An on-pack removable coupon that leaves no adhesive residue on the can. Pepsico U.K., Richmond, Surrey, England, was the first user of the decorating concept last year in a 5-million-can promotion of its Pepsi Max soft drink that concluded in September '96. The cans were decorated with 2-mil polyvinyl chloride shrink labels inviting consumers to compete to win a chance to play tennis star Andre Agassi in a high-stakes match. Consumers tore off a perforated strip, peeled the PVC label from the can, and read copy on the inside of the sleeve to see if they'd won. Sleeve labels, reverse-printed in nine colors on a gravure press, are supplied by American Fuji Seal's (Bardstown, KY) sister company, Fuji Seal Europe. Officials from Pepsico U.K. were unavailable for comment. But PW did reach Andrew Ryan, director of Communican (Mortimer, Berks, England). Communican was formed to patent the idea of applying a removable, back-printed coupon-type label on an already-decorated can or bottle. Ryan admits that full-sleeve-labeling an already-decorated package is expensive and that current sleeve application technology needs to overcome speed limitations. (Pepsi used a local supplier's labeler that provided speeds approaching 100 cans/min.) However, he points out that couponing on cans invites creative promotions that simply weren't possible before. He cites as an example the use of the labels in another Pepsi promotion in Spain to roll out the company's new blue graphic look (see PW, May '96, p. 8). The new cans were covered with the labels bearing the old Pepsi graphics, and by peeling these off, consumers were able to unveil the new look with their own hands.
