Coca-Cola using porn references on Facebook

We live in a world where sexy women are used to sell music, cars, and a lot more, but not all advertising is well thought out and can lead to some ads being pulled. This seems the case for Coca-Cola after claims it was using porn references.

According to the Guardian, Coca-Cola apologized after parents accused the brand of targeting a much young audience. One parent was not impressed to find the profile of their 14-year-old daughter targeted by Coca-Cola’s Dr Pepper promotion, which saw a message posted to her profile that made a direct reference to a “pornographic film”.

This marketing push included profiles being updated with embarrassing statuses, you can read in detail about the original purpose of the online promotion by Coca-Cola here, which also shows some examples of messages posted.

We have heard many times before about Facebook opening up children to risks, and while there was a credible brand behind this problem, which acted fast to correct the issue, it will not always be that simple. Should a 14-year-old be on Facebook in the first place?

Coca-Cola offered one parent a night in a London hotel, and theatre tickets as compensation, which she responded “Fat lot of use to me, we live in Glasgow“. They have also launched an investigation into the way they promote their products online using social media.

Were you one of the 160,000 people signed up to the Dr Pepper Facebook page? What are your thoughts on this promotion? Let us know in the comments.