Viral video falsely claims Coke-Pepsi  "changing the logo"

Recently a video surfaced on social media showing the packaging of Coca-Cola and Pepsi being replaced, claiming that efforts are underway to market the drinks by “changing the logo” on the bottles. However, Dismislab’s verification shows that the video doesn’t originate from Bangladesh; and the claims of changing the packaging of Coke or Pepsi are completely false. The video belongs to a Chinese company that manufactures various labeling or packaging machines. A spokesperson for this Chinese company told Dismislab that the clip was their testing video of the labeling effect; which they later released on Tiktok for promotional purposes.

Claims like Coca-Cola and Pepsi are altering their packaging for commercial reasons have appeared on various Facebook pages (1, 2) and user profiles (1, 2, 3, 4). Since July 13th, Facebook posts with the headlines “Pepsi Cola’s new fraud” and “See how they’re trying to deceive us by changing the logo Boycott Coca-Cola” have been widely shared. Dismislab also found this video clip on YouTube with the same claim. The video shows an automated machine putting labels on some round cans, with a few cans labeled ‘Pepsi’ and multiple red cans without a visible logo.

Over 15,000 people responded to a video shared with the claim of “new fraud“, which has been viewed more than 3 million times. One user commented, “It is being covered. So if you want to buy any other such product, you have to open the cover and be sure what you are buying. If any kind of trickery or cheating is found, take strict action against the shopkeeper. You will see that the shopkeepers will stop selling such products.” Another user commented: “Boys of our country drink these more even after knowing the coke pepsi seven up are Jews products, may God bless us all, ameen.” The video had 425 other comments at the time this report is being written. 

Another reel, that has gone viral, claimed that Coca-Cola and Pepsi are trying to market their products by changing their logos, which has garnered over 42,000 reactions. The reel includes an edited clip of a person speaking in Bangla, “Due to the boycott of Coca-Cola and Pepsi they are now marketing the products by changing their logos and using logos of other countries do share this video more and more.” This video has been shared over 42,000 times so far.

Using a reverse image search on a keyframe from the video, Dismislab found the same clip on a TikTok account that was shared on July 10th. The caption stated “#Calabelingmachine, automatic beverage labeling machine manufacturers”. The account’s user ID is @risheng168, and the username is “RISHENG_packingMachine.” The account’s bio states, “10 years professional labeling machine, filling machine manufacturer.” More such labeling test videos (1, 2, 3) of the machine were found on the same account, claiming to be a video of “CA labeling machine, automatic beverage labeling machine manufacturers.” 

A keyword search led Dismislab to findout a website of Guangzhou Reshing Machinery Co Ltd.; which is a Chinese labeling machine manufacturing company named Rise Reshing. The company’s website has also linked their YouTube channel. Dismislab was able to collect the company’s contact number from their website.

A spokesperson for the company told Dismislab via WhatsApp, “This video is a labeling test, not malicious slander;” and “These Coca-Cola bottles were probably purchased in China to test the labeling effect.” 

The spokesperson shared the original video with Dismislab and explained that “This video was tested by a certain manufacturer.” She added about the claims that “These are malicious and you must report them.” With the original video clip, there was another video demonstrating the same machine placing different labels on some other identical bottles. Thus it was clear that they were conducting a test to assess their machine’s ability to apply labels to these cans and the circulating claims were false. 

The spokesperson added that this had nothing to do with any Coca-Cola marketing or rebranding. They think people on social media are just misusing their labeling machine video and spreading “malicious rumors.”

According to the website, “Guangzhou Risheng Machinery Co., Ltd. is a company integrating R&D, design and manufacturing, focusing on the design and manufacture of daily chemical, food, pharmaceutical, chemical and packaging machines, specializing in the manufacture of labeling machines, filling machines, capping machines, and vials Filling machine capping machine, facial mask machine, soap packaging machine, alcohol wipes packaging machine, and other series of products, as well as automatic upgrading and transformation of mechanical equipment and provide perfect solutions.”
Since the Israel-Gaza war started last October, people have been sharing posts on social media calling for a boycott of Israeli products. Many are calling for a boycott of Coca-Cola, considering it an Israeli product, reports BBC. The war has led to a lot of misinformation about Coca-Cola, which was reported in various fact checking articles. For example, claims like “Facing the boycott, Coca-Cola changed its packaging,” or “From satire to reality: The truth behind Coca-Cola’s bottle,” or “A false video is circulating, claiming that a shop was vandalized because of the Coca-Cola logo,” have been debunked.