Coca-Cola Just Announced a Big Change That’s Over 50 Years in the Making
Coca-Cola Just Announced a Big Change That’s Over 50 Years in the Making
Sarah LeberknightWed, July 22, 2026 at 5:00 PM UTC
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When it comes to soda brands—or branding in general—no company is besting Coca-Cola. The beverage empire practically owns the color red, as it blasts red cans, red bottle wrappers, red packaging, and red merch everywhere. If you see a red can in the grocery store, chances are you don’t even need to read the label to know it’s a Coke.
Coca-Cola has changed the design of its packaging plenty of times before, tweaking text arrangement, colors, and can shape. It often puts out special designs for events and has unique Christmas editions, and yet the truth remains: No matter how the company changes its cans and bottles, Coca-Cola is undeniably recognizable.
The last big Coca-Cola redesign was in 2021, bringing us sleek but fairly simple and understated cans. Now, however, it seems Coca-Cola is tired of the minimalistic cans, because the iconic soda company has just announced a big change to its branding. And we mean big literally, as both the designs themselves and the scale of the branding refresh are massive.
Coca-Cola Launches New Logo and Can Design
Grab a can of Coke and a time machine, because Coca-Cola is launching a branding refresh that reaches into the past for inspiration. The soda company posted a video showcasing its refreshed designs and a brand-new, exclusive typeface. Coca-Cola expressed that it’s aiming to emphasize its existing branding features on cans, bottles, and in future marketing. The goal is simply more of what Coca-Cola fans already know and love—more red, more white, and more logos.
The general changes happening across products and marketing start with the replacement of the stiff sans-serif typeface with a new, more playful serif typeface to better pair with the classic logo. That’s where the “new” ends though, as Coca-Cola is explicitly aiming to take the design assets it already has and use them, well, more. These include “the bold red and white palette, the uplifting Dynamic Ribbon, [and] the impactful Arden Square.”
As for the specific product changes, the biggest change comes to the Coca-Cola cans, which are ditching blank space and the horizontal logo. Instead, they’re returning to the vertical logo that hasn’t been seen in nearly a decade. The new can design features the classic, swirly Coca-Cola logo running from the bottom to the top of the can—and the return of the Dynamic Ribbon, which, according to Print, was first introduced in 1969.
The idea appears to be that Coca-Cola wants all of its cans to look the exact same with minor details adjusted for different versions. Flavored Cokes, like Cherry or Lemon, will incorporate an image of the flavor into the Coca-Cola logo and feature a colorful word of the flavor underneath the logo. Coca-Cola Caffeine Free will have a light golden coloring to the logo and font on its red can.
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Coke Zero products are getting a huge redesign that also makes them look more like the classic can. Bottles and cans will no longer have the black logo or font. Instead, cans will feature a black Dynamic Ribbon and bottles (both glass and plastic) will have black tops (as opposed to the classic version’s red cap). Both will have “Zero Sugar” written underneath the logo.
The boxes for cans will also see major design overhauls, as will the general marketing of the brand going forward. Notably, Diet Coke is not seen or mentioned in any of the brand refresh material. This may be due to the fact that, on its website, Coca-Cola distinguishes the “Coca-Cola” brand from the “Diet Coke” brand.
It’s also important to note that, at least for now, this rebrand will only be coming to Asia, Europe, Latin America, and the Middle East.
Fans are as divided on the new change as much as they are on whether Coke Zero or Diet Coke is better. Debating the new changes on Reddit, one fan of the refresh wrote, “I definitely dig the new font,” and another said, “Sideways logo on the can reminds me of the early 2000s…love it.” One Redditor highlighted that this is Coca-Cola breaking free of the “hyper minimalism era” and expressed the desire for other companies to do the same—sounds like Pepsi has some work to do.
Most of the discontent stems from the Zero Sugar redesign, as one Redditor pointed out, “I can’t say I like removing the black accent coloring from Coke Zero, it’ll make it harder to discern in vending machines, etc., especially when the bottle is turned.” Many agreed with this sentiment, noting their preference for all black text and irritation at the lack of contrast. One Redditor even pointed out that the new, subtler Coke Zero design is less accessible for the visually impaired.
Refreshing a brand’s image is a tricky thing, especially when we’re talking about one of the most iconic brands in the food and drink business. No matter how hard Coca-Cola tries, it won’t be able to please everyone. So, if you don’t like the new style, just know that, historically, it’ll probably change again.
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Source: “AOL Money”
