Coca Cola names on 330mls cans

Over the past few weeks, I have began to see the new marketing scheme put up by Coca Cola here in PNG. I am referring to the current use of common names together with the catchphrase ' Share a Coke with ___________ (name of person). The campaign to put names on the soft drink began in Australia in 2011 and then spread to more than 70 countries. It has been used on coke bottles and cans as well. In Australia, any person interested in having their names on the cans could ask for it with name characters up to 14 letters

The person who came up with this idea is a genius! Why I say this because the intended (if it was intended) effect is that when people buy these 330 mls cans of coke here in PNG, they actually share the can they bought or are drinking on social media, particularly Facebook. I am also on Facebook so I can see family and friends posting their cans of coke when they have found their names on the can. The recent one I saw yesterday was about the name of the place: Madang! I guess its something new, interesting and unique and the cans cost K2.00 and is often available throughout PNG. Once the cans on social media, it has a ripple effect as other people too want to share their names as well. This 'share a coke with' campaign is something people can relate to and of course identify with and so the social media posts continue to grow.

Once Coca Cola begins to put the original Papua New Guinea names on the cans of coke, this will reach another level altogether. Currently we are only seeing the common English names like Eddie and Latifa as shown on the two cans on my table. If Coca Cola PNG chooses to increase the names to include local or indigenous names such as Kisakiu or Kanawi or Kusunan or Poilep (a sample of  names from the Titan language areas in Manus province), then it will be something else.  I guess once we reach the names that are indigenous names that come from our villages or family members who bestow these names on us, then I imagine two things will happen:
1. Papua New Guineans will love coca cola more and cherish the idea that a huge company could care enough for that person and therefore print their names. They will drink the sweet liquid and then keep the can as a souvenir. Of course social media photos will grow as more unique names will appear on the cans. It is a special feeling when your unique name is on a can that someone else in the country has in their possession. It makes someone feel unique and special when people see your indigenous name on the can.
2. People will begin to question the use of indigenous names on the cans. I imagine some people might even begin to question the use of original names by a multi-coporation company and if they can actually do this. This is because we haven't seen Coca Cola PNG asking for people's names to be written on the cans like what is being done in Australia. What about issues of copyright? Will Papua New Guineans feel that such a huge company is using their unique names to sell for a profit?  

Maybe I am making a mountain out of a mole hill. Maybe. We will see how this progresses in the coming weeks!

See yous!