ATLANTA - Coca-Cola says it is abandoning the ``splash graphic'' design it introduced two years ago and returning to the familiar Coke ribbons on cans and bottles. The company said Friday the new design is traditional but updated. <br>
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The intertwined white and yellow ribbons run underneath the familiar ``Coca-Cola'' script, with a trail of bubbles in the background. The new packaging will appear on products in 2003. <br>
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Beverage Digest, an industry publication, says the new design significantly cleans up the brand's look. <br>
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Familiar elements of the Coca-Cola brand name -- like the typeface, the red color and a new presentation of the contour bottle -- are also part of the redesign. <br>
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In the United States, the word ``classic'' will continue to appear on all packaging for brand Coca-Cola. <br>
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The design change is meant to update Coke's look and draw renewed attention to a brand whose sales have fizzled in the last couple of years. <br>
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Coke grew globally during most of the 1990s. But last year Coke's volume dropped 2 percent in the United States and the brand lost half a percent share of the huge U.S. carbonated soft drink market. <br>
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For the first six months of 2002, the brand was up about 2 percent worldwide.
