Did Minute Maid (Coca Cola) kill my tree?

January 2, 2007 10:02 PM

Childhood Memory Filter: In the 80s each of my family members collected UPC's from Minute Maid juice boxes... if you collected a certain # of upcs you would get your name written at the bottom of a red wood tree in California.

The details aren't clear, I was very young at the time, but there should be a couple trees growing courtesy of me and my fam... how can I verify their existence?

posted by matimer to home & garden (3 comments total)

If you are sure of the brand and all I'd suggest contacting the company if you can't find an answer online.
posted by edgeways at 11:40 PM on January 2, 2007

My quick google search revealed this:

Emerald FullText Article : Using strategic alliances to develop ...
In this case consumers mailed the proof-of-purchase emblem off Minute Maid products and 75 cents to Coca-Cola, which would then plant a tree in California′s ...
xtra.emeraldinsight.com/.../viewContentItem.do?contentType=Article&hdAction=lnkhtml&contentId=856200 - Similar pages

However, clicking on the link tells me that I need to be subscribed to view the actual article. Here's another link to a site where you could purchase the article. In any case, it looks like you weren't dreaming, and you got the brand right.
posted by pardonyou? at 6:43 AM on January 3, 2007

Hey, I read pardonyou?'s article (yay for being a librarian and having access to Emerald Fulltext!). The article only mentions that the Minute Maid promotion backfired because Minute Maid was named one of the least environmentally-responsible companies in the country in the same year. They don't say anything about where the trees were planted.

However, the Minute Maid reference is from this book:
Coddington, W. (1993), Environmental Marketing: Positive Strategies for Reaching Green Consumers, McGraw-Hill, New York, NY, . Perhaps this has more info about the location of the trees; ask your local public librarian for help in locating it!
posted by holyrood at 10:07 AM on January 3, 2007