Coca-Cola is introducing two new products this month including Happy Tears Zero Sugar, a Coca-Cola Creations flavor that will be available only on TikTok.

The limited-inventory Happy Tears offering marks the first time the beverage giant will use TikTok Shop, an e-commerce platform that debuted in September that allows users to purchase products without leaving the TikTok app, while giving brands the ability to tag products to sell.

The other new drink is a permanent variety called Coca-Cola Spiced. The additions come as Coca-Cola looks to explore ways to create new excitement in the cola category and connect with hard-to-find young fans. 

Happy Tears, according to Coke, is inspired by “the simplicity of happy tears—a small, clear droplet filled with optimism and joy that’s created from the smallest acts of kindness.” The company describes the taste as cola “coupled with a splash of salty minerals.” The drink will be available in the U.S. and U.K. on “Random Acts of Kindness Day”—Feb. 17.

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Coca-Cola will engage 14 influencers who specialize in TikTok Shop to help drive attention to the launch, said Oana Vlad, senior director for global strategy at Coca-Cola.

“TikTok Shop is growing in terms of its user base, and that's where influencer content plays a key role because there are a lot of influencers that focus specifically around TikTok Shop,” Vlad said during an event Tuesday in New York. “That's going to be a key to the project.”

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Stickers and a can to share

Happy Tears comes in a silver can embossed with a clear wax teardrop. It is available only as part of a “hype box” including two cans of the soda, a T-shirt, a package of tissues and stickers bearing positive and uplifting phrases like #HappyTears and “Drops of Joy.” Including two cans allows for the purchaser to give one to a friend, fulfilling “the small act of kindness” the brand is meant to embody, Vlad told Ad Age.

The box is priced at $9.99. The inventory is extremely limited for a Coca-Cola product—just 15,500 cans are to be produced—and with two cans in each order that leaves just 7,750 packages for the U.S. and U.K. The limited quantity speaks to Coke’s cautiousness as it explores TikTok Shop for the first time.

“It’s a first experience for us so we’ll learn, [and] staring with a limited quantity will be a help for us,” Vlad said.

Influencers will also help to promote a Happy Tears TikTok filter meant to stimulate moments of kindness—the stickers in the Happy Tears box will come to life for example, and suggest ways to spread kindness. “It’s all about spreading positivity,” Vlad said.

The Happy Tears campaign was developed by Forpeople, Influential, Virtue and WPP Open X/Ogilvy PR.

It is part of Coca-Cola's Creations platform, which launched in February 2022 and has led to eight Coke varieties with flavors named for feelings or things (including Byte, Y3000, Starlight and Dreamworld) more than their ingredients or flavors. Pushed primarily on social media, and meant to fuse culture and innovation, the goal is to entice conversation among young audiences and find future drinkers of Coca-Cola’s traditional products. The latest variety asks users to imagine the product tastes of happy tears.

“It gives a taste to something that’s never been tasted before,” Vlad said. “More important is the ecosystem of experiences around it—collaborations in fashion, music and tech. What this is done for us is really find new ways to engage, especially with Gen Z, and the results so far we’re really happy with.”

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Vlad said Creations on average engages young consumers about twice as much as other Coke trademark initiatives. Most of those consumers—about 75%—are new to the Coke trademark, “which is great because it means we are reintroducing the brand to the next generation.”

Coca-Cola Spiced

Coca-Cola Spiced hits retail shelves in the U.S. and Canada on Feb. 19. It is the first permanent addition to the Coke portfolio in more than three years (Cherry Vanilla was the last added, in 2020). Spiced features an “uplifting” flavor of raspberry and spices, Coca-Cola said.

Coca-Cola will support the launch with a marketing campaign focused on the sensation of tasting the product, said Sue Lynne Cha, VP of marketing for Coca-Cola North America. “We don’t want to tell consumers what it's like to drink a Coca-Cola Spiced; we want to tell them how it feels,” Cha said. “We can connect more authentically with consumers.”

The marketing plan includes an upcoming event in New York that will employ AI to showcase the expressions of consumers when they drink the product, Cha said. Coca-Cola has aggressively used AI in its marketing in recent months.

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“Coca-Cola Spiced is not spicy, but is our boldest tasting brand innovation yet,” the brand said in a statement. “It’s an unexpected and perfected blend of the iconic and beloved taste of Coca-Cola, spiced notes and raspberry flavors.”

Packaging for Coca-Cola Spiced will resemble that of its parent brand—the Coca-Cola wordmark (in white for regular, black for zero-sugar) on a red can, but with a swirl of raspberry-inspired colors.

Spiced will be available in 12-ounce sleek cans, 12-packs, 10-pack mini-cans, 20 ounces, 0.5 liter six-packs and 2-liter bottles at most national retailers.