New plastic bottle design for Coca-Cola soft drinks

2008 March 12

by Doobybrain

In its continuing attempt to become a greener company, Coca-Cola has slowly been unveiling new bottle designs for its line of beverages.

The new 20-ounce bottle (shown above) features a new contour shape with an embossed Coca-Cola logo and a completely new bottle cap design. The new cap is shorter and supposedly easier to twist open than the previous Coca-Cola plastic bottle design.

Images from NICOclub

All of the changes to the bottle design have reduced Coca-Cola’s PET (polyethylene terephthalate) consumption by 5%. If anything, the new bottle is a step in the right direction by a major international business to limit the effects of plastic on the environment (in hopes that areas like these don’t continue to grow at such alarming rates).

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32 Comments leave one →

2008 March 25

VCI_Cell

I’m glad they did it for a socially responsible reason, because honestly, the new caps suck. They’re slippery and hard to get twisted on in one try — just spilled a bunch of Dasani all over my car seat for this reason.

Ugh.

2008 May 23

Don

I noticed the change in design when I saw my Dad having difficulty opening a coke. Two tries and a towell later I finally got it open but not before it had a chance to spew all over the place. I have opemed several since then and they all had problems, and don’t even think of re-caping one. It will just cross thread and/or leak like crazy. I had rather pay an extra penny and be able to open and close the damn thing. My Dad and I fixed the problem. We now have Pepsico products in the fridge until Coke decides to stop screwing things up. Hopefully they will eventually give us a choice…”New Cap” or “CLASSIC CAP”.

2008 June 2

jim

I HATE THE NEW CAPS. these are terrible to put back on! I have always been a coke drinker. The original then switched to “NEW” coke then to Classic. Eventually I made the switch to DIET coke. So I can adapt to change. But this time I will changing to Pepsi products as they still have user-friendly caps!
DID I mention I HATE THE NEW CAPS ON COKE PRODUCTS!!!!

2008 June 7

Dennis Ray Nestor Jr.

If it helps cut cost and save the environment I am OK with that.

I understand the old metal bootle top design they where going for, But it is clearly not working funcitonaly.

I think they should do one of to things
1. Add the old ridges back to the plastic cap.
2. Redesign the top lip so that the caps sticks out farther so it is easier to grip like the old glass bottles

Dennis Ray Nestor Jr.
ideaguy.tv

2008 June 7

peacelovehappiness

everybody just need to quit complaining. they did something good for the environment and that quite frankly is smart. people are never satisfied! and honestly if u switched to pepsi just for a silly cap…i have to say is quite sad! honestly if this is affecting ur life that much…wow! there is alot more going on out there in this world than some coke spilling in ur car…chill out…get a car wash…..i love coca cola! and changing a cap will not lead me to switch to pepsi anytime soon…

Indy Mac reply on September 28th, 2008 10:59 pm:

I would normally agree. It does sound silly -switching to Pepsi because of a cap?! I love Coke (and hate Pepsi)! But tonight I got fast food to eat in my half-hour commute home in my car, and couldn’t open the cap open at all. And I’m not a weakling… former athlete, former law enforcement & currently in my late 30’s. So my choices were to eat to my food cold when I arrived home but enjoy my now-luke warm Coke with it OR eat it hot (and now) without drinking. I choose the latter. So if my options are not drinking a Coke unless I have access to a pipe wrench or switching to Pepsi - well, …I’m switching. Let’s hope it is temporary and they redesign this silly cap.

2008 June 28

Bonnie

Not only are they difficult to open and reseal, i have had several bottles of coke that were flat. Another bottle was lying on its side on the counter, never opened and it leaked coke all over the counter, So yes i am switching to Pepsi, even if I don’t like it as well, at least it has fizz when I open it.

Bob Forsyth reply on July 18th, 2008 12:53 pm:

So I am NOT alone………..

Oh just to let everyone know, even w/o the new caps. Coke told me the shelf life before going flat is 3 months, that will EXCELERATE greatly now with the leaking caps

2008 July 15

Bob Forsyth

I bought 2 cases 2 weeks ago and have had 1/2 of them leak WITHOUT so much as opening them.
One in my brief case destroying TONS of work and a MESS of my Case, another in my daughters Luggage, many others just in the cabinet while in storage (hours of work cleaning up that mess). If they are NOT straight up, there is a 50% failure rate of leaking all over where ever it is.
I had my bottles on there side (like I store my 2 liter bottles) and when I went get a few I saw 1/2 were missing 50% of the contents. I wanted to ask the kids what happened to them, but upon looking closer I saw under the shelf (rack type) everything under was covered in it, NONE were opened, banged or disturbed.
This is a case of fixing what isn’t broke AGAIN, to save less than a penny in costs. They are thinner and less reliable. I designed plastic molds for 8 years and KNOW this was for a cost cutting measure here. NOT to make it easier to open, please that’s a joke of an excuse. It saved as I said less than a penny and I guess when you sell over 10 million a year it adds up. But at who’s expense now? There is no way on earth am I buying another one of those and I would like to call the consumer relations about this. (Cant find the number anywhere, help would be appreciated if anyone knows it). I have a few hundred dollars of damage now b/c these cheap bastards didn’t do proper testing.

2008 July 17

Mike

The new caps are just awful!

Not only are they harder to grip, but the bottom edge of the cap is VERY sharp. On two occasions, I’ve sliced the side of my finger while opening bottles. (Picture a *really* bad and deep paper cut… LOL.) I found a few other people on Internet message boards who had the same thing happen to them.

I sent a letter to Coca-Cola this morning letting them know about it. Not sure if that will do any good, though.

Bob Forsyth reply on July 18th, 2008 12:51 pm:

I sent a message to them and they DID e-mail me and even called me yesterday. (I also called there customer support in Ga too.) Being a Mechanical engineer and knowing how products can fail for strictly budget cuts, I felt it was the right thing to do. This was a coorparate move and profit based. Not for looks and not to be “GREEN” (thats a joke). Nobody buys it ofr the looks either, I buy coke for one reason, taste. SIMPLE as that. When they last made a bonehead move back in 85 (removing coke for new coke) I stopped buying it. It tasted like Pepsi and if I wanted Pepsi I would have bought just that. It toke close to a year for the management to wake up then. I sure hope that is NOT the case again. The 20 oz Bottles and any future changes like that I will NEVER EVER buy again. I told them that too. Stop trying to save a penny when in turn you can tick off your customers. Just think of how many times you MAY actually lay down your bottle, be it transit, a pantry, even your pocket. They leak, it is not worth the clean up. So if I have to switch brands again…so be it.

carolann reply on August 20th, 2008 11:44 am:

hey mike, have you still been getting cut on the coke bottles? i have gotten cut four different times, and it hurts like heck. i have discovered that it’s not the cap itself, but the clear plastic rim under the cap. they have a nub sticking out that is sharp, and it cuts like a blade when you open or re-cap the bottle. they really need to be made aware of this, because i am sure that there are more than just a few of us who are getting painful cuts on our hands from their bottles.

Collectologist reply on August 26th, 2008 12:32 pm:

I wondered if getting the cuts was just me! It’s like a tiny deli slicer. One minute you’re trying to wrench open a coke and the next minute you’ve got a small flap of skin hanging on the side of your index finger Not a good design.

2008 July 19

Vickie

I just purchased my last 20 oz. Coke with the sad excuse for a cap. I work for a closure company and know first hand why the switch was made… money. Could not get the cap off and had to wait until I got home to open it. I can only hope the other soda companies don’t follow suit. I prefer Coke over Pepsi, but will buy Pepsi until improvements are made. I will also be sending Coke a message. Maybe if enough people do, it will help.

2008 July 22

cc

I’m so glad to know I’m not the only one who has had problems with getting a cut from opening this bottle. How annoying!! I called and they were really nice and responded back quickly!! Hopefully the response to fix the problem will be quick too.

2008 July 22

Dave

I hate the new caps. I’ve been just seething for an outlet to tell Coke that it sucks. First, they are not thinking about those with Arthritis. I have no strength in my fingers and I find that I can’t even twist the damn thing off. I’ll choke down a Pepsi before I buy another Coke product… Let’s go Coke – start listening!

2008 July 29

Jesse

Can i just chime in and say i too hate the new caps, so much so that i am writing this not 2 minutes after noticing the new stupid cap and promptly googling what the devil is up with this wackness. the grip sucks. why would they make it harder to open like this, those fools!

2008 August 7

Me and my wife run the marketing group for a new product on the market called the Insta-Sip. It fits a wide variety of different soda, juice, water bottles, Gatorade, Sobe, Ensure, etc. Goto http://instasip.wdpmg.com to see how it works. UNFORTUNATELY, because Coke changed their tops and threading it no longer fits any Coke products. Hope they go back to the old tops, guess we’ll have to wait and see.

2008 August 13

Ella

Third time in a month that my hand has gone raw and BLED from these goddamn coke tops.
Screw them, I’m switching to Pepsi.

2008 August 16

Jerry Lambert

I just had to open one for my mom and I got cut. I had to get a frickin’ pipe wrench to open it. I am a 37 year old healthy and very able man. I can lift my own body weight and I need a pipe wrench to open a coke without injury? What has happened to society? Products are supposed to be getting better not worse. Whoever made the decision at Coca Cola to go with these bottle caps should be fired and exiled to New Jersey. The engineers who designed it should be sat down and forced to open 100 bottles in a row with no pipe wrench or anesthetic. Green? Yeah it’s more green (less plastic means more “green” for coke). The bottom line is that the cap should be recalled by the company before consumer affairs has to. Everyone who gets cut on one of these should go to the emergency room, in an ambulance, and get the best medical treatment you can afford even ask for follow up therapy and an X-Ray. Then start a class action suit against these idiots at Coca Cola.

carolann reply on August 20th, 2008 11:47 am:

i’ve gotten cut several times from these bottles. it isn’t the cap. it’s the clear plastic rim under the cap. it has a nub sticking out, and watch out!!!! it bites!!!!!

2008 August 26

Lori

I cut the crap out of myself today on a coke cap. I have noticed the same finger always having a small shallow cut, over and over and didnt know how I was doing it. Today I put 2 and 2 together, because the ONLY thing I had touched was a coke. This one was pretty deep and bled like crazy. I am going to contact coke too.
To whomever says everyone needs to stop complaining - I think bodily injury is a dang good reason.

2008 August 26

MegS

Okay, my co-workers thought I was crazy when I was complaining about getting cut while trying to take the caps off. It’s happened to me twice that actually took skin off (it’s scraped me more than that). I try to be really careful, but moving my finger up to avoid the cut put it in a place where I have less of a grip and then can’t open the bottle. Sucks.

2008 August 27

ManZone

The new Coke top is one of the worst user-friendly product designs I have ever seen. Opening a re-sealed Coke requires a stick of dynamite. I believe it may be easier to open a can of beans with a straw. Some of the tops are so difficult I have had to go to my toolbox for a pair of channellock pliers.

It’s rediculous.

2008 August 29

Joe

Every aforementioned problem is true. The cap is poorly designed. I have had three people in three days ask me to open bottles for them and each time it gets harder and harder. More problematically, I’m a college student so Coke has monopolized the soda vending on campus.

My recommendation: Go ask dad for an old pair of pliers to bring to school with you. You need it to function now that Coca Cola has ruined their bottle design ^_^.

2008 August 29

Mike

I sent Coca Cola another message about their bottle caps. Huge waste of time there. I’m a bit annoyed that they sent back a form letter reply. Obviously they didn’t pay much attention to my letter. They want me to fill out some stupid detailed report about my “incident”… listing type of product, date, time, product code from the offending bottle, etc. (I guess next time I’ll remember to keep the blood-soaked bottle instead of throwing it away.)

2008 September 1

Tonya

I’ve cut my finger open twice on the new coke caps, and I have some bottles that won’t open at all by hand. I’ve noticed them being flat as well. My fingers don’t reach the plastic rim when I open them, but I can see and fee a sharp edge on every single cap. The cap bottoms need a bit more substance to them to remove that sharp edge. Otherwise, they need to go back to the old caps. Hopefully they will receive enough complaints about them and make a change.

2008 September 9

David Durkee

I am a medical professional working in a diagnostic lab, outnumbered by women by a ratio of 1:10. As the sole representative of the male gender in the lab, I struggle to maintain some shred of a macho, rugged image. At least 3 times a month, I’m asked by one of my fellow technologists to open their Coca-Cola bottles for them. Forcing myself not to cringe when I oblige their requests with a not-so-firm “Sure, why not” I pinch that #@!$&% new cap between my forefinger and thumb with all the force I can muster. As that stupid red cap with its sleek new design slips out of my grip over and over again, I curse under my breath and wonder what mind-altering drugs was the genius who invented these torturous caps on when he or she conceived the idea for them. These caps are ruining me, Coca-Cola! First it was Mr. Pibb, which is a diabetic coma in a can; then there was OK Cola, and, I’m sorry, but “clear cola” is a violation of common sense; and NOW THIS! I’m pointing my horribly disfigured, skinned-up finger at you, Coke! You don’t know what it’s like, handing that bottle back time after time and admitting that I’m not man enough to open a bottle of pop. Just this morning we were watching Tom Selleck guest starring on Friends when a co-worker again asked that dreaded question, “Can you open this Coke bottle for me?” I grunted, sweated, twisted, and turned but finally had to give it back to her. Once she finally got the bottle open (with the assistance of a Jaws-of-Life we borrowed from the squad in the ER), she looked at me and said (in an icy, biting tone), “I bet you Tom Selleck could have done it.”

Thanks a lot, Coca-Cola!

2008 September 13

Blah McBlahson

Yes, these caps are horrid. Haven’t experienced any bodily harm yet, but I have had the experience of, on numerous occasions, being unable to open them because either A) I have lotion on my hand(I work in a hospital, so I wash my hands a lot, so my hands dry out quickly, so I use lotion a lot), or B) The condensation on the bottle/cap from the vending machine is too thick (if there’s *any* condensation, it’s too thick) to open them. Honestly, when you can’t open the d@mn bottle right when the machine poops it out, something is wrong. And if you’ve got lotion on your hands, forget it, just bite the d@mn thing and twist it off with your head, because drying your hands thoroughly enough so you can twist it off with your hands is, shall we say, difficult. I’m locked into this crap because the hospital I work at only has Coke machines… but when I purchase at the supermarket, it’s Pepsi only from now on. Oh…and just *try* to open one of these bottles while driving a car…without spilling it all over yourself (the bottles bow in with the slightest pressure) or using your teeth…or, probably, getting cut on the d@mn thing from applying enough force…on second thought, don’t.

2008 September 22

Gustav

We don’t have those caps in Sweden. I should be happy, shouldn’t i? :)

2008 September 23

Emile Julien

yea seems like they misunderstood the meaning of grip. Really poor r&d. Was searching for the grip and found this…anyone tried these yet? Think they are new…
http://beyonddrinks.com/2008/09/23/coca-cola-in-glass-bottles-with-a-screwcap/

2008 September 26

Manky

After a hard day, all I want is a drink to go with my ravioli. Is that so much to ask? But no, for a good 15 minutes, I’ve been trying to open my Coke, and my hand is bruised as all hell at this point. Now my ravioli’s cold, I’m putting ice on my hand, and I still can’t open the Coke I paid $1.25 for.

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