AI Helped Create Coca-Cola's Y3000 Zero Sugar Flavor

Coca-Cola’s new flavor tastes like the future. Thirsty yet?

The soft-drinks behemoth has gone all in on AI of late, with machine-honed marketing that frequently employs artworks and notions of creativity as touchpoint.

These elements combine to help introduce Y3000 Zero Sugar, a limited-edition beverage touted as “the first futuristic flavor co-created with human and artificial intelligence from Coca-Cola.”

So, Fiverr was right! Humans and machines should work together!

Folks who scan the suitably spacey cans get whisked away to Coke’s Creations Hub, where employing a special lens yields visions of centuries to come. (Or just unlocks psychedelic, tech-generated imagery. It’s all good.)

Per Coke, the brand collected flavor preferences and trends from consumers, and used these learnings to develop taste profiles with AI. Both people and algorithms worked on the packaging.

Doubling down on the futurism concept—or bubbling up, in Coke’s case—the brand and Ambush fashions will launch an apparel and accessories collection, too.

Forpeople, Virtue, WPP Open X/Ogilvy and EssenceMediacom worked on elements of the campaign.

The push resembles Coke’s recent QR code music foray with Jon Batiste, which also leveraged AI elements.

Such stuff’s helped the brand generate buzz all year long. Of course, at some point the generative craze will go flat. But there’s no sign of that yet. And so far, Coke’s kept its AI efforts consistently refreshing thanks to variety, superb craft and canny ties to pop culture.