Coca Cola has used their familiar and distinctive curved script since 1887. And since the 1920s their famous logo has been placed on a red background on the company's classic cola.
But the soda brand is now going green, at least in Argentina. The drinks giant has launched Coca Cola Life, which is sweetened with sugar and the naturally occurring, no-calorie sweetener stevia.
The new product features a striking green label and is packaged in the award-winning PlantBottle. This is made with 30 percent plant material and is fully recyclable.
Coca Cola says the bottle 'looks, functions and recycles just like traditional PET plastic, but does so with a lighter footprint on the planet and its scarce resources.'
The new drink has 108 calories in a 600 milliliter bottle - between classic Coke with 250 calories and the zero-calorie Diet Coke.
'Coca-Cola Life is the first soda from the Coca-Cola family that is naturally sweetened with sugar and Stevia, which adds to our portfolio a delicious taste with a proposed low in calories,' Coca-Cola stated on its Argentinean website.
The world's largest soda company has used stevia in 45 products, such as Vitaminwater Zero and Fanta Select, but never in its flagship cola.
There is no date for introducing the product elsewhere. Company executives at a news conference in Buenos Aires likened the launch with the 2005 debut of Coca-Cola Zero, which was first introduced in Australia and later sold elsewhere.
Consumer Edge Research analyst Bill Pecoriello said a global roll out seemed likely because it would also preempt PepsiCo's sweetener innovation.
'A healthy dose of skepticism as to the long-term success potential is warranted, given past introductions,' he added.
There has been a recent wave of mid-calorie sodas such as Pepsi Next and Dr Pepper 10, but they have not maintained market share, Pecoriello said.
Coke and Pepsi have been using stevia, a plant native to Paraguay, in drinks for years, but mostly in noncarbonated, fruit-flavored drinks.
As recently as May, PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi said stevia did not work well in colas, even though Pepsi Next in Australia uses stevia.
Pepsi Next in other markets, including the United States, uses a mix of high-fructose corn syrup and artificial sweeteners.
This latest offering from Coca Cola comes hot on the heels of the company releasing a new bottle made entirely of ice.
Currently only available in Colombia, the design is being marketed as eco friendly since it melts after the coke is consumed, meaning there is nothing left to throw away or recycle.
