Why Coca-Cola’s Polar Bear No Longer Celebrates Christmas

While Santa Claus still makes regular appearances on Coca-Cola branding every Christmas, one iconic element has been absent from the season for many years. It's time to address the elephant in the room—or rather, the polar bear.

There are thousands of brands that do their own thing when it comes to holiday marketing, but perhaps none are as iconic as Coca-Cola. Santa Claus indulging in a cold glass bottle of Coke is an image burned into many of our childhoods, along with the unforgettable polar bear commercials. However, in recent years, those polar bears have been absent from the holidays, and it looks like Coca-Cola has a strong reason for their exclusion.

History of Coca-Cola's Polar Bear

According to NoLie Communications, the use of the polar bear in Coca-Cola branding dates all the way back to a 1922 French advertisement. The bear can be seen pouring a refreshing Coca-Cola into the mouth of a parched sun. However, it wasn’t until 70 years later that the polar bear became a staple. In 1993, the beverage company underwent a marketing overhaul, releasing its "Always Coca-Cola" campaign, which consisted of 27 advertisements. Polar bears would continue to be a big part of the brand until the early 2010s.

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Coca-Cola Says Goodbye to Iconic Polar Bear

On May 15, 2008, the polar bear was listed as "threatened" under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). This designation means that although the bears are not currently endangered, they are likely to become endangered in the future. In light of this, Coca-Cola made some changes to their marketing and, in 2012, launched their “Arctic Home” campaign. The campaign generated over $2 million in donations for polar bear conservation.

As part of the campaign, the company released 1.4 billion special edition white cans, along with the regular red ones, featuring polar bears. However, these have since been phased out, and no other polar bear branding has surfaced. Personally, I don't see why they stopped. One would think the constant images of polar bears would serve as a reminder of their majesty, thus instilling a desire for their conservation. Still, I can see where the company is coming from, as pushing a product with a polar bear image could be deemed insensitive. Either way, I still miss the bears.