"Coca-Cola" news and stories

First there were mommies. Then came blogs. Put the two together, and a marketing force is born. "Now said to number in the millions, these online women have cobbled together content networks that rival some mainstream media companies," asserts Advertising Age. "And they're clearly a force that retailers underestimate at their own peril."

Coca-Cola, a company with a long history of savvy marketing (New Coke notwithstanding), doesn't underestimate that force one bit -- in fact, it hopes to profit from it. Kenth Kaerhoeg, group communications director for the company's Pacific branch in Hong Kong, told AdAge that they're in the process of identifying "digital influencers" in South Korea -- i.e., popular mommy bloggers -- to stir up some good, old-fashioned word of mouth. Hooking up with the right young moms can have an enormous marketing effect, as Kaerhoeg explains; the company takes them very seriously, calling them "vitally important stakeholders."

Yes, public health advocates are getting increasingly vocal about the negative effects of soda on the body, but Coke isn't giving up its 70 percent market share to tap water without a fight. The Atlanta-based company is rolling out the big guns with the Freestyle, a super-sleek, touch-screen soda fountain that lets users create up to 104 different flavors of fizzy refreshment. This high-tech beverage machine shoots out a wide range of traditional sodas, flavored waters, and energy drinks in every conceivable combination. Raspberry Coke? Check. Grape Sprite? Why not. Peach Fanta? No problem. The fountain is a study in excess, totally over the top. And yet ... admit it: You want to try it.

"Consumers are telling us they want choice," says Helen Tarleton, senior communications manager for Coca-Cola. She points out that the while the Freestyle might get some flack for offering so many options, more than half of them are low- and no-calorie. "When you've only got six or eight valves to work with, maybe only one is diet," she says.

Soda fountains have remained pretty much the same since they were popularized in the 1950s -- a basic ratio of syrup to carbonated water is combined in a container, then released out of the spigot. The Freestyle completely changes the game with a touch screen that instructs the machine to mix flavors on the spot, using technology originally developed for dialysis and cancer treatments. It's only got one nozzle, and works by releasing the flavorings into a stream of carbonated water. The new technology ensures that one soda doesn't taste like the flavor poured before it.

Following in the footsteps of Patricia Field, Manolo Blahnik and Matthew Williamson, Chanel creative director Karl Lagerfeld has collaborated with Coca-Cola to introduce a limited edition bottle design -- his being for Coca-Cola Light in France. Like his predecessors, Lagerfeld champions the connection between the diet drink and high fashion by slapping an opaque, graphic label onto the bottle, and charging the sort of prices you'd expect for a limited edition fashion item.

Set to be unveiled on April 28 at chic Parisian boutique Colette, the bottles will be sold for the equivalent of $5, or as part of a limited-edition boxed set that'll cost 60 euros, or $80. What do you get for $80? The box, one bottle and a matching can opener tucked into a hidden drawer. The bottle itself bears Karl's signature, and his slim silhouette.

Each Thursday, we round up a selection of scrumptious links from our friends over at YumSugar. Here's what they've got cooking this week:

• Hot sauce is as Super Bowl as a platter of wings.
• Coach Brown's Buffalo wings are hotter than the big game's commercials.
• Coca-Cola is going for the gold in Olympic carbon neutrality.
• Cellaring wine and beer is common, but do you cellar salt?
• Save some of the nacho cheese and beer for this game-day dish.
• Can affordable Stonemill Kitchens spreads and dips score a touchdown?
• We recommend playing mini-football with your saved corks.

When Alistair Beswick logged into the Coke Zone rewards Web site in the U.K., he got an obscene security code randomly generated by the site, The Sun reported.

Coke Zone, which randomly generates six-character security codes, asked Beswick to enter "U F * * K R" to enter to claim his reward points, the paper said.

Operated by Coca-Cola Great Britain, the Coke Zone site allows British customers to redeem coupons for gifts including iPods, movie tickets and Domino's Pizza discounts.

"I couldn't believe my eyes when that popped up," Beswick, a 26-year-old warehouse manager, told the paper. "I understand it was randomly generated, but you'd think Coke would have some measures in place to stop four-letter words like that appearing."