Coke Cans Come With Temporary Tattoo of Your Name in Latest Bit of Packaging Magic

Coca-Cola kicks off National Hispanic Heritage Month (which runs from Sept. 15 to Oct. 15) with a line of temporary-tattoo cans, targeted to Hispanic and Latino Americans.

Based on the insight that Latinos have a particular pride in their family names, which reflect their history and heritage—and maybe also on the (shaky) anecdote that every Latino (including me, and I'm only one-quarter) has at least one family member with a heritage-related tattoo—the cans feature common family names… in reverse!

After exercising your sharp deduction skills, you peel the sticker off, place it on your person and use the moisture from the (hopefully cold) can to affix the name onto your skin.

A charming video highlights the work, as well as reflections from Latinos about what their heritage means to them. If it feels a bit syrupy, it's probably because we're ad people who see a lot of Coke executions and, daily, wrestle with the weird incongruity of punting happiness, connectivity and emotional equilibrium with non-nutritive cans of sugar whose work in your body achieves precisely the opposite over time.

But that's just griping. The campaign bears hallmarks of sincerity and care in approaching its target, and its thoughtful means probably justify its banal end (long-term loyalty). Coke is, after all, 100 years old, so it knows what it's doing.

The work is accompanied by the hashtag #OrgullosoDeSer, Spanish for "proud to be," and was created by ad agency David—which, incidentally, markets itself as a "first-name agency" that "believes in the personal." Do with that minor irony what you will; it's only one more, after all.

If you're into the campaign, order a 12-pack of bottles at the Celebrate Heritage subsite, which gives you the option of personalizing your own label or choosing from a selection of common givens.

Happy Hispanic heritage, all!