Living Strong: Coca-Cola Program To Feature Lance Armstrong

Coca-Cola starting next month will promote “exercise and healthy living” in a program called “Live It,” which will feature Lance Armstrong and other sports figures “in posters encouraging children to be active,” according to Melanie Warner of the N.Y. TIMES. NASCAR drivers Bobby Labonte and Kyle Petty, Mercury G Diana Taurasi and Fever F Tamika Catchings are also featured. The program is aimed at sixth graders, and Coca-Cola spokesperson Melanie White said the company is spending $4M on the campaign. Students will also watch a video of Armstrong, and Coca-Cola will also hand out pedometers to students and “hold contests to reward students who log the highest numbers of steps in a week.” Coca-Cola said that “none of the Live It materials will display its logo or feature Coke products.” White: “This program is about education, not selling product” (N.Y. TIMES, 7/12).