SHORT N’ SWEET
Ask: Develop a bold, attention-grabbing, social-first campaign that positions Coca-Cola Zero Sugar as the essential drink for meal occasions.
Problem: Coke Zero lacks it’s own identity
Target: Gen Zero - 18-31 year olds who are figuring who they are while battling anxieties and uncertainties.
Insight: Eating has nothing to do with food and everything to do with culture.
Strategy: Make Eating A Lifestyle.
“Eat Down, Drink Up” is a Coke Zero Sugar campaign developed for the 2026 Young Ones Advertising Competition, where we repositioned it as the drink for people who eat.
the ask
Develop a bold, attention-grabbing, social-first campaign that positions Coca-Cola Zero Sugar as the essential drink for meal occasions.
But there’s just one problem…
Gen Z doesn’t do “meal time”
“I don’t even have a set time I eat. I just eat whenever I’m hungry.”
“It is currently 5:33pm where I am, and I am preparing my first and only meal of the day lmfao.”
“I’ll have breakfast or dinner whenever the fuck I feel like.”
ONLY
OVER
26%
64%
Reddit Users
OF Gen Z reported eating three meals daily
of 18–24-year-olds prefer eating more flexibly than by rigid mealtimes
SO HOW CAN COKE ZERO SUGAR BE AN ESSENTIAL MEAL-TIME DRINK FOR A GENERATION THAT DOESN’T EAT?
PROBLEM
Unlike its sister sodas, Coke Zero lacks a distinct identity and fails to stand out on its own.
Released in 2005, to offer customers the Coca-Cola taste without the sugar or calories, Coke Zero is the youngest in the Coke family. And like most twenty year olds, it’s still figuring out who it is.
Coke Zero is Gen Z
〰️
Coke Zero is Gen Z 〰️
Beyond boomer
1916
Millennial
1982
and who better to talk to Gen Z than one of their own?
Gen Z
2005
GEn Zero
18-31 year olds who are figuring who they are while battling anxieties and uncertainties.
You rarely see them eating a regular meal…but you’ll always see them eating.
They speak their own language
“left no crumbs”
“she’s serving”
“this eats”
“i’m cooked”
“you ate”
gEN z IS hUNGRY
“you’re frying me”
“body tea”
“he’s chopped”
insight
Eating has nothing to do with food and everything to do with culture.
Gen Z made EATING a language
coke zero can
Make Eating A Lifestyle.
eat down, drink up
Case Study Video submitted to Young Ones Competition
is frying us
Coke Zero Sugar will send PR packages and merch to up and coming influencers and celebrities who have been devouring.
EATS down
quen blackwell
is tea
alex consani
Feeding people’s feed by showing up in real time whenever Gen Z eats.
ooh
Coke Zero Sugar will show up everywhere Gen Z is eating with OOH spots near college campuses, gyms, in major cities, and on public transportation.
influencers
marcello hernandez
Zara Larsson
is serving
social
Onya Nurve just cooked
house of zero
By hosting their first ever ballroom, Coke Zero will spark a buzz worth moment designed to drive earned media, press coverage and social amplification.
Bianca del rio ate you up
Trixie & Katya Left no crumb
the ask
Develop a bold, attention-grabbing, social-first campaign that positions Coca-Cola Zero Sugar as the essential drink for meal occasions.
But there’s just one problem…
Gen Z doesn’t do “meal time”
only 26% of Gen Z reported eating three meals daily and over 64% of 18-24 year olds prefer eating more flexibly than by rigid mealtimes.
So how can Coke Zero Sugar be an essential meal-time drink for a generation that doesn’t eat meals?
problem
Unlike its sister sodas, Coke Zero lacks a distinct identity and fails to stand out on its own.
Released in 2005, to offer customers the Coca-Cola taste without the sugar or calories, Coke Zero is the youngest in the Coke family; a nd like most twenty year olds, it’s still figuring out who it is. So who better to talk to them than one of their own?
Beyond Boomer
1916
Millennial
1982
Gen Z
2005
gen zero
18-31 year olds who are figuring who they are while battling anxieties and uncertainties.