The encyclopedia · Advertising & PR · Marketing decision · 2025
Coca-Cola crushed its own iconic logo to sell recycling
To make recycling impossible to ignore, Coca-Cola broke its strict brand guidelines and crushed its own famous logo into the campaign itself.
The Coca-Cola Company
the move
Coca-Cola had committed to making all packaging recyclable by 2025 and recycling a bottle or can for every one it sold by 2030. The problem was that a recycling reminder is the kind of message everyone scrolls past.
The logo is Coca-Cola's most guarded asset and is recognized by 94% of the world's population. Instead of protecting it, the brand crushed it — using hands, a recycling-plant press, and even a vacuum — and let the bent remains become the artwork.
Each crushed can or bottle, with the 'RECYCLE ME' line pulled straight off the can, made the point visually: this is exactly what happens to every Coke package, and it should not be wasted. Because the logo is so familiar, distorting it was jolting.
'Recycle Me' earned over 140 million impressions in its first week, picked up a Grand Prix and multiple Golds at the Clio Awards and Graphite and Wood Pencils at D&AD, and began rolling out from Latin America and North America.
why it works
- The logo is recognized by 94% of the world, so distorting it commands attention
- Crushing the brand symbol physically demonstrates the act of recycling
- Breaking strict brand guidelines showed the message mattered more than the mark
- Every crushed can is unique, making a mass message feel personal
what transfers
If a message gets tuned out, make the sacrifice visible — dent your own most sacred asset to demand attention.
what came after
The campaign won a Clio Grand Winner and Golds, and Graphite plus Wood Pencils at D&AD, then rolled out globally from Latin America and North America. The idea of literally pressing the brand into the recycling message became a template for using a logo's strength to carry a demand.
references
spotted an error? The archive wants to know.