Coca-Cola and WWF pair up in polar bear CSR project

Funding will go toward researching bear numbers and how people living in the Arctic can cohabit harmoniously with bears being forced to hunt further inland due to the ice retreats. Funds will also be dedicated to conserving the ‘Last Ice Area’ – which spans 1.4 million square metres in northern Greenland and northern Canada.

Coca-Cola will also back WWF’s lobbying efforts in which the charity aims to help drive awareness of the polar bears’ plight with Arctic governments.

The project, called Arctic Home, will be supported by an integrated campaign will kick off on Wednesday (17 January) at the Science Museum and will roll out across TV from 2 February. Activity will include print and outdoor advertising along with a campaign website and social media.

Coca-Cola will roll out 300 million special-edition cans across Europe which feature the image of a mother polar bear and her two cubs (pictured).

Zoe Howorth, marketing director for Coca-Cola GB said, “Polar bears have been a much-loved part of Coca-Cola’s iconic advertising for over 90 years and because of our strong tie with them we want to help create a future for them and their Arctic home.

"For the last few years, we’ve worked with WWF firstly through the Polar Bear Support Fund and more recently via the launch of Arctic Home in North America, to help conserve polar bears home in the Arctic. We are really excited to be building on this partnership with the launch of the Arctic Home campaign here in the UK. We believe that by combining our two organisations’ strengths and resources with the support and involvement of the general public, we’ll be able to go beyond what we each could achieve on our own.”

Coca-Cola brought back its iconic polar bears in a campaign directed by Ridley Scott earlier this year.