Fact Check

Does Photo Show Garlic-Flavored Coca-Cola?

Rumors claimed that the product was being test-marketed in Romania.

by David Mikkelson, Published Feb. 14, 2015 Updated Sept. 22, 2022


coca cola garlic

Image courtesy of Pixabay


Claim:
A photograph shows a can of garlic-flavored Coca-Cola being test-marketed in Romania.
Rating:
False

About this rating


A photograph purportedly showing a can of Coca-Cola Garlic has been circulating on the internet since at least 2014. The image was typically accompanied by text that explained the fictional flavor of Coca-Cola was available in Romania:

The above-displayed image, however, was not taken at a grocery store in Romania. The original photograph, taken in France in 2011 by Flickr user José Roitberg, showed a can of Coca-Cola Cherry; the original logo was then stripped from it and replaced with a fictional one for Coca-Cola Garlic:

As of 2015, there was no garlic Coca-Cola product available in Romania (or elsewhere), but that could change in the future. Food and Wine reported in February 2015 that Takkola, a garlic-flavored cola drink, was the new craze in Japan.

Another example was collected via Twitter in October 2014:


By David Mikkelson

David Mikkelson founded the site now known as snopes.com back in 1994.


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