Coca-Cola admits to ignorance of Dr Pepper campaign

Coca-Cola said it signed off an offensive update in the Dr Pepper Facebook competition without knowing what it meant.

The company has come under fire this week after a 14-year-old used a Facebook app that automatically updated her status with a reference to a notorious hardcore porn film.

Coca-Cola has since apologised for the campaign and said it’s reviewing its relationship with digital agency Lean Mean Fighting Machine, but also admitted that it signed off the campaign without knowing what the status update meant.

“We were unaware of the meaning of this line when the promotion was approved and have launched an investigation into why it was included. We take full responsibility and will be reviewing our promotional procedures,” a Coca-Cola spokeswoman said.

“We have stopped all our ongoing work with Lean Mean Fighting Machine and are reviewing our relationship with the agency. We will take all steps necessary to ensure this doesn’t happen again.”

The campaign dared users to sign up for an application that would allow Dr Pepper to post embarrassing status updates on their profiles for the chance to win £1,000.

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