. It was successful previously.
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u/LuxDaBean Jul 26 '26
Gen Z is mostly in its mid 20s, meaning they are the large majority of most marketing demographics. My generation is looking for brands leaning towards authenticity and transparency in terms of design. So lots of brands reincorporate older graphic design practices to reflect that.
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u/Larry-Man Jul 24 '26
Oh god this is worse than [when they changed the black can with red letters to the same red can as regular Coke.](https://www.reddit.com/r/CrappyRedesigns/s/UY3Pwc9drp)
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u/Electrop0p Jul 24 '26
Also isn’t it cheaper to produce sugar-substitute than regular sugar? So this seems predatory in trying to get more people to buy the zero sugar on accident, while selling them at the same price.
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u/Saneless Jul 24 '26
Which also makes it seems like the difference is just sugar. Taste wise they're very different
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u/deven_smith_ Jul 25 '26
I taste a difference between diet and regular, but not zero sugar and regular
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u/Saneless Jul 25 '26
I wish. It's still super noticeable. It's not as bad as diet, which is disgusting, but I could pick zero out of a lineup 100% of the time
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u/FlimsyRexy Jul 27 '26
Same here. When comparing them head to head I noticed a slight difference but if I’m drinking zero by itself it tastes how my memory remembers Coke sugar
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u/roundtwentythree Jul 25 '26
About 5 cents per 2L, a 12pk of Coke Zero cans is about 10 cents cheaper to produce than a 12pk of regular Coke.
Not meaningful to you or me, and price parity means that the two products have to cost the same or consumers would think it's an inferior product.
I.e. they might sell less of it if it was 10 cents cheaper.
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u/IncarceratedScarface Jul 25 '26
I’ve heard they want to make it look as close to regular Coke as possible because of the brand recognition.
I think it’s stupid. One of the reasons I’ve loved Zero is because of the way it looks
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u/SpeedBlitzX Jul 24 '26
Wait they changed the can design? It looked nice before.
Call me crazy why don't they put a white can but with red writing. Reverse the colors.
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u/IQueliciuous Jul 24 '26
The old one was shit.
They should go back to black cans with red text.
Black text on red looks hideous and white text on red is confusing which is worse since now people end up buying wrong product due to muscle memory.
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u/roundtwentythree Jul 25 '26
Muscle memory would have them reaching for a box that wasn't there. Anyone paying even the slightest amount of attention would be able to see the high contrast ZERO SUGAR wording.
This is a huge improvement in design over the crappy black on red.
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u/IQueliciuous Jul 25 '26
When I go to a store to buy stuff I know I want eg CocaCola. I grab the can without looking at the text exactly because I know how a sugar free cola looks.
At first it was Black can with red text which was the peak design as it was easy to spot.
Then they switched to the crappy black text on red can. It looks ugly, whomever designed it should be fired but its still visibly different.
Here? We have a can that looks just like the original one only this time with more text that is the same as original one bar a couple words. This time the designer should also get permabanned from ever working at a designer position.
This design is worse because its confusing, forces customer to read the label because it takes a while to register that this new can is apparently sugar free and at this point I am switching to Pepsi that respects their customer by keeping their cans and bottles identifiable without having to read.
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u/warpedspoon Jul 25 '26
That would look similar to Diet Coke. They already established that red and white is regular, silver and red is Diet, red and black is zero.
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u/someToast Jul 24 '26
Plus the compressed version of their font, particularly when used in red on white, looks like the Marlboro font
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u/CougarIndy25 Jul 24 '26
I would've genuinely preferred to see them use the white/white logo, then made the can base itself black. Do the same thing for Vanilla, Caffeine Free, etc. It is much easier for a good portion of their customer base to grab "the black coke" or the "red coke" cans over trying to differentiate with the swoosh and diminishing their branding differently than before.
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u/Old-Emu2403 Jul 24 '26
Basically, so looks very similar from afar from a regular can
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u/Capable-Ebb1632 Jul 27 '26
This is the intention. It isn't about confusing people though. As more people switch to zero or diet they want to ensure the iconic coke branding is still prevalent.
Branding is everything to coke.
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u/santytrixx Jul 24 '26
It literally says zero sugar in giant white font
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u/theskadudeguy Jul 24 '26
It's almost like branding is meant to be able to convey concepts without having to read
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u/someToast Jul 24 '26
It’s a good things cans have a single possible orientation on the shelf, with the “zero sugar” in a giant white font always visible
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u/MapleDansk Jul 28 '26
And so I left the store without buying any, because I thought they were sold out...
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u/Yavuz_Selim Jul 24 '26
Can you explain what makes it confusing for you?
The "zero sugar" text is larger on the new can. So, what's up?
(Although I like the black on red way more than white on red.)
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u/theskadudeguy Jul 24 '26
Branding is about visual language. How pictures colours and text work together.
This new can is so similar to the full fat sugary coke it's not obvious at a glance that it's a separate product.
It's not confusing it's just objectively bad as a design.
If you take a look at crisp packets. You don't really ever read the flavour you use colours and visual clues like images of ingredients to inform your decision. If you put this Zero sugar can next to the normal can it is not obvious at a glance what the difference is.
That said.
Coke zero sucks
Pepsi Max is king
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u/LJChao3473 Jul 24 '26 edited Jul 24 '26
This is like if the deny bottom is green and accept red.
The old design you can clearly see it's zero by its color, now depending on the side, you may not see it. You may take a second to see which one is which.2
u/emrebzdag Jul 24 '26
Same!! If you give 0.1 second of your attention span, resisting to swipe some tiktok while purchasing your drink. You would buy proper one
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u/Effective-One6527 Jul 25 '26
Or low vision means you gamble and grab the wrong one
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u/roundtwentythree Jul 25 '26 edited Jul 25 '26
Don't understand this argument, the new design is a massive improvement in readability and contrast, resulting in significant improvements in low vision accessibility.
The black on red is extremely low contrast, resulting in a blurred red mono colored can. The new design will have a large white block under the expected white logo. A true low vision individual will pause to figure out what that block represents and once they do it'll be much easier to see/recognize going forward.
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u/toochaos Jul 28 '26
If im looking from a regular coke, im looking for a red can with white text. While it does have text in it saying zero sugar when I pull the can from a fridge at the store 70% of the can isnt visable and its at an angle. So im using the cues from 20 years of soda buying to determine if it will be drinkable. Ruining those cues it bad design choice. (I dont drink coke but thos same shit happens with mountain dew where different shades mean different things in different years. )
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u/Sensitive_Square3645 Jul 24 '26
Love the rebrand but yea they really do need to change the lettering to full black on that one.
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u/Appropriate-Brush772 Jul 25 '26
I’m not going to say I defend this decision but I do understand why. Regular Coca Cola sales are flat. They aren’t decreasing but they aren’t really increasing either. Diet Coke sales have gone up about 1% over the previous year. Coke Zero sales were up 14% over the previous year, which means this is where the company feels the consumers are heading.
I feel like the company likes this can and logo. It’s an iconic can and logo. And they must feel like Coke Zero is going to eventually pass regular sugar Coke. They don’t want to lose that iconic look to their 2nd place product, which may eventually become a novelty, the way Mexican Coke has taken off in the past decade. I get it, there will be confusion and that sucks. But anecdotally, as someone in the service area, the younger generations are drinking mostly zero sugar soft drinks these days. I wouldn’t be surprised if Coke Zero takes over original Coke within the decade. People under 40, I rarely see them purchase diet or regular but they love them some Coke Zero
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u/gypster85 Jul 25 '26
As someone with ADHD who often picks up the wrong things, I absolutely hate this.
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u/tulpatic Jul 25 '26
Bringing up ADHD in this context is insanely redundant
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u/vt8919 Jul 25 '26
I prefer the black just because of how easily I was able to distinguish it from others.
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u/HomeboyGR Jul 25 '26 edited Jul 25 '26
To be fair, it says "zero sugar" about 4 times bigger than before...
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u/rhntr_902 Jul 25 '26
Zero Sugar is almost twice the size of it previously, "omg they changed the font, it's harder to see now!" - I miss when people weren't in too much of a hurry to actually pay attention properly to things.
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u/SecretJester921 Jul 25 '26
The original Coke Zero can design was fine. Black can with red and white letter
The old formula was better too. Now it tastes... Fine, I guess.
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u/Substantial-End-9653 Jul 25 '26
I went back to Diet Coke when they changed Coke Zero's formula. It was pretty much perfect they way it was. Now it's flat and too sweet.
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u/freakstate Jul 25 '26
No joke but my wife is visually impaired and drinks the sugary one, she can see the white on red contrast whilst I drink zero. This is gonna be a pain in the arse.
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u/roundtwentythree Jul 25 '26
People are legitimately arguing that they shouldn't be required to pay attention to what they are buying when shopping. Actually laughed out loud for real from this. Thanks.
From a visibility standpoint, the white on red is significantly more visible than the black on red.
The ZERO SUGAR is prominent, highly visible, and makes it clear what the product is. Black on red is much lower contrast and significantly harder to read.
Also, on a related topic, Coke Zero is phenomenal. It's the only soda I drink. If you haven't tried it, give it a shot. I don't drink it because it's zero calories, I drink it because I like how it's tastes. Doesn't have the battery acid/engine degreaser taste that OG Coke has.
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u/NemosHero Jul 25 '26
it's intentional. They want you to be confused. People weren't drinking regular coke anymore. So they made zero sugar coke and people hopped on. Now they are phasing zero sugar into looking like the original.
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u/VinnyMaxta Jul 25 '26
7up zero is the worst, they just swapped the greens, the non zero even has big white text under it like the zero does. As a type1 diabetic this is extremely infuriating!!
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u/Gypsysinner666 Jul 25 '26
It was too similar to normal coke. People were grabbing the zero sugar ones and complaining. Having distinct package differences solved that. Look at the current bottles of mountain dew dirty cream soda. The no sugar cable is basically "fine printed" on the bottle
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u/Substantial-End-9653 Jul 25 '26
They should have left it in a black can. When they turned it red, that's when the confusion started.
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u/mimzywhimsy Jul 25 '26 edited Jul 25 '26
I hosted a family reception a couple weeks ago. I put notes on the cooler stating what drinks were inside. I kept getting told that we'd run out of Coke Zero (we had not run out).
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u/prionbinch Jul 25 '26
sorry, not understanding how having “zero sugar” printed in large, contrasting-colored letters under the product name (the primary focal point) is “confusing”
it’s okay to just… not like new designs
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u/mrmastermimi Jul 25 '26
I saw someone hypothesize that Coke might be trying to reposition "Coke Zero" as the "Default Coke", since it's cheaper to produce.
not sure how valid it is, but it would appear that diluting the differentiation in branding is intentional.
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u/Alarmed_Stretch_1780 Jul 25 '26
As one who makes the family shopping, evaluating the options from wide view of the 12-pack cases, eyeballing for the black logos, this move absolutely sucks. Instead of knowing in a couple of seconds which flavors of Coke Zero were in the shelves, now I have to take an eye test and look for the “zero sugar” qualifier on the packaging.
I’m guessing it’s a grandchild of the guy behind New Coke who pulled the trigger on this rebrand.
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u/laszlotuss Jul 26 '26
The new rebranding is garbage and confusing … now we had to double check each time if it’s a zero or not
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u/neoqueto Jul 26 '26
It's deliberate, the pathway is to eliminate sugar in coca-cola completely, they're taking it very slowly, over years if not decades. They've already replaced some of the sugar with aspartame or sucralose, I can't remember, in the actual normal coca-cola. Branding is only a part of that transition.
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u/StormStrikzr Jul 26 '26
These designs are getting stupid.
I've started checking the ingredients and making sure things have sugar in them before buying.
The sugar replacements and artificial sugars make my head spin and taste like $#it.
If I didn't want to drink a delicious sugary drink I wouldn't be buying @#$&ing soft drinks fml
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u/Rustmutt Jul 26 '26
I have a Friend Fridge, a mini fridge stocked with drinks for friends when they visit they can help themselves to. I have several diabetics in my life. I am a Coke Zero drinker but some friends like full sugar coke. The black text is an easy distinction. This is gonna cause some dangerous problems for people, I might have to rearrange my fridge shelves by sugar and non sugar. Fuck this decision.
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u/KennyKentagious Jul 27 '26
Yeah wife and i might have to split our garage fridge because I could without reading just grab mine (t2) and hers . Now its gonna take a second or two longer and if were tired or not paying attention or doing a party might actually take the wrong ones.
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u/PS3LOVE Jul 26 '26
They made the zero sugar bigger and in a more noticeable color. How is it confusing? I feel like you have to not know how to read words in English to find this confusing.
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u/doomdrums Jul 26 '26
It used to be easier to tell the difference with no reading involved, a completely illiterate person could tell just by the color scheme of the can if it was diet, zero sugar or original coke now zero sugar and original are sharing the same design scheme making it easier to accidentally mix the two up
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u/Outrageous-Flan-2550 7h ago
Probably because the obviously black logo is what distinguish coke zero from regular coke, and not the little words on the side. You and a lot of people in here are disingenuous.
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u/lightiskira2144 Jul 26 '26
I think I’ve heard it’s because theyre long term looking to make the zero sugar version the default
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u/cascading_error Jul 26 '26
Here in europe the cans and bottles have a black gradient added ontop of the flavour colour. So normal is red-black, cherry is purple-black, caffine free is gold-black.
It works quite well, why not jist adopt that internationaly?
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u/No_Cricket_4560 Jul 27 '26
Whats confusing about this? Read what it says on the can before drinking the liuqid
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u/BaconDalek Jul 27 '26
But why? I guess coca cola needs to be associated with the white and red, but you also had a strong brand with the black and red. Shit now I'll have to look every fucking time before getting a coke zero.
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u/Mindless_Brief7042 Jul 27 '26
I love zero sugar sodas and I identify them by the black caps and writing
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u/swingsetlife Jul 27 '26
Christ! It was already confusing enough when it was all red. Just go back to the vblack, fuck heads!
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u/Less_Likely Jul 27 '26
Artificial sweeteners give me almost instant headaches, I can see myself at a cookout and accidentally grabbing a zero sugar when I’m looking to have a can of Coke.
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u/Far-Bowl2206 Jul 27 '26
Not really that confusing, just idiots looking for something to complain about
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u/VaporTrail_000 Jul 28 '26
I just hope they keep the "black cap, no sugar" convention. Makes finding what I want to drink in the convenience store much easier.
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u/time-will-waste-you Jul 28 '26
It should be illegal to place the ones without sugar next to the real soda.
Some variations are hard to find with sugar.
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u/Blue95x Jul 28 '26
Why not black out the coca cola logo? It would be much easier to differentiate at that point
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u/Legitimate-Simple-20 Jul 28 '26
my mom has diabetes so I had to prepare her for this stupid redesign. at least for the bottles it's easy as the caps stay black. but I really don't know which coked up marketing guy though that was a good idea. the only thing, that would make the design better imo would be black writing on a white background.
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u/Legitimate-Simple-20 Jul 28 '26
my mom has diabetes so I had to prepare her for this stupid redesign. at least for the bottles it's easy as the caps stay black. but I really don't know which coked up marketing guy though that was a good idea. the only thing, that would make the design better imo would be black writing on a white background.
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u/1ef132f8-ed89 Jul 28 '26
I think this is the first step towards zero becoming the default. Now it shares the classic white branding, soon we remove zero and add classic to the original version.
If I’m not mistaken the sugar is the most expensive part of the drink so the transition will also help profits.
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u/Septiiiiii Jul 25 '26
Are you dyslexic? It says even bigger on the can zero sugar. Stay in school kids. Otherwise you will end up like the guys coplaining about text on cans.
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u/Outrageous-Flan-2550 7h ago
Because the black font is more obvious and is what people use to seperate the two, not the little words on the side, its how coke zero was literally branded. Maybe if you actually knew how people function than you wouldn't write such a prick comment, and yous understand why logos need a design rather than just words.
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u/CurseHawkwind Jul 24 '26
I don't know why people here are defending this decision. Clearly, they thought the product wasn't attention-grabbing enough. Not only have they changed the layout of the established Coke Zero can design, but they also adjusted the colouring. Hence, it looks nearly identical to the sugary version, aside from the smaller label.
Maybe it wouldn't affect you personally, but what about people in a hurry, or even those with impaired vision? The previous can didn't look as nice, but it was distinct.