Coca-Cola’s ‘jigri’ campaign to push pocket-sized bottles falls flat in Nepal

The drinks giant’s attempt to market its product in smaller bottles has been met with a social media backlash in the Himalayan nation

Environmentally conscious young people questioned why the company was creating more waste in a country already grappling with litter and pollution

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An advert for Coca-Cola’s 250ml 'jigri' bottle, which was recently launched in Nepal. Photo: Facebook

Published: 8:49pm, 27 Aug 2019Updated: 4:31pm, 28 Aug 2019

Coca-Cola may have hoped the star power of social media influencers, models and actors would help it sell the new pocket-sized bottles of its signature drink in Nepal as part of a marketing campaign called jigri, meaning best friend.

The adverts featured celebrities searching for their jigri, which after a weeklong campaign was revealed to be one of the new 250ml bottles of Coke – marketed as perfectly adapted for fast-paced lifestyles, with their small size especially suited to stashing in a pocket, cup holder or handbag.

A Nepalese mountain guide collects garbage left by climbers on Mount Everest. Photo: AFP

But far from generating friendly feelings, the campaign has fallen flat among Nepal’s young people, who blasted the company on social media for marketing wasteful packaging in a country already grappling with litter and pollution.

Kathmandu, the country’s capital, has some of the highest air pollution levels in the world, and the nation is also facing a crisis in waste management – with individual municipalities responsible for their own garbage, but ill-equipped to process it. Earlier this year, a government-backed drive cleared 11 tonnes of trash from the Nepalese-side of Mount Everest.

Alok Thapa, a Nepali filmmaker, writer and radio host, said the social media backlash against Coca-Cola’s marketing campaign could have a positive effect – by drawing more attention to Nepal’s problem with waste.

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