The Coca-Cola Co. is selling a range of NFTs that feature images from its ‘Masterpiece’ media campaign.
There are eight NFTs (non-fungible tokens) available to purchase as part of ‘Onchain Summer’, a blockchain promotional event held by Coinbase, a cryptocurrency exchange platform.
The collection features classic masterpieces like Edvard Munch’s The Scream and Vermeer’s Girl with a Pearl Earring, mixed with works by contemporary artists such as Vikram Kushwah and Fatma Ramadan.
Coca-Cola’s Masterpiece advertisement was created by the London-based creative agency Blitzworks. The advert featured famous artworks from the last few centuries coming to life and mixing with modern works.
NFTs are digital assets that can be bought and sold like any other piece of personal property but have no physical form. Most commonly they are known as files for digital artworks, however, the underlying technology, blockchain, has also been used to create ownership and provenance systems.
Last year, online whisky retailer The Whisky Barrel created a NFT system that acts as a “digital provenance certificates” platform for premium spirits.
The launch of the batch of NFTs is not Coca-Cola’s first foray into non-fungible tokens. In 2021, the drinks giant released a one-off NFT in aid of Special Olympics International that made just over $575,000 at auction.
Speaking to Just Drinks in 2021, Pepsi head of marketing Todd Kaplan said NFT collectables were an emerging trend. “We’d be silly not to be looking into it,” said Kaplan. Pepsi released its NFT Mic Drop collection later that year.
In 2021, Pernod Ricard launched its own NFT in the form of digitally rendered iteration from Royal Salute. The following year, William Grant & Sons teamed up with the Bored Ape Yacht Club to create an NFT for its Monkey Shoulder Scotch whisky brand.