My Coke Rewards

My Coke Rewards official logo.

My Coke Rewards is a customer loyalty marketing campaign for the Coca-Cola soft drink. Customers enter codes found on specially marked packages of Coca-Cola products on a website. Codes can also be entered "on the go" by texting them from a cell phone. These codes are converted into virtual "points" which can in turn be redeemed by members for various prizes or sweepstakes entries.

The program was first launched in 2006. By November of that year, more than one million prizes had been redeemed. The program has since been extended every year for the past four years with the current extension announced on November 6th, 2009 until 2010.

Limitations

The program has always featured limits on the number of codes and points that could be redeemed at one time. Prior to February 16, 2009, members were limited to entering 10 codes per day, regardless of the number of points that this represented. Members who entered 10 codes from 24-can packages could, under this system, earn a total of 200 points per day, or 1400 per week. This represented that maximum rate at which points could be accrued without the use of bonus points and similar promotions.

On February 16, 2009, this system was changed. Members are now limited to entering 120 points per week, regardless of the number of codes redeemed per week. Bonus points and promotional offers such as "Double Points Days" are still not subject to this weekly limit. My Coke Rewards now has a meter that tells the member how many points they earned during the current week, and whether they have reached the 120 point-per-week limit. Attempts to enter codes that exceed the limit (for example, entering 10-point code once you have accumulated 119 points) do not cause overflow; the participant is told to "hold on to that code".

In addition, MyCokeRewards features an expiration date of codes that are entered. Currently, points expire after 90 days of user account inactivity, meaning a customer must either add points to their account or claim a prize within 90 days to ensure their points do not expire.

Code reuse

There are two types of codes: single-use and multi-use codes. Single-use codes like those found on Coke products contain a mix of letters and numbers. These codes can only be used once; if they have been entered in any account they will not work again. By contrast, multi-use codes are identified by being all numeric and may be entered by multiple users. Thus far the multi-use codes have all started with the digits 10008. They have been distributed through email, including during the 2006 Christmas holiday season, as well as through direct mail and print advertising campaigns in various magazines and other publications. Both Blockbuster and Disney (with Pirates of the Caribbean) have participated in such special promotions.

Controversy

The program is one of several marketing campaigns that have come under fire from the Center for Digital Democracy, an advocacy group interested in regulating how food products are marketed to children. Coca-Cola's online marketing techniques are included in a 98-page report issued in May 2007 by the center and the American University called "Interactive Food & Beverage Marketing: Targeting Children and Youth" which criticizes the program for collecting personal information from children and for promoting obesity.

Childhood obesity was also a concern for weight-loss instructor Julia Griggs Havey who sued Coca-Cola over the program in 2006, but dropped her lawsuit a few weeks later. The lawsuit was dropped for the specific reason of it being frivolous, since there was a misinterpretation as to what was required of a user in order to accumulate Coke points and obtain the currently available reward prizes. The first assumption—that those who have Coke codes must purchase the product in order to redeem them—was shown to be untrue, as Coke stated they took into consideration that users may obtain codes from others. Second, it was pointed out that the CocaCola Company has other products besides Coca-Cola, including Powerade and Dasani water that are available for those who do not wish to consume high amounts of high fructose corn syrup or caffeine.

Some customers have further accused Coca-Cola of utilizing "bait-and-switch" tactics in the program. They claim that the prizes for which they had been saving are either constantly out of stock or are no longer available. Some items have experienced steep unexpected price increases, as well; for example the coupons for a free 20 ounce bottle of Coke increased 25% (from 24 points to 30), a $75 Blockbuster gift card which used to cost 722 points went up to 1020 points (a 41% increase), and the price of a GPX docking station went up from 975 points to 1820 (an 87% increase). These increases, it should be noted, took place at the same time as Coca-Cola was taking drastic measures to decrease the number of points awarded (though its February 2009 rule changes which reduced the maximum number of points from 2000 per week to 120 per week).

For its part, Coca Cola has maintained that all prizes in the My Point Rewards program are available "while supplies last," and that there is no guarantee expressed or intended that a given prize will either continue to be offered or continue to be offered at the same price.

See also

• Pepsi Stuff
• Coca-Cola
• MagiCan (an earlier promotion)

External links

• Coke Rewards: Coca~Cola’s Rewards And Sweepstakes
• Free Coke Codes (United States) FreeCokeCodes.com
• My Coke Rewards (United States)
• iCoke (Canada)
• (UK version)
• Cokeplay (KO version)