Yesterday we brought you the news that Coca-Cola has launched a new brand identity; a complete design overhaul by JKR with a strong focus on typography. This includes much more prominent use of the ‘Better With’ typeface created for the brand by Brody Associates in 2023. Originally created for a holiday campaign, the font is now featured at the heart of the brand’s marketing and packaging.
But fans have quickly spotted an unexpected similarity. The somewhat retro serif font is being compared with the typeface for Marlboro cigarettes. It isn’t the same font, but the similarity is undeniable – and plenty of social media users have pointed out the irony of a sugary drink brand seeming to take design cues from one of the most famously addictive products in the world.
“We were asked to craft a new serif font family to express the brand’s unique personality, movement, and playfulness,” Brody associates says of Better With. “Inspired by the company’s archive, we blended Coca-Cola’s rich serif font heritage with modern-day requirements, adding another layer of storytelling to the brand through typography.”
new diet coke just dropped https://t.co/I3saMvOm8i pic.twitter.com/0kKZznd65vJuly 20, 2026
Coca-Cola switching to a Marlboro font lookalike is the most self-aware thing a sugar company has ever done. https://t.co/vKkxZLaHsi pic.twitter.com/OvpzDoNEiKJuly 20, 2026
“Love that they just leaned into the fact that soda is the new cigarettes by just straight up doing the Marlboro font,” one X user comments.
Granted, the fact that both brands rely on strong reds and whites in their branding probably isn’t helping matters. But it’s a rather awkward resemblance for Coca-Cola, especially given the recent context of countries such as the UK introducing a so-called ‘sugar tax’ to sugary drinks. While there’ll never be a moment when Coca-Cola will want to be associated with cigarettes, the timing here is particularly unfortunate.
Or perhaps Coca-Cola simply saw the recent viral meme calling Diet Coke a “fridge cigarette” and decided to run with it.
