• by Thom Forbes  @tforbes, January 13, 2011

Quick, and no Googling or Binging before you answer, please. When you see "Live Positively" or "livepositively.com," what comes to mind?

I'm betting your answers are similar to those of some of my colleagues. Most thought it must be an activist group, probably having something to do with HIV, AIDS or another illness. One suggested it was an evangelical organization or Tony Robbins-like self-help enterprise; another said she had a vague sense that she'd heard of it, but no specific recollection of its nature. No one got it right.

It's Coca-Cola's "do-good" site.

Here's how I found out about it: A friend of mine who is in publishing takes a lot of care in selecting a books he thinks will be particularly appropriate for his friends every December. For me, he chose The Master Switch by Tim Wu -- a fascinating and cautionary look at how new information technologies get centralized over time. He has purposefully wrapped his gifts in recycled newspaper for several years now. Less deliberate, I suspect, was the wrapping around my present -- a full-page ad from the New York Times of Dec. 18 extolling the choices that Coca-Cola provides.

The headline is "Low-cal-options. No-cal options. However-you-and-your-family-roll options." The body copy directs readers to livepositively.com to learn more about the more than 150 low- and no-calorie beverage options Coca-Cola offers consumers in the U.S. alone. The graphic includes a brand I've never heard of -- Gold Peak Green Tea -- as well as some extensions that are predictable but obscure, such as Powerade Zero and Fuze Slenderize. To be sure, there's also Diet Coke and Coke Zero.

The ad also invites readers to learn about other ways the company is helping to "make the world we all live in a little bit better." There are many, in fact, ranging from the company's longstanding involvement with Boys and Girls Clubs to its Haitian Relief Efforts to its support of the Ocean Conservancy and Rails-to-Trails Conservancy, which goes beyond funding to education.

Another section of the site takes a look at the products themselves and includes tools such as a Body Mass Index and a Calorie Needs Calculator which, one might argue, is akin to a brewery offering a breathalyzer. There also is a section on the site that dispels "myths" such as "If I took a human tooth and dropped it in a Coke, would it dissolve?"

For years, I've been telling my dental hygienist that while I'd be the last to claim that Coke is good for you (although, in my youth, I'd drink upwards of a six pack a day), there are more rational arguments to be made than the flyer that makes that very claim on the wall of her office.

Rhona Appelbaum, Ph.D., the company's chief scientific and regulatory officer, goes so far to admit that putting enamel in an acidic environment has the potential to impact its strength, but points out that, in everyday life, no one's teeth are exposed to Coke for anywhere near the length required to have such an effect. It comes across as a honest answer that actually does not disprove what the flyer claims while putting it into perspective.

Appelbaum also addresses the safety of High Fructose Corn Syrup. Whether you agree with her argument that "sugar is sugar" or not, she states Coke's position clearly and succinctly.

Claire Grinton took a look at Coke's Live Positively efforts along with PepsiCo's more recent Refresh Project in the Huffington Post nearly a year ago.

"Corporate responsibility is increasingly a driving factor in brand preference and purchase behavior, and both Coca-Cola and Pepsi realize that," she writes. She points to the 2006 Millennial Cause Study by Cone and AMP Insights that found that 69% of Millennials say they will consider a company's social and environmental commitment when deciding where to shop, and 89% are likely to switch from one brand to another if the second brand is associated with a good cause.

Surprising to me, given all the press that the Refresh Project has been given, are the results of a reader poll accompanying the article that asks, "Which Brand Has The Better 'Doing Good' Campaign?" Fifty-six percent say Coca-Cola's Live Positively; 22% say Pepsi's Refresh Project; 6% say "they're both great" and 15% say "neither, it's all for show." I wonder if Grinton's detailing Coke's "long history of emphasizing social responsibility" has influenced the vote or if people are more aware of its efforts than I think.

In either event, I don't think it would hurt to apply a little bit more of that Mean-Joe-Greene-Coke-Is-It-I'd-Like-To-Teach-The-World-To-Sing marketing magic to Coke's "commitment to make a positive difference in the world by rethinking the way we live and work."