Social Enterprise: WWF And Coca-Cola's Mission to Protect the Great White Polar Bear

Coca-Cola is embarking on a U.S. social enterprise project with the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) in order to protect the polar bear's Arctic home.  To make this campaign effective, the world-famous brand will be overhauling its legendary red cans in November to white Coke cans to help draw people's awareness to the plight of the polar bear. Coca-Cola has worked on conservation projects before, but has never changed its recognised red can!

Coca-Cola and the WWF together have created an online "Arctic Home" to encourage Coca-Cola consumers to donate $1 via a simple text message. The company kicked off the Arctic Home campaign by donating $2 million and will match the first $1 million in public donations. Coke will manufacture more than 1.4 billion white cans for this social enterprise effort and is committed to raising $3 million from 1 November 2011 to 15 March 2012.

Muhtar Kent, chairman and CEO of the Coca-Cola Company says, "We want to help the polar bear — a beloved Coca-Cola icon since 1922 — by helping conserve its Arctic habitat. That's why we're using one of our greatest assets — our flagship brand, Coca-Cola — to raise awareness for this important cause. And by partnering with WWF, we can truly make a positive difference for these majestic animals." This social enterprise project is helping to further WWF's global vision to protect the Arctic.

This WWF mission to protect this part of the planet will cost an estimated $10 million during the next five years and will depend on donations from efforts like Arctic Home to successfully provide a refuge for the polar bear while at the same time seeing to the needs of the local inhabitants.

P.S. The great white polar bear evolved from the brown bear. It is the top predator in the Arctic marine ecosystem, is the world's largest terrestrial carnivore, and is found across five Arctic nations: U.S., Canada, Russia, Greenland and Norway. However, the sea ice is melting fast and the loss of its habitat is the greatest threat to the polar bear. As the sea ice retreats further each summer, this mammal loses more of its primary hunting ground. It is forced to spend months living off stored body fat until the sea ices over again in the fall, which can take more than four months in areas like Hudson Bay, Canada. At the current rate of melting, experts predict that there will be no ice in Hudson Bay by 2080. If current warming trends continue and there is no action taken like this WWF and Coca- Cola social enterprise mission, then some populations of polar bears could be lost within the next century.

Photo Credit: goodmami