When German politician Thilo Sarrazin published his book ‘Deutschland schafft sich ab’ (or Germany abolishes itself) and also made a series of insulting remarks regarding social discrimination and immigration, claiming that some ethnical groups are less intelligent than others, it all led to a political scandal. Aside from being controversial, his book sold over 1.2 million copies in Germany, by the end of 2012. This disputed theory about the “costs of multiculturalism” pushed some organizations to accuse Sarrazin of racism.

Frustrated by the politician’s statements, Aydin Umutlu — an entrepreneur from Hamburg — took initiative and protested against Sarrazin’s theory in a unique way: in 2012, he founded a cola brand named “Ali Cola.” He explains: “When Sarrazin claimed that intelligence is inherited and that black people are less intelligent than white ones, we simply had to create ALI COLA as a form of a protest.”

The Hamburg-made drink followed the tagline ‘No Cola for Racists’, picturing a man with an angular face, a mustache, really contoured eyebrows and a hat on his head. Although this kind of protest can be seen with humor, the 43-year-old man who created the beverage decided to reinvent his product.

The new COLA of 2017, which can be found bearing the hashtag #CheersToTolerance, follows a more diverse line: The Cola in Skin Colors becomes the first Cola that comes in six distinct shades. While different on the look, the taste remains exactly the same, as it aims to promote the idea that we are all alike regardless of skin color, religion, or ethnicity. Speaking about his new and improved product, Aydin adds: “They’re all the same; they just look different on the outside. Like people.” Being a symbol of tolerance, ALI COLA was born not only because of Sarrazin’s statement, but also because of reaction of people who welcomed his arguable ideas.

Asked if he was a victim of racism, the inventor of the drink answered that he feels comfortable living in Hamburg, but this doesn’t apply to any immigrant who has to face racial profiling. “Every migrant with dark skin has to face this when [they] walk through the airport control,” says Aydin.

ALI COLA supports non-governmental organization Kiron that provides access to education for refugees and helps them to graduate with an accredited university degree. “These refugees will shape this country in the future. Education is the key to this,” adds the creator of the beverage that responds to prejudice and clichés with irony and humor; and with a simple, yet powerful slogan: Cheers to Tolerance!

Given the fact that Cola is a lifestyle product, ALI COLA represents a special way of fighting against racism while raising a question if “people have to be white and Cokes black?” If you think that the skin-colored Cola might be too much for some people, then “wait till you see [the] gay Cola.” This company’s message lets us think this project isn’t just about immigrants or refugees.

The current campaign #toleranzschmeckt was put together with the help of the agency loved / thjnk — the first German lead agency to win a Gold Global Effie — and Creative Director Matthäus Frost — who won the Cannes Lions Design Grand Prix in 2012 and in 2013. The 36-year-old designer started working for the Germany-based agency at the beginning of 2016 and his clients include companies such as Absolut Vodka, Adidas, Apple, BMW, KFC, and many others.

Speaking about the Creative Director’s collaboration with the agency, co-founder and CCO of Thjnk Armin Jochum said: “I am proud that we were able to win a creative miracle child for Thjnk with Matthew,” mostly because of the fact that the creative director is being ranked in 2012 as 8th most important art director in the world in Big Won Rankings.

Credits:

Client: Ali Cola

Agency: loved / thjnk

CCO: Armin Jochum

Creative Direction: Karl Wolfgang Epple, Matthäus Frost

Account Managing: Ilker Yilmazalp, Philipp Stamer

Photography: Dirk Weyer

Retouching: David Kowalski

Final Artwork Operation: Manuel Caliebe, Louisa Bartholdi