Coke day

1998:

"Coca-cola ran an competition asking several schools to come up with a strategy for distributing Coke coupons for Students. The school that devised the best promotional strategy would win $500. Greenbriar High School in Evans, Georgia, took the contest extremely seriously, calling an official Coke day in late March during which students came to school in Coca-cola t-shirts, posed for a photograph in a formation spelling Coke, attended lectures given by Coca-cola executives and learned about all things black and bubbly in their classes. It was a little piece of branding heaven until it came to the Principal's attention that in an act of hideous defiance, one Mike Cameron, a nineteen-year-old senior, had come to school wearing a T-shirt with a Pepsi logo. He was promptly suspended for the offence. "I know it sounds bad - 'child suspended for wearing pepsi shirt on Coke day'" said Principal Gloria Hamilton, "It really would have been acceptable...if it had just been in-house, but we had the regional President here and people flew in from Atlanta to do us the honour of being resource speakers. The students knew we had guests." "

From 'No Logo' by Naomi Klein (2001)