Coke Kills Promo Campaign Calling Customers 'Douche' and 'Retard'

The company’s Canadian division created a campaign for its VitaminWater brand in which every bottle cap included one word in French and one in English. The idea was that consumers could collect the combinations and make funny French/English combinations, and while we weren’t exactly clear what the point of the campaign would be, it quickly turned south for the company.

As soon as a VitaminWater consumer happened to share this particular cap on Facebook it turned into a big bust, primarily because fan Blake Loates has a sister who suffers from cerebral palsy and autism and her family sees the word as the equivalent of an offensive slur.

The crisis response simply wasn’t enough despite the fact that Coke Canada director of brand communications Shannon Denny patiently explained to The Globe and Mail and ABC News that these...