The Coca-Cola Company on Monday evening began airing a two-minute spot (watch below) on U.S. cable news networks. The subject, in a first for the company: America's obesity debate, in a bid to defend its brands ahead of looming beverage size controls in New York City and Cambridge, Mass.

The world's biggest beverage company debuted the "Coming Together" commercial during a prime-time ad buy on the highest-rated shows on CNN, Fox News and MSNBC "in hopes of flexing its marketing muscle in the debate over sodas and their impact on public health," the Associated Press reported. The theme ties into the company's "Live Positively" and "Open Happiness" campaigns.

"The well-being of our families and communities concerns everyone," Coca-Cola describes the spot. "And finding a solution will take continued effort from all of us. Watch to learn more about how we can all make a real difference. At Coca-Cola, we believe when people come together good things happen." A URL at the end of the spot promotes a website, coca-cola.com/cometogether, for more information.Continue reading...

When Jon Stewart and Bill O’Reilly faced off Saturday in a mock debate, the topic of whether the government should decide what size soda consumers should drink was brought up and summarily dismissed, but there are plenty of other folks — like New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg — who aren’t letting the issue go.

The just-passed law that Bloomberg pushed to help keep New Yorkers healthy by making it illegal to sell sodas larger than 16 oz. in many New York establishments will go into effect on March 12. And Bloomberg isn’t alone. A soda-tax measure was put on the ballot in Richmond, California, that would discourage consumers from drinking soda and collect money through a soda tax “for neighborhood gardens, recreation and other youth projects that would help fight childhood obesity,” BeyondChron.com reports.

Sick of being called a bad guy in the war against obesity, the American Beverage Association (and the soda giants it represents) today launched a "Calories Count" vending machine program that will start being distributed in the new year. The ABA's new initiative will help consumers identify lower-calorie sodas in vending machines by placing soda calorie counts right on the buttons of vending machines.Continue reading...

Having shored up its flagship brand globally with the marketing momentum provided by its London Olympics sponsorship, Coke this fall will turn its attention to a category where it has been lagging -- even behind thirst-slaking archrival PepsiCo: ready-to-drink tea.

Fuze, a better-for-you juice brand that Coke acquired in the same era of diversification that landed it Vitaminwater several years ago, is becoming the recipient of Coke's decision to go harder after the fast-growing mainstream RTD tea segment in the U.S. market when its 20-year-long joint venture with Nestle to market Nestea in the U.S. comes to an end at the beginning of next year.

Independent Arizona leads the rising market with about a 40 percent share, followed by PepsiCo which fields the Brisk brand, Dr Pepper Snapple Group and Nestea. Coke would like a much bigger share of tea drinkers than has so far been afforded by its homegrown Gold Peak refrigerated brand and its acquisition of organic-tea expert Honest Tea a few years ago. Continue reading...

If the battle between New York and Big Soda were a sumo wrestling match, it might shake the entire Eastern Seaboard. The two giants have only begun squaring off in a titanic battle for the gullets and obeisance of Manhattan residents and the moral high ground too, after Mayor Bloomberg's proposed ban on selling carbonated soft drinks above 16 ounces in regulated outlets in Gotham.

The American soft-drink industry is ramping up its campaign to fight New York's proposed restrictions on large sugary drinks. Now the city is in the midst of a public-comment period on the proposal ahead of a scheduled July 24th public hearing, and PepsiCo, Coca-Cola and allies aren't sugar-coating their words in letting it be known exactly what they think of Bloomberg's idea.Continue reading...

Coke does it. Pepsi does it. And now Snapple does too. Have their logos on glasses sitting in front of judges of high-profile reality-competition shows on TV, that is. Snapple hatched a deal to have its brand represented on bright yellow glasses that are sitting in front of the three-judge panel on NBC's America's Got Talent, which just launched its new season this week.

On American Idol on FOX, of course, Coca-Cola long has been a sponsor and gets to plop its logo on glasses that are nursed — or not — by judges Randy Jackson, Steven Tyler and Jennifer Lopez as they sit in front of them. Fox's similar show, the U.S. version of X Factor starring Simon Cowell, counts Pepsi as its major sponsor and so features Pepsi glasses in front of the judges.

That has left the AGT judges looking — well, thirsty by comparison. "But not any more," Regan Ebert, VP of marketing for the non-carbonated beverage portfolio for Dr Pepper Snapple Group, told brandchannel. "They'll be refreshed this season."Continue reading...

The obesity debate continues to dominate the public conversation in America. Policymakers and nutritionists and bureaucrats pondered "The Weight of the Nation" at a federal-government conference this week while the four-part HBO series of the same name that debuts on Monday. PepsiCo and Coca-Cola are trying to position their brands as part of the solution, via the lobby group where they're the 800 pound gorilla members at any meeting.

The American Beverage Association's "Delivering Choices" campaign has already launched on TV to promote "how America's beverage companies are making it easier to choose the drink that's right for you — with more choices, smaller portions, fewer calories and clear calorie labels." (The sub-text: consumers have choices, and should take personal responsbility for their weight and health.)

The campaign is now getting more targeted with local marketing in the Big Apple. A New York-centric website talks up the Delivering Choices platform while promoting good works by the ABA's members in the city, such as Dr Pepper Snapple Group funding playgrounds in Brooklyn, and the recent Great Recycle event staged by Coca-Cola's Honest Tea brand in Times Square. Facebook and Twitter marketing are reinforcing the messaging.

Now the ABA is expanding its NYC push to the subway system, with a new campaign placing posters on trains and in the stations — New York being the same market where the mayor, Michael Bloomberg, has been promoting a healthy agenda, including a PSA campaign depicting their beverages with globs of fat and packets of sugar.Continue reading...

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Bing passes Yahoo for the first time.

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Chrysler nudges up Jeep Wrangler output.

Coca-Cola finds fungicide in orange juice.

Continental could add extra fuel tanks to deal with unscheduled stops.

Downton Abbey frenzy in America creates marketing hook for book industry.Continue reading...

Brisk officially launched its Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace in 3D cross-marketing today: a mobile app (dubbed Brisksaber and actively teased on its Facebook page) and a limited-edition drink featuring Star Wars villain Darth Maul, as promoted with a new commercial, above. The Brisksaber app, which can be downloaded at uncaptheapp.com, invites fans to "Turn your finger into a lightsaber!" Click below to check out the limited-edition packaging promoting the movie's theatrical release next month.Continue reading...