Coca-Cola responds to "vagina" can incident

8 Feb 2019

#NEWSWATCH: As a result of one of its cans with the XiTsonga word: "Xitombo" (vagina) printed on it having gone viral on social media last week, Coca-Cola has announced that it will be terminating its nationwide Share a Coke activation at the end of February.

This is a matter that the Gender Commission, the ANCWL and other women and gender organization and the department of women in the Presidency should have taken up with @CocaCola_ZA It is an insult to women let alone it being vulgar. Heads should roll including those who approved https://t.co/W78AGYSVyW
— Mbhazima Shilowa (@Enghumbhini) February 2, 2019

The company's investigations have shown this one consumer took advantage of and exploited the campaign’s good intentions for their own disreputable reasons.

As a result, Business Insider reports that the activation, which featured free cans of coke, will only feature cans with pre-programmed and pre-approved words on them. This in addition to asking consumers to bring their IDs as proof of their names, as a manual step to prevent profanities from bypassing its automised filter system.

Coca-Cola Southern Africa spokesperson, Camilla Osborne told Business Insider that they are investigating how this incident was not captured by the filter system, and that they are taking it very seriously for many reasons:

Not only has the incident offended the Tsonga community and the public in general, but it contravenes the spirit of the campaign which is about inclusivity, respecting diversity and understanding, both of which are unacceptable.

This comes after more than 770,000 people have to date been able to see their names printed on free Coke cans. "We hope our fans will continue to enjoy the Share-a-Coke campaign in South Africa in the spirit of giving and sharing with which it was intended," the company said in a statement.