READ THIS NEXT: This Is the Most Unpopular Soda in America, According to Data.ae0fcc31ae342fd3a1346ebb1f342fcb Whether it’s a simple ingredient swap or a complete brand overhaul, it’s not uncommon for food and beverage products to change over time. But in some recent instances, it’s been for a much more important reason than just a simple redesign. Last year, Quaker Oats announced that its popular breakfast food brand Aunt Jemima would replace its original name and logo after 131 years. The change came after the company acknowledged the brand’s namesake as a reference to the historically racist character imagery of the “mammy.” As a result, the products now bear the name Pearl Milling Company with the phrase “New Name, Same Great Taste as Aunt Jemima” on its updated packaging, USA Today reports. A few months earlier, Mars Inc. also announced that it would be changing the name of its 70-year-old rice brand to Ben’s Original, dropping the pejorative “uncle” historically used by white people in place of actual titles for Black people. Other food brands such as Eskimo Pie, Cream of Wheat, and Mrs. Butterworth’s also removed racially insensitive elements from their branding, USA Today reported. Now, a major beverage company is changing the packaging of one of its most popular drinks. On July 27, the Coca-Cola company announced that it would be revamping the packaging for its popular Sprite soda by ditching its iconic green plastic bottles in favor of a clear plastic bottle for the first time in 60 years, CNN reports. The change will go into effect for the beloved lemon-lime soda beginning Aug. 1. For more product news sent right to your inbox, sign up for our daily newsletter. According to a press release, Coca-Cola decided to revamp the iconic packaging as part of its initiative to reduce plastic waste by “[increasing] the material’s likelihood of being remade into new beverage bottles.” While the current green PET plastic used in Sprite bottles can be converted into other products after their initial use, the company says it often ends up as single-use items such as carpeting or clothing, breaking the company’s cycle for making new PET bottles. “Taking colors out of bottles improves the quality of the recycled material,” Julian Ochoa, CEO of R3CYCLE, a plastic group helping Coca-Cola improve its recycling, said in a statement. “When recycled, clear PET Sprite bottles can be remade into bottles, helping drive a circular economy for plastic.” In its announcement, the company clarified that Sprite wouldn’t be stripped entirely of identifying colors as it will keep its green cap and label—although with an updated logo. But other drinks in the company’s lineup that use non-clear plastic will also soon see their packaging change, including Fresca, Seagram’s Ginger Ale, and Mello Yello, CNN reports. And while Sprite may ironically be going green by ditching its iconic colored plastic bottles, another popular Coca-Cola product is also getting an environmentally friendly update. The company also announced that the majority of Dasani bottles in the U.S. and all formats in Canada would convert to using 100 percent recycled PET plastic by the end of the summer. According to its press release, the move will save more than 20 million pounds of new plastic compared to 2019 and will “cut more than 25,000 metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions (creating bottles from recycled plastic uses less energy than virgin PET) in 2023 alone.”
