Coca-Cola, the most popular soft drink in the world, is back in Web3 news with the release of an exclusive NFT collection on Coinbase’s new layer-2 blockchain Base.
News of the new ’Masterpiece’ NFT collection, which aims to fuse technology, art, and human interactions, was announced on August 13th. The collection is being launched in collaboration with Coinbase’s “Onchain Summer,” a month-long festival celebrating on-chain culture, art, gaming, and music.
The Masterpiece collection mixes classic artworks like Johannes Vermeer’s “Girl with a Pearl Earring” and Edvard Munch’s “Scream” with work from emerging artists in the space — including Aket (France), WonderBuhle (South Africa), Stefania Tejada (Columbia), Fatma Ramadan (Egypt), Vikram Kushwah (India/England), and others. The NFTs are “all intertwined with the iconic Coca-Cola bottle.”
The Masterpiece NFT collection is accessible when it comes to pricing, with NFTs ranging from 0.011 to 0.014 ETH (around $20 to $25). Daily mints are scheduled to begin next week.
Fatma Ramadan, a visual artist tapped for the project, said that the collection represented global inclusivity by bringing together a diverse group of artists from around the world. Other artists expressed how important it was for a major global brand like Coca-Cola to be supporting artists in Web3.
Coinbase officially launched Base on August 9th, and according to reports from Dune Analytics, about $163 million worth of Ethereum and other cryptocurrencies was bridged to Base within 24 hours of its launch. The Coca-Cola NFT collection on Base will be one of the first drops we’ve seen from a major brand on the new blockchain — though we expect more to follow.
Coca-Cola Continues to Experiment in Web3
Coca-Cola is the world’s best-known brand, partly due to its consistent marketing tactics: The brands logo and bottle have hardly changed in over 100 years. But that doesn’t mean Coca-Cola isn’t innovative, and this year, one ways the sugary soft drink has been innovating is by experimenting in Web3. Here are three of the top stories about Coca-Cola in Web3.
First, a month ago, Coca-Cola’s Serbian branch teamed up with Solana NFT marketplace Solsea to release a set of limited edition NFTs for attendees of the EXIT Festival. Besides the NFTs, festival goers could stand in front of a ‘Magic Mirror’ and virtually try on 3D merchandise.
Next, in December 2022, Coca-Cola partnered with Crypto.com and the digital artist GMUNK to drop a 10,000 piece NFT collection for the World Cup in Qatar. The FIFA World Cup NFT collection featured digital artworks created from “heatmaps” that monitor players in-game motions during World Cup matches.
Finally, about a year ago, Coca-Cola airdropped 4,000 digital collectibles to holders of its existing NFT collection. The NFTs were minted on Polygon and designed to celebrated International Friendship Day.
So far, every move Coca-Cola has made in Web3 has been different, perhaps a sign that the company is experimenting with Web3 tech to see what works and what doesn’t. Time will tell if its Masterpiece NFT collection is popular with collectors. But regardless, the collaboration is certainly a win for Coinbase and its new blockchain Base.