Coca-Cola Launches TikTok-Exclusive Beverage in Latest Marketing Push
Consumers can get a taste of a new Coca-Cola beverage, Happy Tears, but there’s a catch — it’s only accessible via TikTok.
The No 10. consumer goods company dropped the limited-edition offering on TikTok shop on February 17 in honor of Random Acts of Kindness Day.
Those interested in purchasing the new drink can order a “hype kit” until supplies last. They’ll receive two Coca‑Cola Happy Tears Zero Sugar cans — one for themselves and the other to share as an act of kindness.
The package includes themed accessories like a t-shirt, stickers, and tissues to wipe away happy tears. Additionally, TikTokers are encouraged to participate in the digital campaign by using a new platform effect that displays a prompt for a random act of kindness.
Single-Channel Success or Simply Innovative Marketing?
While many companies are tapping into the growing buyer pool of TikTok — which accounted for 33.3 million U.S. social buyers in 2023, according to Insider Intelligence — are single-channel product deployments profit-builders or simply a mechanism to capture interest and attention?
According to Forrester’s VP principal analyst Dipanjan Chatterjee, the best way to think of Coca-Cola’s new product launch is “useful gimmickry” — similar to when they launched the Byte product for the metaverse.
“It’s not really meant to serve as a viable single-channel product line, but rather creates cultural relevance for the brand. A vital aspect of any brand’s marketing is about ‘mental availability’ — keeping the brand fresh and salient in the eyes of consumers,” said Chatterjee.
TikTok is a force to be reckoned with, he adds, reporting that 93% of Gen Z consumers say they are on TikTok at least once a day and 44% say they are on it constantly. “A majority of Gen Z and millennial consumers use social media, in general, to learn more about products and brands.
The purpose of the campaign, he said, is not to launch a new product, but to leverage marketing creatively “to have the brand be present in new and interesting ways where the consumers are, to stimulate attention and engagement, and to lay claim to being top-of-mind the next time the consumer reaches for a cola with the hope that it’ll be a Coca-Cola product, even though, in all likelihood, it’s not of the Happy Tears variety.”
More About Happy Tears
This is the company’s first release of the year from its Creations global innovation platform, which launched in 2022 and creates experiences across both digital and physical spaces through technology and collaboration.
Coca‑Cola Happy Tears Zero Sugar: “A timeless Coke taste infused with a salty splash of minerals for taste and a sweet pinch of peach, drawing inspiration from the tears of joy brought on by small, everyday acts of kindness — such as sending a positive text to a friend, paying for a stranger's coffee, leaving a compliment on a post or sharing a Coke with a loved one.”
“A little bit of kindness — and simple, unexpected moments of connection — can bring a lot of joy,” said Oana Vlad, senior director of global strategy at The Coca‑Cola Company, in a statement. “We hope Coca‑Cola Happy Tears Zero Sugar will inspire uplifting moments and friendly gestures that create a cascade of uplift and optimism.”
