Coca-Cola’s Donald Trump Honor Leaves Critics Bubbling With Outrage

The Coca-Cola Company honored Diet Coke fanatic Donald Trump with his very own personalized Diet Coke bottle design on Tuesday, and promptly divided opinion online.

While supporters of the president-elect predictably lapped up the promotional stunt, critics fizzed with anger — and recalled the company’s condemnation of Trump, just four years ago, following his incitement of the deadly Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol.

Trump campaign spokesperson Margo Martin shared on social media images of Trump and Coca-Cola Company CEO James Quincey with what she described as “the first ever Presidential Commemorative Inaugural Diet Coke bottle.” The bottle’s label featured Trump’s name, the date of his upcoming second inauguration and a picture of the White House.

The returning president reportedly drank up to 12 Diet Cokes a day during his first term and had a special button installed on the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office which he could use to call a butler to bring him the beverage.

Critics on social media called out the “ass-licking” of Trump by corporations ahead of his return to the Oval Office. Multiple other bosses ― from Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg and Amazon’s Jeff Bezos ― have been accused of bending the knee to Trump in recent weeks.

The Republicans Against Trump group wrote: “Well, here’s another reason to drink water… or beer.” Some people flagged a 2012 post on X, then-twitter, in which Trump wrote: “The Coca Cola company is not happy with me — that’s okay, I’ll still keep drinking that garbage.” Others called to boycott the company.